If you are thinking of making a memory book read Genealogy and Family Hope Chest Step 7 Memories and Stories http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/02/genealogy-and-family-hope-chest-step-7.html Olive Tree Genealogy Blog is a great source of information.
I need to stop reading blogs and start doing some of these things.
My mother-in-law made a memory book. Nothing fancy just a hard back journal. She didn't have a lot of entries but it was special. My sister-in-law found the memory book after her mother passed away. She gave the book to my husband because a lot of the stories were about our kids.
There were stories, inspirational quotes, Bible verses, books she liked. It meant so much to Paul that his sister gave him the book. I can't put into words how much the book means to us.
She took the time to record these sweet stories of her grand kids. Some of the stories we had forgotten about until we read the book. We are thankful the book wasn't thrown out. I'm sure our kids will enjoy the book even more in the future.
Memories and stories are an important part of our genealogy. I feel like my kids already know how important the memories are. Aunt Betty died Jan. 2008, she was the last of my dad's siblings. When my then 14 year old son heard of Aunt Betty's death he said "All her stories are gone. All the things she knew that no one else knows." I told him it's important for him and his sister to help remember the stories Aunt Betty told us. I thought it was amazing for a 14 year old boy to think of the stories.
Sometimes kids have a look of being bored out of their mind when an older person is talking but really they have enjoyed learning about their family. I guess the look is just part of being a teen.
3 comments:
You really made a good point, Harriet! Kids look bored, but they are hearing! Someone in our church said something like 'When an ancestor died, the library closed.' Like your son said--the stories are gone. My hsuband also lost the last of his mother's siblings earlier this month and he said the same thing. All the little things she could tell us about his grandparents that we'd never read--they're gone now.
It is sad to think of the lost stories but we just need to try to record the ones we know.
You must be teaching your kids the right things; that was a very perceptive remark for a 14-year-old. I'm trying to impress these things into my kids, but I never know whether they are taking or not.
Post a Comment