I wish I knew the stories that my grandparents might have told. I only had the privilege of knowing one of my grandparents, and I didn’t get to spend much time with her. I lived on the farm that was handed down through the generations in my family from the time of the Northwest Territory land grants until my father sold it in the 60s. I can only imagine the stories no one remembers today.
I began writing family memories a little over ten years ago. I’m thankful I started writing them before my father died at age 90. My mother and her twin brother will soon be 93. I kept what began several years ago as a collection of little incidents and stories in a ring binder notebook that I called the Ducker Family Heritage Album. Many of those stories have been added to my “Memory Lane” and “Tales from the Kid in Me” categories here on my blog. To celebrate my parents’ 90th birthdays, I increased my determination to write stories and recruited the help of my siblings and cousins. I wrote the first book for my dad, and later with the extra stories from my cousins we wrote the second book for Mom and her twin brother. I published them on Lulu.com where we could order whatever number of copies we wanted. These books are treasured by many of my relatives. My uncle is so proud of his book that he buys them and gives them to his new friends at his assisted living center.
Not everyone is ready to write a book of stories, but writing up family incidents turned out to be a lot of fun from the beginning as a small project. Everyone from grandparents to aunts and uncles to the youngest children has a story of some kind worth telling. Share some storytelling time with your children and write the stories down. Encourage them to write their stories as you write your own – or the other way around, let them write yours and you write theirs. After proofreading and editing them together, print them on fancy printer paper and put them in a nice folder or notebook as a keepsake. Add to your collection of stories on a regular basis.
A great launchpad is to draw a map of the place where you grew up. Then begin sharing about things that happened there as they come to mind. This can work for children as well as adults at any age. Once the incidents are remembered it’s time to write them down. Write fast and edit them later. Have fun!
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