How to Start Your Own Family Stories

When you start working on your own family stories, I do strongly recommend getting a digital recorder, which is small, unobtrusive & fairly inexpensive. I use a Sony ICD-P520, which is less than $50 on Amazon.com. Another nice feature is that you can use the USB to load it to your computer and create CDs. Once you have a recording, you can also transcribe it into a Word document.

If you want to capture stories and folklore from the elderly, I urge you to start right away. You never know when they (or perhaps just their minds) may be suddenly taken away. Whenever you get a group of people together, encourage them to talk about their experiences. If possible, record them talking, but if not, then take notes to expand later.

Keep a writing journal to remind yourself of stories you want them to talk about, or events you recall yourself. Use photos & memorabilia to help them reminisce. That often has a starburst effect - one memory leads to three others and each of them to several more. It is a wonderful way to keep expanding their legacy.

Here are some of my favorite websites to help you get started. And of course, my book has some excellent ideas on how to capture your family stories. ;-)

Website Resources for Family Historians:

About.com Genealogy website has a list of 50 questions to help on interviews.
www.genealogy.about.com/cs/oralhistory/a/interview.htm

Ancestry.com. This website says, “Feel free to print and distribute” a Script for Video or Audio Interviews with Family Members. www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lineage/famhist.htm

Author’s website, where you can sign up for a free monthly newsletter (via email) with tips on writing family history.
www.bethlamie.com

Association of Personal Historians (APH), which offers an anthology of personal stories.
www.personalhistorians.org/

CookbookPeople.com. Software & Blog to create and print a family cookbook at home.
www.cookbookpeople.com

Cute PDF.com. Download free software so you can share a document as a PDF file without anyone else modifying it. You use it like another printer, then provide the name and location for the file to save.
www.cutePDF.com

Cyndi’s List.com. More than 200,000 website links to help with genealogy and family history.
www.cyndislist.com/

Dr. Wicked.com. This simple-to-use website can help when you want to concentrate on a writing exercise. www.lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html

Grandparents TLC.com. This site offers “Technology to Help Loving Grandparents Connect with Grandchildren!”
www.grandparentstlc.com/blog/

Smithsonian Institute. This booklet in PDF format explains how to get started with interviews, sample questions and additional resources.
www.Folklife.SI.edu/Resources/pdf/InterviewingGuide.pdf

Story of My Life.com. Free private website to easily gather all your family stories from friends and family and invite participation from around the world.
www.storyofmylife.com

Change and Eternal Love

My In-laws are amazing people. They are both 90 years old and she is older by four days, so he has always teased her about being an "older woman." They have been married for 71 years this summer and lived in the same house for some 65 years until they moved into a lovely senior housing facility about 6 months ago.

Just yesterday, they made another momentous change in their lives. Mom had to be placed in an Alzheimer's unit because she needs specialized care. I'm sure Dad dreaded making the decision to be separated from his soul-mate, but fortunately, the units are on the same property so he can go see her every day.

In this world of instant gratification and jumping from one relationship to another, it is wonderful to see a love that has endured for almost a century. Even as their minds and bodies have slowly but surely started to disappoint them, there has never been any doubt that they are still in love.

They are models for married life. It would be lovely if we could learn the secret of their success.