How Do You Make Sure a Good Story is Passed On?
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History is an amazing thing. Genealogy can be intriguing. And funny stories of life can be hilarious….but all can be forgotten if it is not recorded. I’ve been told many times I need to write a book about my life experiences – I have quite a few stories to tell! But if I write them down – who will read them?
I used to keep a very detailed journal that I would write down things I wanted to remember….until my boys started crawling and walking – then all of my free time was gone! I haven’t written in my journal in years, and to be honest I’m not even sure where it is anymore!
One of the most intriguing stories in my life perhaps is that I was adopted at the age of 4 with my sister. We grew up together in a pretty messed up broken adopted family. There is a LOT more to fill in here, but I guess that’s why I would need a book huh? Shortly after I got married I had the urge to find my birth family so I launched what ended up being a 9 month obsession to find them. It was a miracle that they were find through the kind (and perhaps not legal?) help of someone that I don’t even know – I have no idea how she found them either.
From her kindness I was able to meet my birth mother, 3 more sisters, a brother, 2 aunts and be welcomed into yet another crazy messed up family! It is an intriguing story and is really not complete yet as I have another sister out there somewhere that we have yet to find. We hit a lot of dead ends in our search, found incorrect court documents, a possibly illegal adoption agency that was shut down by the government shortly after we were adopted through it, lack of records, double sets of social security numbers, all sorts of crazy and unanswered questions. I suppose I may never know the answers but the journey is quite a story!
Do you have a story in your family, or in your family’s history that you want to keep alive? This is a great way to incorporate history into your classroom as well! Have your children research something interesting in their family (or if they don’t have a family something interesting in the family of a famous person in history) and write it down. Here are a few ideas to keep the stories alive in your family.
Ways to Share Your Stories with Others:
1. Create a Time Capsule
2. Keep a Journal
3. Write a Blog (keep it private if you want!)
4. Document it and put it in a safety deposit box
5. Submit it to your local newspaper
6. Write a book!
7. Include the story in your will to be passed on.
8. Create a project out of it.
9. Build or sew something related to your story.
10. Take pictures and make a scrapbook.
11. Create a puppet play out of it.
Your story could be anything. Maybe it’s not as extreme as mine is, but maybe you have a pilot in the family. How about a soldier? It doesn’t have to be old memories or stories either. Maybe there is something funny like going camping and then forgetting the tent, or someone accidentally letting all of the caterpillars in the classroom loose – you can weave your story into so many interesting ideas to keep it alive and share it with others!
You could even sit down every year and put together notes on your favorite or funny things that have happened through the year and keep them in a box or envelope!
I’d LOVE to hear stories about your family, your family’s history, or something funny you would like remembered! Leave a comment below letting me know something you would love to pass on!
Crystal- were you in foster care? My girls were adopted though foster care at 3 and 4.
jenetta
Yes I was in foster care for a few months but I don't really remember it. It is a bit uncanny but I was 4 years old when I was adopted out of foster care with my sister who was 3 years old!