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YOur Life Story-A Treasure for your Family
By: jsbwrites

Have you ever considered writing down some of the experiences you have had
in your life? Do you wish you had learned more about your parents’ lives?
Have your children asked you about your life and that of your spouse before
they were born? If you have any of these thoughts, you are ready to consider
recording your own story. It is a gift you can give members of your family
that they will treasure.
I use the word recording deliberately because, in this technological age,
one of the simplest ways of relaying your story is by tape-recording it. I
discovered this out of necessity some years ago when my father-in-law was in
England and I wanted to write about the life of an older man as part of a
university course. On a holiday, I spent just over two hours with him as he
answered my questions and enlarged upon his own experiences and values. He
has since died but we can still hear his voice and so can other family
members in Australia, as it was easy to make copies of two cassettes. That
convinced me of the value of a live recording. My father-in-law had lived
through the reigns of four monarchs, two world wars and the depression; he
gave me a slice of history as he related his story. You can do that too.
Think of all the changes that have happened since you were born!
A simple way to start is to go through a person¹s life chronologically
showing who was important, what happened, when and where. These facts are basic to every story and will reveal so much about the people who were
important to you and how you shared certain events. Think of simple
questions children have asked you and just answer them as you speak into the recorder. It is even easier if a friend asks you the questions so you can be
prompted about what to answer.
Looking at a photograph album together can be a great way to jog your memoryor a parent's. It will start an older person recounting a family story in
some detail; for instance, an old school photo might bring back amusing
memories or a picture on a beach can lead to a, "You remember when" story.
The kind of details you can retrieve this way help someone¹s past life come
alive as he tells it himself. Looking at pictures with my mother once, she
told me so much about fashion in the 1930¹s and in wartime. It was
fascinating information to a teenager but I never thought of recording it.
So often I hear people say, "I wish I'd asked my mother more questions and
kept her answers."
If your parents are alive, have those questions ready when you visit them. Take your tape-recorder along and get the answers,discover more about the family traditions and funny stories. After a familyevent such as a birthday party, wedding anniversary or Christmastime, record who was there and some of the things that happened. You won¹t regret it! Ten years down the road, your family will be so pleased you took the time to do it.
Oral history and story telling are wonderful ways to preserve memories. It
happens all the time on radio when a reporter relates a story to bring it
alive for us. Now you can do the same thing for your family. Having a
recording can also be the incentive to produce a family story as a small
book later on. You can include the photos that will bring that story to life
for readers, years later. But that is the second step. The first step is to
record a story as you or a relative tells it. Spend that time together and
you will discover a story to treasure.
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