Preserving Family Stories

Preserving Family Stories

Do you have family stories that you wish to preserve? Carol talks about her family and the importance of treasuring family stories for the next generation.

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The Stories Of Our Lives

The puzzle pieces of our lives are all about who we are, what we need, how we function, and the stories of our lives. Everyone has a story so why should I preserve mine? Why should you preserve and tell your memories and stories?

hopestreamradio · Preserving Family Stories

Some people might question the need to preserve family history, to store and pass down artifacts, to go to the bother of gathering information and recording events. After all, what if no one in the next generation really cares about what happened in ours?

Family Stories

Personally, I love stories and family stories, or stories about history, bring the people and events to life. I enjoy learning more about what happened in the past that formed the puzzle pieces of their lives and influenced the next generation or multiple generations. Maybe that is why I also love museums, especially those that have interactive exhibits. It gives a richness to learning history instead of just reading the statistics in a textbook.

South Dakota Vacation

A few years ago our family went to South Dakota on a vacation. It became an opportunity to learn about a new area we had never visited but also about one of my favourite authors. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about her life of homesteading and growing up on the United States prairie in the late 1800’s. In her early sixties, she sent her book, “A Pioneer Girl”, to a publisher only to have it rejected with the comment, “People lived through this so why would they want to read about it.”

Why indeed would someone who had lived the hardships want to read about them? Laura accepted help from her daughter, an award winning journalist, with revision and editing her manuscript into a series of smaller books geared for a younger audience who had not lived through that particular era. A publisher accepted this revised work and the first of eight books came to market when Laura was sixty-five years old.

Preserving Family History

A visit to Laura’s home town of DeSmet, South Dakota brought the urgency of preserving family history back to the forefront of my mind when I heard someone ask, “Who is preserving your generation’s stories and history?” This question caused me to pause and consider who would record each generation’s stories and history. It warranted further consideration.

My children and grandchildren encourage, nag, or compel, the word choice depends on the day, me not just to write the stories I have collected from past generations, but to write my own stories, the stories of our immediate family, and where we began. I sometimes discount the adventure they see in these more modern tales or benefit of preserving them until I remember the longing I experienced when, even after my encouragement, my parents hesitated to share their life stories which they considered routine.

Unique Stories

Why should I share my experiences if everyone has a story? This question often pops into my mind. While it is true that we all have a story to tell, each one is as unique as the individuals involved. Even family members view the same event through the lens of their own perspectives. My husband’s youngest sibling is almost 16 years younger than he is. They had vastly different experiences growing up. He remembers when their parents had little money and worked hard to establish the farm.

By the time his youngest sister can remember, the farm prospered and money no longer had to be spread as thin. She could have things her parents didn’t have the luxury of providing for her older siblings. Even though my brother is less than two years younger than I am, he remembers things which weren’t important to me and I didn’t store away in my memory banks and vice versa. Therefore, the more stories that are preserved and shared, the more well-rounded view of any period of time we will have.

Cultural Connection

Keeping a record of family history allows for a cultural connection to form even when a family has mixed ethnic backgrounds. It helps the present generation connect with the cultures of their ancestors. It can help families trace or find their origins, illuminate vital hereditary information, and provide a living connection with the past. 

Family history is more than our family tree with its list of names, dates, and possible places different generations lived. Each name represents a person who had a story to tell, a life lived, decisions they made, and ones they regretted. Who they were and their stories give us an idea of what life was like at the time they lived which gives us a personal glimpse into a historical era.

Every event, including everyday occurrences, impact people and influence their decisions. The choices made by our ancestors affected not only them but each successive generation as well. Therefore, telling the family stories, including our own, helps pass on the information and allows the building of intergenerational connections. 

Skeletons in the Closet

Everyone has a story which contains good, bad, and maybe even a few skeletons rattling around in a closet. Preserving the stories helps to preserve the memories, understand what family and cultural influences still happen in our lives. They allow us to make connections between past, present and future generations. Life moves forward, but memories draw us back to our roots. Are you sharing your stories and preserving them for future generations to know what the puzzle pieces of your life looked like and how they affected you? Have some fun. Tell some stories.

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