Grandpa, what was your first pet’s name?

The stories of your life.  They are as different as you are.  Perhaps you (like me) grew up on a farm.  Your grandchildren can’t see that farm, but you can give it to them in memories.

Where did you go to school?  Who was your first girlfriend?  Or boyfriend? Were you in the military?  Did you go to a country school?  Did your uncles and aunts visit on Sundays?  What were your Sunday afternoons like? 

There are so many stories in your life that your family would love to know.  Give them the gift of your stories in a bound document, a series of oral interviews, or a children’s book.  Your life matters.

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Memoir writing

Why tell your life story?  Why indeed.

How many life stories have there been in your life which would have so richly offered you understanding and background?  Your mother? Father? Grandparents? Siblings?

Think about your own children.  And grandchildren.  Think about historical interest.  Fortunately, in the recent past, many museums and libraries have sought the stories of our World War II Veterans.  This has become of vital interest for our past because of the age of the veterans.  I applaud each and every man and woman who have come forward to offer their life stories to be captured in such an important manner.  This adds richness and detail to our research of the world as it existed during this unparalleled war.

I have a strong interest in the women’s stories.  In the feelings that women have experienced and the life choices which they have made based on the rights and responsibilities of women.  In history, there are two categories of study on which historians often focus.  One is “top down” history, which in the definition of the college students surrounding me meant  “dead white man history.”  The generals, the kings, the prime ministers, the presidents – those men at the top who ruled and regulated worlds.  The other idea is “bottom-up” history.  Based on the first category, I think you likely understand what this category means.  The foot soldiers, the poor merchants, the farmers.  The women.

How have mothers created their own worlds?  Lived with the choices sometimes forced on them by men?  Grown through the difficult times of the 70’s and the Woman’s Movement, and converged into today, when young women often find themselves hostile to the idea of feminism.  I fear my history reflects my ideas, and I want to understand and know both my grandmother’s choices (I wish I could have asked her) and my granddaughter’s future options.

Personal history is the richest part of history.  Yours counts more than you can possibly know.

 

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