Every person, a story. Every story, a legacy.

As you may know from my previous blog stories, I am really into researching my Family History. There is nothing more exciting than reading about what my ancestors accomplished during their lifetimes, and writing their stories in binders for my future generations to cherish throughout posterity.

In researching Genealogy though (no matter what family you are looking at), you always have ancestors that are an enigma. Either you can find nothing on the person life information (date, place, or location wise), or you have multiple personal stories that contradict one another. Personally, I could write a book alone on the mysteries/unanswered questions in my family research. All to often I say to myself, "If only I could go back in time for just one day!" Although (obviously) that is never going to be possible for any of us, so we must work with what records we have in present time.

All too often, in researching Genealogy, we can get centered on just needing the dates ~ forgetting that these names on the page were once "people". All of our ancestors (in the period of their lifetimes) went on day to day as we do presently ~ having friends, having thoughts/ideas, and influencing others. We will never know the full stories of our ancestors, but can still appreciate them for what they passed to us (our genes, and parts of our unique personalities).

Sometimes in this field of research, a person can become very lucky with a find. As Family History researchers call it "Hitting Genealogy Gold", and it can be a very thrilling experience. I am referring to discovering a photo of an ancestor, or finding a journal that once belonged to your ancestor. Both examples are equally exciting! The photo allows you to see what that ancestor looked like (possibly noticing that you look just like them), and the journal gives you a peek into the day to day life of the person you are researching.

As I have stated up to this point, I love researching my ancestors. Although I can trace lineages pretty well, I am terrible at keeping records on myself. Although I am still living, and do not yet have children; I realized that someday I may have decedents that are looking into my life. As I have difficulty with tracing several of my ancestors; I could just picture a GGG Grandson of mine looking at my picture and saying to their self, "I wonder what kind of life this person led? Were they influential in their community? Who did they mean something too?" Although the future is not ours to see, we all have to realize (rather we have decedents or not) that someday we will grow old and fade to history as just a memory. Do you just want to be known as a person that lived from 1993 to 2060 (for example), or do you want to be known as a person who lived a life of adventure?

We have to remember too that history is not going to change, so we are stuck with what records we have on our ancestors. However, with us living presently; we can ensure that our story is told correctly to the future generations of tomorrow. Personally I recently started writing memoirs from the last couple years of my life (since it was so busy and life course altering for me). I am enjoying writing this down, and someday hope to have it done. This is just one way I am ensuring this part of my story is told, but there are many other ways.

Here are some examples of things you can do to keep a good history on your life and times:

1. Keep a journal or diary.

-This method is for the people that enjoy writing. Just write a page a day, or just a little a day on happenings in your life; and in no time you would be amazed how much you have documented. On the negative side, this form of memory preservation is really fragile. Just the simple mess of spilt water can destroy the records, and are at more of a chance of "falling apart" through the works of time.

2. Keep an audio journal/diary.

-Not everyone is a writer, and many (like myself) just cannot find time in their busy lives to write. You would be surprised how much more you can say in less time than write. Plus, by just using your voice, you don't get fatigued or tired (of writing). Furthermore, this allows anyone who listens to actually hear your voice, and the emotion behind your stories. These can be placed on cd, and can be copied very easily indefinitely. I use a digital recorder, but you can use a tape recorder as well.

3. Keep a daily video log.

-This is a really good method of preserving your stories, but is not always accessible to everyone. This is just like the audio journal/diary, except those who watch it get to see your face and hear your voice with the emotion behind your stories. Like the audio, you can fit much more into a video than writing it in books. This is also good if you want to show something to whomever is watching the video ~ Like," I read this book today, and really enjoyed it!" These records can also be placed on cd, and can be copied very easily indefinitely.

4. Keep a scrapbook.

-Perhaps you do a lot of activities with family or friends. You can keep a scrapbook with pictures and physical mementos along with stories (here and there), names, and dates. This is also a good method for keeping newspaper and other articles you cut out (that involves you) organized.

5. Keep up to date photo albums as you go through life.

-Every person has at least one picture taken at one point in their life (in present day), but most often pictures are left unlabeled or just in a box in no specific order. As things happen in your life, and you acquire/take pictures of these happenings (like family vacations, reunions, or just pictures of family holidays); you can label them, and file them away in photo books. Doesn't have to be anything special, just functional. In today's age, most people use digital cameras; so you can even just date the pictures and store them on folders in a flash drive or on a disk. You can even take your SD card to a local photo place (Costco offers the cheapest services for just $0.09 per print) and have them printed for photo albums. Regardless, just be sure they are labeled somehow.

6. Buy one of those question books.

-I know if you are a mother, Avon has a "Mother to Daughter" book, full of questions about general things and lines for your answers. It is a simple idea, but still gets something about your life on paper.

7. Tell stories.

-This may also seem like a simple idea, but you would be amazed how memory of recollections will last through the generations. Just sit your kids down, and tell them about your childhood. Tell them about your parents, and even what your grandparents were like. 9 times out of 10, children will want to know more and ask you more and more. Understand that memory can be lost and altered as time passes, but just another idea to keep your legacy alive.

Everything listed above are methods that work very well in preserving your story for future generations. No matter which one(s) you use always be sure to include the date, location of events, and times if able. Label your photos, and be sure that you keep records in a safe place. I recently have started keeping an audio journal myself (when able), and someday hope that my GGG grandchildren can hear parts of my story and learn something about my life.

Understand that I am not trying to push these suggestions on anyone, but just trying to get more people today to save something for the generations of tomorrow.

So write or record something, and have fun with it! Someday it will be appreciated.