There are many different kinds of "family history" activities. It's not all about researching ancestors, scanning old photographs, and so forth. It's just not about our ancestors! Think about this for a moment...some of you are grandparents or parents. You are the "ancestor" to your posterity of children, grandchildren, or even great grandchildren. Or, if you are still young and not yet married, one day you may have posterity. How will your posterity remember you?

Preserving Our Heritage is Also a Part of Family History

Our posterity needs to hear about our life adventures, our challenges that we overcame (or didn't), and our successes. They should also better understand us and our beliefs through the stories that we create and share. Most of us probably feel that our posterity wouldn't be interested in the events of our life. That is so far from the true reality. "Grandpa, what did you do in the Navy when you were on the ship?" "Why did you want to become a doctor?" "What did you do as a kid?" There are so many things that we can tell them about our lives. It is those simple stories that will keep us alive in their memories when we are gone.

The story below was written on FamilySearch and a photograph was attached to it. You can click on the image to open up FamilySearch to see an actual sample of what a story might be. You will notice that I also presented my feelings about the experience at the end of the story. It's always great to tell a story, but others should learn something from the experience that may help them in their own life journeys.

How will your posterity remember you? Or...will those memories of you fade with time? It is said that after 3 generations, 95% of all the memories about you will fade away. I expect that it is much worse...probably after two generations many of those life memories will be gone. I ponder my life with the experiences that I have gone through and my posterity really has no clue about all the things that I have done. STORIES are what keep our memories alive for our posterity! They are so easily recorded, saved, AND shared with your posterity.

Writing Down Those Simple Stories is So ... Well ... Simple!

FamilySearch has made this so easy for us to do. Did you know that you can write down a short memory of an event that happened in your life, put a photo (or photos) with that story, and then SHARE it with family members? Sharing is as simple as clicking on the "Share" button, copying a link, and then sending that link in email or a text message. Can you imagine your young grandchildren clicking on a text message or email that you just sent them and reading your story with the photos attached to it? This happens without having them need to log into FamilySearch! They don't even have to have an account. You can share a lot of stories with them.

Stories are not histories! They are simply one or two paragraph memories about an activity, a hard time in your life, a success, funny school memories, and so on. Stories are meant to be shared with family. They will remember you AND learn more about you through the stories that you share.

Take some time to go into FamilySearch and type up some short stories about your life events, attach any photos you may have about that story, and then share those page links with other family members. I do find it easier to remember some of my earlier life events when I look at the old photos my parents took of us while growing up. If you are not sure how to begin this process of writing these quick little stories, please contact me. I would be more than happy to help you get started. Who knows, you may suddenly find yourself hooked on doing this. It is so easy to do and I know that your posterity will simply love it. Send out a weekly story by email or text message to your kids and grandkids.

For more information about "STORIES" and some sample stories to get you thinking, CLICK HERE.