When you were a child, did you enjoy the stories your grandparents, aunts and uncles told? I did, and feel they are a valuable tool to transfer information from one generation to the next.
The problem with storytelling is that over the years, facts can be forgotten and specifics may be remembered differently. How does your family preserve its history?
I highly recommend writing down familial stories to preserve them. I dearly wish I had written down stories from my grandparents before they passed away, as they had lived through so much during their lifetimes.
My dad's mother was born in 1896 and certainly saw a plethora of changes in her lifetime: from every home having electricity, to air conditioning, microwaves, cars for everyone, jets, computers and a man walking on the moon. What an amazing era in which she lived. I wish I had been able to question her more about her childhood and write down her wonder about the new inventions.
My mother's dad was quite a storyteller and I am sorry I didn't write down his wonderful stories about growing up on a farm in rural Missouri. He was a very positive and upbeat person that could make work seem like play. We loved being around him as he made everything fun, even pulling weeds.
When I first moved to Crestview, I would hear the ladies at the beauty shop talk about how much Crestview has changed, and that when they moved here there was only one stoplight. It was very different from when we moved here and there were multiple traffic lights. Visit the Baker Block Museum (http://bakerblockmuseum.org/clouds/intheclouds/index-a.html) for more historical information on this area.
A friend of mine just took a three-generation family vacation and had the opportunity to share with her grandchildren stories from when she was young; as well as amusing stories about their parents when they were children. These are fun stories for families to know and share.
Make your family a grandparents book. Write down memories from your childhood, special moments that you treasure, recipes you enjoy and special photographs so that your family will remember specifics after you are in heaven.
Your family will certainly treasure such a book.
Janice Lynn Crose, a former accountant, lives in Crestview with her husband, Jim; her two rescue collies, Shane and Jasmine; and two cats, Kathryn and Prince Valiant.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: The importance of recording your family's history