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All Helpful Information Tips and Hints
(Genealogy)
There are Stories to be Told: Start
a Family Tradition
(Genealogy)
There are Stories to be Told: Start a
Family Tradition
by Debbie Rodgers
One of the most rewarding ways to use your outdoor living space is to
gather your family members for a reunion. Perhaps it's a small group that
gets together annually, or a large one whose far-flung members attend
every two or five or even 10 years. Whether large or small, a reunion is a
wonderful opportunity to knit families closer together through shared
stories.
In the much-underrated 1990 film Avalon, a Russian immigrant to 1940s
America relates the disintegration of his family ties. In his young
manhood, his children gathered at the feet of older relatives during
family gatherings and listened to tales of their heritage and history. As
television took hold of society in the late '50s, children and adults
alike opted for the entertainment of television personalities, instead of
the stories of their roots.
But just as the art of listening to stories has gone by the wayside, so
has the art of telling them. Here's how to re-start a tradition of
storytelling at your family reunion.
• Advise all who will be attending that there will be an opportunity to
tell some stories about the family, and let them know you'd love to hear
them share something. Especially encourage older ones to think about their
children when they were young, their own childhood, or even stories they
may remember from their parents. With only a little effort, you can be
hearing about things that happened over a century ago.
• Have some questions prepared to start the ball rolling. "Where did your
family go on vacation when your children were small?" "How did you and
Grandpa meet?" "What's the funniest thing one of your children ever did?"
"How did you manage through tough times?"
• Encourage storytellers to use descriptions that will engage all of the
senses. Was the thunder rolling in the distance just before the downpour
when Grandma and Grandpa bumped into each other running for cover? Did the
scent of the lilacs in Aunt Ellen's garden waft in through her kitchen
window? Was there a cool breeze on the beach near the family vacation
campsite? Did the sun sparkle off the snow on the mid-winter drive to
Uncle Max's? Was the strawberry jam your mom made the sweetest you ever
tasted? Use touch, smell and taste as well as sight and sound to bring the
scene to life for listeners.
• The best stories have a point. "That's when I first learned how
important it is to be on time." "If it hadn't rained that day, we might
never have met, and most of you would never have been born!" It doesn't
have to be profound, but be prepared to help your tellers wrap up their
stories with a short statement of its significance.
• Get the younger ones involved too -- perhaps you can encourage them to
be official family historians who will record the stories. If there's a
group, give them papers and drawing materials and ask them to make
pictures of the scenes they will hear unfold. You can have the older ones
label the drawings and then gather them together with ribbon. Each family
can take home their personal family album.
• If there are old photographs that support an account, or a time period,
mount these in archive quality materials and display them in a shady spot
or pass them around while the story is being told. Use other mementos as
well. Your great-grandfather's railroad watch that he wore to work every
day for 45 years, or a playbill from your first date will help bring life
to the accounts of those special times.
So gather your loved ones on your porch or patio and make some memories
while you start a storytelling tradition
Debbie Rodgers may be contacted at
http://www.paradiseporch.com
debbie@paradiseporch.com
Debbie Rodgers, the haven maven, owns and operates Paradise Porch, and is
dedicated to helping people create outdoor living spaces that nurture and
enrich them. Her latest how-to guide “Attracting Butterflies to Your Home
and Garden” is now available on her web site. Visit her at
www.paradiseporch.com and get a
free report on “Eight easy ways to create privacy in your outdoor space”.
Mail to debbie@paradiseporch.com
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