Wednesday, September 24, 2008

A Tool to Help with Writing Your Story


When writing your story, sometimes it helps to have something to trigger your memories. Knowing what happened in the world during certain years can give you perspective on what happened in your family. For instance, my father did not go on to high school. When I look at the time frame, it was in the middle of the Depression. The closest high school was fifteen miles away. He probably would have had to board in the town where the high school was. Money was probably an issue, and so he choose to stay and help out his sister and brother-in-law with their farm instead of going on to high school. Later in his life he wished he had gotten more education, but he accomplished a lot in his life despite the lack of education. He built the home we grew up in, putting in all the electrical and plumbing himself. He repaired his own cars, trucks and farm equipment. He built chicken coops and corrals and a granary.
By looking at what was going on in the world, I can understand better why my dad didn't go on to high school. There are many events that affect our lives, so it is helpful to look at what was going on in the world at the time. Using a tool such as Personal Historian Software can make writing a family's story much easier. A free trial is available if you want to try it out.

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Saturday, September 13, 2008

Write Your Own Obituary

Today I attended a graveside service for a friend who had passed away. Her son-in-law read her obituary. She had written it herself. She wanted certain things to be remembered, so she wrote them down. What would you want included in your obituary? Perhaps taking time to write them down would help your family. Her son-in-law said it was very nice to find this brief summary of her life already written down. What things do you want people to remember most about you? What were the things that you felt were your greatest accomplishments? What do you want your grandchildren and great grandchildren to know about you? Even though you probably won't die tomorrow, this could be a very valuable thing to do. You may re-evaluate what you have done in your life. Perhaps there are things that you really want to do yet. You may be able to make some changes in your life so your obituary will be what you want it to be. Hopefully you can make some very positive changes in your obituary every time you review it.



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