Did You Ever Have the Fire Department or the Police Come to Your Home?

Another question for your story:

Did you ever have the fire department or the police come to your home?

Today I called the sheriff's office because my neighbor was not home and there was a strong smell of propane from his propane tank.  A deputy came and checked out the tank, then called the fire department to come.  Fortunately nothing disastrous happened.  The problem was taken care of.  
One rainy night about midnight I awoke to my dog barking and realized someone was knocking on the door and I heard a deputy yelling through the door asking if I was okay.  Fortunately it was a deputy that I knew.  He said there had been a 911 call from my address.  I had been sound asleep.  I jokingly said, "Maybe my dog called, but I hadn't.  I checked my phone.  It was on the hook, and there was a dial tone.  He said he was sorry to wake me, but they had to make sure I was okay.  He then commented that they had had a problem with some of their phone circuits and thought it might be due to the moisture.  Although I hadn't enjoyed being awakened in the middle of the night, I was glad to know the sheriff's office was following up on 911 calls.

When we were living in a duplex, we were startled one evening to hear a fire engine pull up outside with it's sirens going.  We hurried outside to see why they were there.  They were putting out a fire that had started in the swamp cooler for the other half of the duplex.  We were so grateful they responded so quickly.  No damage to the building was done because of their quick response.
As a child I only remember one visit from the fire department to our farm.  Our main chicken coop had caught on fire.  The volunteer fire department from the town five miles away responded.  So did the department from a town fifteen miles away and from the largest city in our area that was fifteen miles away.  Unfortunately the coop was too far gone for it to be saved, but they prevented the fire from spreading to the other coops, corrals, and grainery as well as protecting our home.  That was a sad time for our family, but we counted our blessings for what did not burn.

Whenever I hear a siren from a police car, a fire engine or an ambulance, I am grateful for those who will respond in emergencies and who are there to help us.  Think about the times in your life when you have been helped by the police, the fire department or an ambulance.  Record those times in your story.   

http://www.pdclipart.org provided the public domain clip art above.

Who Was a Favorite Teacher in Elementary School?

Here is another question for writing your story:

Who was a favorite teacher in elementary school?

I think my third grade teacher was my favorite teacher from elementary school.  I remember her as being kind and gentle.  She taught third, fourth and fifth grade.  Her husband was the principal of the school and he taught sixth, seventh and eighth grade.  I only had her for third grade since our school district changed the way the schools were the summer after I finished third grade.  The four room school house in our town was closed, and we were bused to the town five miles away when I started fourth grade.   She and her husband were friends of my parents.  I remember her giving me two store bought dresses that her daughters had outgrown.  My mother sewed all of my clothes, so they were the first store bought dresses that I owned.   

What Music Do You Remember

Another question for your life story:

What music do you remember?

Music has been a source of joy in my life.  I remember singing in church and those songs have become so familiar to me that I can sing many of them without needing to see the words.  Some of the songs were just fun like "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree."  Other songs taught me important truths that are an important part of my life like "I Am A Child of God". 

At school music was important.  Those songs were just for fun.  I remember the "Animal Fair".  I found the following link with Captain Kangaroo singing this song: 



Another song I remember was "Michael Finnegan" which I found a video with a group of children singing it here:  


There were a lot of songs to mention during my teenage years, but the most significant one was "The Impossible Dream" which we sang for our high school graduation.  Sometimes it seems like life is full of impossible dreams, but yet we still have to keep on trying.

What songs do you remember from your childhood?  Write them down.  Find recordings of them to share with your family.  Music can be a big influence in our lives.  Share how music has affected your life.

What Kinds of Flowers Do You Remember in Your Life

Here's another question to answer in your life story:

What kinds of flowers do you remember in your life?

Do you remember flowers from your childhood?  Did you have daffodils or tulips in the springtime.  Did you have irises or tiger lilies?  Did you have a small border of flowers or a big bed of flowers?  Did you only grow flowers outside or were flowers brought inside to display in bouquets?  Did you give or receive flowers?  Do any flowers have a special meaning to you?

When I was young we had irises and gladiolas and tiger lilies growing along the fence line.  I can remember one year that a large section in front of the house was planted with many different kinds of flowers.  It was a spectacular display.  I didn't receive many flower bouquets in my life.  When my late husband was courting me, he gave me a bouquet of six red roses.  It was all that he could afford.  I dried those roses and put them in a jar.  I still have them today.  Where I work flowers are often given to us, so the past few years I have had bouquets of flowers inside.  I have to watch out where I put the flowers because I have a cat who likes certain flowers especially carnations and roses. I try to grow flowers outside.  I seem to have the most success with marigolds and sunflowers.  They volunteer to grow.  

Write down your memories of flowers and take pictures so you can always remember the flowers in your life.  Take time to stop and enjoy the flowers.

 

 Another question for your story:

Do you have any pleasant walking memories?

When you were young, did you walk to school or other places on a regular basis?  Did you have a dog that you took for a walk?  Did you have a favorite place to go for a walk?  Did you go on a hike in the mountains or through a wilderness area?  Did you ever have to walk because you missed your ride?

If you were 150 years old or older, you might be able to tell about walking across the plains.  If you are close to 100 years old you might be able to tell about walking several miles to school.  Most people in the 21st century are not forced to walk.  We choose to walk.

When I was young, we lived a mile from the elementary school.  The bus stopped at our house and picked up my sister since she had to travel 15 miles to the high school.  I could ride to the bus to school and didn't have to walk.  I do remember choosing to walk the mile to town for some things, but usually my parents could give me a ride or I could catch a ride with the neighbor up the road.  I did get frequent walks when I was assigned to go find the cow and herd her back to the corral in the evening.

A mile isn't too bad of a walk usually, but sometimes it can be difficult.  As a teenager one morning in winter when the car wouldn't start I decided I could walk to town.  It had snowed several inches over night.  I didn't have boots, but usually I could deal with wading through some snow.  I thought it wouldn't be hard to walk through the snow that morning.  I had walked about three fourths of the way to town and my feet were wet and frozen.  I was beginning to doubt my ability to make it to town, when someone I knew stopped and offered me a ride.  I was very grateful.

I walked my children to school each day when they first started school and we lived about half a mile from the school.  As they got older they walked to school together.  Then we moved where it was 4 to 5 miles to the school, and they got to ride a bus.

At this time of my life I walk the dog every day.  He needs the exercise and so do I.  He waits expectantly for his walk, and he looks so disappointed if I can't give him a walk.  So nearly every day we walk from half a mile to a mile depending on the weather and how much time I have.

I am so grateful I can walk.  Spending four months not being able to walk, then standing on one leg, then hopping on one leg, and finally being allowed to walk with a walker and eventually back to walking on my own has left me very appreciative of the fact that I can walk.  What a great blessing it is to walk.

Write down your memories of walks.  Walking is an important part of our lives.

What Did You Do When It was Really Hot?

Here's another question for writing your story:
What did you do when it was really hot?
In the summertime when it gets really hot it can be challenging to get much work done.  For me when it gets in the high 90's and over 100 degrees, I find it difficult to keep working.  A cooler or air conditioner makes a huge difference.  I've had a few days when my cooler stopped working, and I had to deal with the heat.  It makes me stop and think how did people use to cope without a cooler or air conditioner.
Where I grew up we had about a month of hot temperatures.  We had a basement in our house, and in the heat of the afternoon that was the place we wanted to stay.  When my dad built bedrooms upstairs, I learned if I opened my bedroom window, left my bedroom door open and opened the front door leaving only the screen door closed a nice cool breeze would blow through my room.  We didn't even have fans so that breeze was very welcome.  Of course things are different now as we worry about burglaries and don't dare leave a door unlocked.  
When you write your story, recording how you dealt with hot weather will add interest and understanding.  Maybe you played in a pool of water when it got really hot.  Maybe you soaked towels or washcloths in water and used them to cool off your skin.  Maybe you placed a wet towel or a pan of ice cubes in front of a fan and sat in front of the stream of cool air.  Maybe you ate a lot of ice cream.  Maybe it didn't really get hot where you lived so you never worried about how to cool down.  Recording your summer experiences will add another dimension to your story.


 

LDS.org - Church History Content - Preserving Your Personal History

LDS.org - Church History Content - Preserving Your Personal History

I just found out about these videos that help with preserving your personal history, so I wanted to share the link to these videos. I haven't watched them all yet, but I'm sure there will be good information in them that will help in preserving your story.