Personal and Family History – Simple Ways to Keep a History and Keep in Touch by Piper Cox
In days past, families didn’t move very far from where their roots were. People would stay close to their extended family and live out their lives with relatives around them. You don’t see that lifestyle very much any longer. We leave home for school and jobs and find ourselves settling further away. We do have excellent ways to keep up with family, with email and phone calls, but we are missing the personal touch. It becomes harder and harder to keep the close relationships from a distance.
We can relate the relationship we have with far-away family to the relationship we have with our ancestors. We are aware of them, where they live and how they earn a living. What about the personal memories, the ones that make them real to us?
We get a awareness of who we and are our place in a family by relating to our extended family, whether it is far-off family of today or our ancestors of the past. Hearing about their personal lives, hope and dreams, every day events, help us to feel like we are an intimate part of their life. It is up to us to make sure that these family ties are strong and stay strong, even with our ancestors.
Even though we have the capability to keep close ties with our far-off family, it seems as though it is more difficult than ever to stay in touch. We should have no trouble staying in touch because of all the advances in communication we have these days. Email and great telephone service gives us the ability to get in touch with almost anyone anywhere. Visting distant family is far easier as well. Because of the modes of transportation in the past, families seldom visited their distant family. We can quickly cover the distance with modern travel. Today we lead such busy lifes that we can’t seem to fit in an extra moment for family visits.
There are simple ways to stay connected with your extended family. With a little time and effort to begin with, you can make your family a top priority again. Many of these ideas will also help toward writing your record for your posterity. Someday we will be the ancestors and our descendents will wonder about our stories.
Start a circle journal. Get a group of family members and start a circle journal to circulate through the group. Each person will get the journal for a week or so. It can be a day to day journal or just write in it once or twice. But make sure you include information about what you are doing in your life right now. When the time period is up, simply mail the journal to the next person and have them do the same thing. Plan the journal so everyone gets the journal about every month to six weeks. When you get the journal back you can read about what everyone else has been doing with their lives, then you update your information and pass it along again. At the end of each year make a copy for everyone in the group and start with a fresh journal for the new year. This is a fun way to keep in touch with a group of people and it is more personal than a yearly update letter.
With a circle journal you are not only staying in touch, but you are creating an daily record for your future posterity. It is natural for us to history all the major events in our lives, but we tend to ignore the beauty of every day life. If you research your family history you will find that you cherish the records of the mundane things of everyday. Everyday events tend to humanize families and make them someone we can relate to.
Start a family blog. Blogging is a great way to stay in touch and share stories. You can keep your blog private and only invite family members. This is a perfect way to share everyday events and milestones.
Develop a digital scrapbook. When you create a scrapwook digitally, you can make a family record without mess or much expense. When you create a scrapbook digitally, you can share your layouts with family and friends by posting them on your blog or picture sharing websites. If you want, you can have your scrapbook printed professionally and give it as a gift.
A personal record can take on many different forms. Just as historyof ancestors are importantto us, someday your history will be importantto your posterity. Family history is how we know where we have been and where we are going. No matter how your develop your family history, make sure you are in it!
Piper spends her time learning about her genealogy and using her slide converter. She loves going for walks, music and spending time with her family. She makes memory books of her ancestors after she has restored photos she has found in her research.
Article Source: Fun Personality