November is Family Stories Month. It is a time to reflect on the silly, funny and serious stories that help define our families.
These stories help/helped make us who/what we are.
Some are small anecdotes that bring us happy memories of someone, or some moment in time. But they are all important. And they are all worth sharing.
Every family has thousands of stories. Most of us could write an epic novel based on a few family members' personal stories, alone !
So many of us grew up hearing stories of the things that our parents and grandparents did and how they lived when they were younger. Telling these stories will remind us of the things that have shaped our lives, and give younger listeners insight into their own family tree.
Family History Month is a great time to explore and share our ancestry.
Collecting and sharing family stories is a wonderful activity for the whole family. It is a good time to encourage the kids to write down the many stories that you and other people in the family have to tell. They can collect pictures, interview family member, write stories, and even create a book compiled from the collected stories.
It is a great time to take the opportunity to sit down with older family members of the family and ask them about their stories. You will undoubtedly learn something about them that you didn’t know before. When loved ones pass on, their stories will help to keep their memory alive. Sharing family stories is a great way to stay connected to your relatives, and creates a tradition of sharing and storytelling that can last for generations.
I am so blessed that my family has always been a family of "storytellers" From the time that I was very young, I can remember that at every family gathering, after the traditional family meal, the storytelling would begin. It remains the same to this day. I have made many of my family stories and my own personal stories into poems, contained in my books Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia and My Magnolia Memories.
I was recently up early, talking with my mother about something in the news...which led to something else ...which led to something else ( as it ALWAYS does) Then, she started telling me the story about when she and Daddy worked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the summers of their college years..
Before she went fully into the story that we started with, she asked ...Have I told you about this yet? My parents have been telling me family stories since I can remember ...So, Of course she had told this one many times ..... but every time I hear a story, there are always new details. I cannot believe that after almost 50 years, every time they tell me a familiar story, there is more and more and more to it ! Anyway, this time, she was telling me the details about her working at a Girl's Home and Daddy working at an ice cream Company (Sealtest ) , She even remembered the name of one of the girls, Esther, and was telling me about how she was the only one who could really talk to her and get her to not act out. Of course, as I usually do I asked a million questions... what street did you live on ..what was the name of the ice cream company ect....She didn't remember some of those details so, as usual she said : ..."Ask your Daddy he remembers all those things."And he always does !!! He remembers everything!
They are very good a "tag-team " storytelling
I jumped up to ask him a few things ...wrote it down...then got back to my Mama's story . When we were on a whole new set of stories ...which stemmed from the first one, I kept hearing a lot of noise in the other room. After I finished my session with my mother, I went back to see Daddy again. He had pulled out a big briefcase with lots of old papers , including the check stubs and W2 forms ...in their original envelopes from their jobs in Philadelphia (1958)..which led to me going through all of the other papers.. which led to more stories...
Explore Your Family Stories !
Cherish Your Family Stories !
Share Your Family Stories !
