A Call for Your Family Stories.....

The Need For This Blog:
I was inspired this afternoon to collect and tell stories. While talking with a friend at work we began to talk about our work in our own family history and how the stories of the people were so much more important than mere pedigree charts. That got me thinking about the big book that I keep of family stories and pictures to pass on to my own children….and how limited my collection was. With the exception of a few, all of my stories and memories and special events are recorded in my own voice and from my own perspective. I want to hear the stories and views of EVERYONE in my family! I have tried to send out lengthy questionnaires to prompt story telling from family members in the past but who really has time to get to those? That’s when it struck me that to make this collection happen it has to be made easy. I too want a kick in the butt to sit down and write these things before I lose the memories to the whirlwind that is my life. So I thought- let’s all do it together!

What I want:
Simply your stories and memories in your own voice. And I am not just talking about those that are related to me by blood. I want to hear both my sister’s stories and her husband’s stories. I want to hear the stories of my in-laws, my parents, my siblings, my aunts and uncles. (You get the idea) You responses need not be elaborate, edited or lengthy. Feel free to share a brief memory, a lengthy story or perhaps a picture. At the end of the day we all have an excuse to write these things down and something to pass on for generations. I want my children to know stories of their grandparents and great grandparents, I want them to know all about the Bennie side of the family as well as the Bailey side. I want more memories and stories from my father. I want to hear about all the crazy things that my brother has done. I want to hear about what my husband was like as a child. I want to know what growing up with grandma and grandpa was like. I want to hear about how the world has changed from when my mother was a child. I want to remember family gatherings. Perhaps you all would like to have these things too….. thanks to the wonders of technology and the internet we can do this in the form of a blog.

How it Works:
On a regular basis, perhaps once a week, I will post a prompt such as “Tell me a memory of your grandmother” “A vacation to remember” “A funny thing that your sibling did” or perhaps “an embarrassing potty training moment.” Or maybe a question.
You will receive an e-mail when there is a new post on the blog (or you can just check the website regularly) and then you simply click to comment on the post and include your story or memory there in the comments. MAKE SURE YOU END OR BEGIN WITH YOUR NAME- if you do not have a google account it will list you as “anonymous” and that will be confusing for everyone to try to figure out who wrote what. (If posting a comment on the blog is confusing for you- feel free to e-mail me your response and I will post it. You can also e-mail pictures to be displayed on the post- it will make things more fun!) Also PLEASE don’t let me be the creativity behind this. If you have an idea for a prompt e-mail me the title and your contribution and I will post it for everyone to respond with their own story.

What you can do with it:
You can read what others have written for kicks, add your own stories, look back through the archives at any time to look for specific stories. I will also start labeling the posts so that you can find stories about a certain topic at the drop of a hat....I am thinking too far ahead...we have to get started first.
These stories can be saved to pass down through generations. I plan on including some of my memories in my journal and adding them to my book for Cameron and our future children. Let this be for you whatever you want it to be but please share!

Soooo.....
Send me any e-mail addresses of family members that I may not have had to include and let's get sharing with our stories! My first prompt will be coming shortly....

Meredith