Better late than never. I hope that some of you noticed that I did not post a blog this morning. Generally, if you check my blog site by around 6 a.m. Pacific and 9 Eastern, you will find a newly posted blog. It is rare that I miss a day of posting. What happened today? Just trying to meet a publishing deadline and still get organized for the upcoming family Thanksgiving celebration.
As it turned out, I finished a tad ahead of my stringent self-imposed deadline. So thought I’d post a brief blog this afternoon (this evening for those of you in the East).
With Thanksgiving coming this week and many of you entertaining family at home or joining family groups elsewhere, I’d like to suggest that you take this opportunity to interview the elders. Some of you are writing family histories. Some are simply doing genealogy research. And others of you may someday decide to document your memories for publication or for the family. I can speak from experience—you may live to regret not taking the opportunity to gather stories and facts from the older generation. Someday, you will have questions that no one can answer. You’ll wish you knew more about the childhood of a family member, how your grandparents met, what their life in another country was like, their military experiences, etc.
And there’s no time like the present to ask the questions and document the answers. Perhaps you can make a game out of it this Thanksgiving day.
• Jot down questions and let each family member draw one to ask the elders in your family as you sit around the dining room table. An appropriate theme might be; their earliest memories of their childhood and young adult Thanksgivings.
• Videotape the oldster sharing stories from his or her life.
• Ask others to write down prompts to help the older family member recall stories from the past.
• Ask everyone to share a memory.
• Send a questionnaire to everyone prior to Thanksgiving. Compile a book from the responses to be handed out and, possibly, read out loud as entertainment on Thanksgiving day. This will surely elicit additional stories.
Some of you have, no doubt used some of these ideas or have others you could share. I’d love to hear your results and your ideas.
It’s too late to order any of my books for Thanksgiving reading, but you have plenty of time to do so for the Christmas holidays. Order your copies here: http://www.matilijapress.com