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Creating a chronicle
Every life is a story, and more
people are sharing theirs
By Anita Thompson
DO YOU EVER look at old photos of your
relatives and wish you could sit down and
have a conversation with them? Who were
the people behind those solemn faces? What
were their lives like?
It makes one realize that each of us is part
of a continuum that stretches back centuries
and, hopefully, many generations into the
future. The desire to leave something of ourselves behind for future generations inspires
many people to record their lives, or those of
family members, as a kind of legacy.
Costco member Ying Chang Compestine
(
www.yingc.com) turned her experiences
growing up in the midst of China’s Communist
DIGITAL VISION
Revolution into young-adult fiction, Revolution
Is Not a Dinner Party. She wrote the story, she
explains, to honor her father, a physician who
was jailed for refusing to betray his friends and
his beliefs.
In her book, Flora, I Was But a Child,
Flora Mendelowicz Singer (FloraMSinger@
yahoo.com) told her story of the people who
helped her family survive the Holocaust. “That
book is her legacy,” says her husband, Costco
member Jack Singer, of his late wife’s project.
But one does not need to have had traumatic life experiences to have stories to share
or tales to tell. More and more people are
delving into their personal or family histories,
committed to recording and passing
them on. In fact, this trend has
spawned a new career field: personal
historians, individuals who in a sense
“come alongside” in this process
through interviewing, organizing,
conducting research, compiling
materials or whatever is needed to
create the appropriate format for a
particular project.
Most personal historians started
by recording something about their
own families or loved ones.
Chicago-area Costco member Ed
Kaiser (
www.savetheirstory.com)
started by sitting down with a tape
recorder as he and his father
sorted through old photographs.
What had felt like an onerous
undertaking brought him and
his father closer.
Paula Slavens (www.special
editionscb.com), a Costco member in Beaverton, Oregon, created a memory book about her
father. She says, “I feel very
blessed to have been able to use
Dad’s own words and document his story. It proved to be
a healing process for me and
for others, who have read his
book and perhaps now
understand him more in
death than in life.”
The motivations for recording one’s personal history are as varied as the many new
options available—from low tech to high
tech—for preserving it. But as those who’ve
completed the project agree, the results
become treasured heirlooms.
“One of my clients,” reports Bruce E.
Smith, a Bay Area Costco member (
www.lifes
mark.com), “asked me to capture his mother
reading children’s stories. Even though he
didn’t yet have his own children, he knew it
would be a special keepsake for his nieces and
nephews.”
What’s important to remember is that
your chronicle can take many shapes, from a
recipe book to a personal Web site. To help
you get started on creating your own chronicle, on the following pages you’ll learn how to
begin writing a memoir, how to use the new
technology tools and how to start doing genealogical research. We’ve also included a piece
on StoryCorps, the nonprofit program whose
mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening.
With the holiday season approaching,
maybe this is the year to interview your
grandparents or parents about their lives, ask
for their help in identifying everyone in family photographs or just have someone record
the preparations for and the sharing of
Thanksgiving dinner.
As Slavens says, “Life is too short, and
there’s always a longing for one more
conversation—a chance to confirm love, ask
for forgiveness or share a special memory
that’s etched in our minds as clearly as if it
happened yesterday.” C
CLASSES IN CREATING personal biogra-phies are often taught by local libraries,
historical museums, veterans groups,
genealogical societies and many other
organizations. Here are a few resources:
■
www.personalhistorians.org—
Association of Personal Historians, professionals
who assist individuals, families and organizations craft histories using a variety of
formats. The site contains numerous
additional resources, including how to
order the book My Words Are Gonna
Linger: The Art of Personal History,
edited by Paula Stalling Yost and Pat
McNees.
■ Remembering … Life Story Triggers &
Memory Essays, by Hella Buchheim
(
http://lifestorytriggers.com/wordpress)
■ Tell Me Your Story, by Cynthia Hart
(Workman, 2009)
■
www.loc.gov/vets—The Veterans
History Project of the American Folklife
Center collects, preserves and makes
accessible the personal accounts of
American war veterans.
■
www.cynthiajan.com—Costco member
Cindy Canizales creates personalized
watercolor family trees.—AT
,
M
