Memories: Priceless & Enduring Gifts

Ever wish you could gift something that would outlive its batteries? How about gifting a memory?

As I took stock of what I was gifting to my children this year, I hoped the store-bought items would “hit their mark” i.e. fit correctly, be liked, etc. I also contemplated how long these items might last. Would they be outgrown in a month? A year? Would they be forgotten when the next thing becomes “cool” in their school?

What can I gift that will mean something to them for a lifetime? What is it that only I can give?

As it happened, I was pondering all of this when a great-aunt passed away. Among other things, I began to miss already her unique laugh. I found myself reminiscing about times I shared with her, and all the many experiences she lived that I had no part in. Did she put any of her stories down anywhere? Or are they now lost?

You can probably already tell where my thoughts finally settled.

Memories.

Memories are absolutely personal, irreplaceable, priceless.

A Confession

Maybe you are already expert in this.

I am sadly quite terrible about memory preservation.

I think too often I get caught up in genealogy research and the preservation of information about dates, places, names, but not stories.

I also simultaneously tell myself that I will someday get around to telling stories – researched stories of ancestors, stories of people I knew who are now deceased, and my own life stories. But I want to do it “well” and that will probably mean lots more research, thought, editing, finding the best format and compiling an entire body in one tidy package….

If I’m honest with myself, though, I recognize that these hang-ups are dangerous ones. In truth:

• My future self is not going to have any more than the 24 hours a day that my present self has to work with.
• My future self may have forgotten some of what my present self now remembers.
• I’m putting a heck of a lot of pressure on my future self to do this story-telling thing “perfectly.”
• And there’s always the possibility that my future self will be just as good at procrastinating as my present self and I’ll procrastinate ’til it’s too late!!

My 2023 Goal

In 2023, I will add one “memory” to either FamilySearch or Ancestry or both each month.

Not a very clever or glamorous goal.

But!

My plan is simple enough that I think I will actually do it.

And that means that by the end of 2023, I will have preserved twelve “small” but precious nuggets. That’s twelve more than zero!

My Plan:

1. Set a reminder on my Google Calendar for the last Saturday of the month at 8:00am. Call this reminder “Add a Family History Memory.”

I love setting this kind of task for myself because it takes less than a minute to do and then I feel so accomplished!

So yes, this one is done!

2. As an idea for a memory comes to me, I will write it on a checklist on the Notepad app on my phone.

For example, when reminiscing out loud with my son about my great-aunt, I found myself saying, “Remember? She’s the one who introduced me to James Herriot’s books. And then I shared them with you and now you love them too!” An idea instantly piggy-backed onto that conversation: I should jot dot what books I remember seeing in my grandparents’ hands, on their shelves, or which they gifted to me.

If I had lived that moment in 2023, I would have whipped out my phone, opened the Notepad app and written on my list: “List books grandparents.”

3. When I get the reminder each month, I will either a) pat myself on the back for already having done this at some point earlier in the month or b) the more likely scenario: I will block off 5 minutes in that very day to add my memory.

“Five minutes cannot possibly be enough!” you say?

Actually, it is!

And I see this as the beauty of the plan. I’m not after writing the end-all of family histories, remember? My goal is just to preserve SOMETHING rather than NOTHING. By telling myself that the five-minute effort is sufficient, I am giving myself permission to shake off my former all-or-nothing mentality and instead take flight!

I CAN spare five minutes to preserve a family memory. I will!

In fact, to give myself a little jumpstart into 2023, I took less than five minutes tonight to write a list of books I recall in connection with a grandpa.

Cha-ching! One memory down, only eleven more to go to realize my goal 😊

If it helps:

If you care to join me in this year-long challenge, feel free to adopt or adapt my plan!

If you need to learn how to add a story, photo or audio file to FamilySearch in under five minutes, check out this 3 minute video from FamilySearch about using the Memories App on your phone.

Whatever your genealogy or personal goals, I wish you a very happy New Year!