The Power of Story: Preserving Your Family’s Memories
Guest post by Kristi Hammond.
The photo above without any explanation is cute: it puts a smile on your face.
Here’s the story behind the photo: I took my children and my parents for some photos for my father’s 70th birthday. As we were preparing to begin, my son swiped my Mom’s walking cane and started to run with it. I caught this cheeky expression just as he’d started. My mom was actually able to give chase for a few strides, and we all ended up in gales of laughter.
Now it’s not just a cute photo: it’s a memory that will live on a long time.
The primary obstacle to preserving story resonates with each of us: time demands. It takes time to record story. And we are a very time pressed society, as we take on more and more in our lives and pick up the pace to keep up.
The good news is that there are easy ways to preserve memories and stories in a very time friendly and cost efficient way.
1. Interview
Grab that voice recorder (most cell phones now come equipped with these handy little tools!) and a list of questions, and interview that loved one whose story has impacted your life. Make sure to save the recording to CD, and to make multiple copies of the CD for family members, and for future use. CDs do not have an indefinite life, and are subject to scratches, breakage, heat damage, etc. It’s good to keep copies.
2. Keep a journal
Even if it is a few lines a day, keeping a journal is a great way to preserve memories. A friend of mine has started keeping a “Gratitude Journal” in which she catalogues all of the moments – big and small – in every day that she is thankful for. This is a great way not only to keep a life diary, but also to record the emotions and thoughts that support our stories.
3. Catalogue your photos
At the end of each month, set aside an hour or so to catalogue that month’s photos. Be sure to categorize them into themes or events within the month’s folder so as to save time down the road when you’re seeking a specific photo. And most importantly: BACK UP YOUR PHOTOS! Heaven forbid your computer’s hard drive should crash; however, if it does, you will lose all of those precious photos that are stored on your hard drive. Make sure to have your photos (priceless and irreplaceable) backed up in at least one other storage site (CDs, external hard drives, USB storage devices, etc.).
4. Digital storybooking
Our photos are already digital these days, so uploading them and dragging and dropping them into a professionally published book, poster, canvas poster or card is a very time friendly way of preserving your story. I recommend using an online service: since there is no software to download to take space on your hard drive, you are able to work on your project anywhere that you have internet access, and your photos and projects are stored eternally on servers that are very frequently backed up.
Stories lost through the passage of time can never be recovered, and the value in one’s roots and history, particularly in the lives of our children, is astronomical. There is safety and comfort knowing the stories of your past, in order to walk securely into your future. Take small steps every day to ensure the legacy of your story – start today!
Kristi Hammond is a Personal Publishing Consultant who teaches individuals to digitally preserve their memories and stories in professionally published books, cards, posters, and more. As a mother of two, she understands the value of preserving stories for our children and their future generations, and is passionate about preserving her own stories as well as those of her clients. For more information, please visit www.memoriesthroughstory.weebly.com.
