Thursday 4 October 2012

Safeguarding memories

We're all getting older and as we age, illness and deaths in the family become more commonplace.

What do you know about your parents and grandparents early lives?  Have you ever thought of recording them?

Several years ago I created a form called "In a Nutshell".  My father was seriously ill at the time and I realised there were many things I didn't know about him and his formative years.  So I thought of all the things I wanted to know about him and sent him the form.  Then I did the same for my mother, and filled in one myself for my children.  My father is now no longer with us but I have his completed form and what a wonderful archive it is for his descendants (and in his own hand).

The blank form can be viewed and/or downloaded here.
Should you have a digital camera with video, consider recording your family members as you ask them questions about their childhoods and lives.  Ask their permission first of course.