The holiday season is a time to gather with family.
You eat, you play games, and you reminisce about family stories. Over the weekend, we celebrated Thanksgiving at my parents' home. For the first time in two years, every single member of the family was there. What a blast! At night when the kids finally went to bed, the adults sat down to play games and inevitably tell stories about our childhood.
Does your family share stories when they get together?
Does anyone write those stories down on paper?
As much chattering as we did over Thanksgiving, I realized that my parents didn't share as much about their own childhoods. They were swapping stories with us, about us. I wonder what valuable trinkets we might have learned about their lives had we spent more time asking about their life histories.
Enter the hero of the family get-together:
My Life Inscribed is a book created to help you capture those family history stories.
Each book is meant to house the life story of one person.
Author Jill Basom designed the book's questions to help you glean heart-touching memories from the person you interview. As you record the interview answers, you'll piece together a well-rounded picture of your loved one. What a great family legacy to preserve for future generations.
"My Life Inscribed is an engaging way to bond with a loved one
while creating a family keepsake that will be treasured forever."
My Life Inscribed breaks down the interview process into sections, allowing you to absorb more information about relationships, memories, hopes, dreams, and experiences. For example, there is an entire section for your loved one to describe his/her grandparents, college experiences, career choices, religion,
and more. The book includes plenty of room for early family life, military experience, holidays, married life,
and more.
My Life Inscribed easily guides you through the interview process.
At the beginning of the
My Life Inscribed, you'll find tips for ensuring a memorable interview. Since you are likely interviewing an older adult, the author shares how to make the process stress-free. For example, I appreciate the author's tip to provide a meal before and snacks during the interview. Food brings people together, and hunger would inhibit a positive interview experience.
When the author, Jill Basom, reached out to me about
My Life Inscribed, I was excited! She mailed a copy to me in exchange for this review, and I am sure that I will be ordering more books from her in the future. This book conveniently stores so much history in one spot! There is tons of space for pictures, recipes, memos, and more in the pages. Each book equals one person's amazing life story. I can't think of a more convenient way to keep our ancestors (and their life lessons) close.
The hardest part about the interview was deciding who to interview!
Many of our parents and grandparents live far away from us, so I had to do some planning. I decided to start interviewing my father-in-law in Kansas. I've started recording information in
My Life Inscribed, and I hope to finish the book while we are together at Christmastime.
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| I loved learning that my husband's grandmother played music for her houseplants and talked with them. Apparently she was a great indoor gardener, so her loving method worked! |
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| As you can see, each page asks a few questions, with ample writing space for the answers. My father-in-law couldn't remember the full names of his grandparents, so I'll fill those in for him since I have the genealogy books at my house. |
These are some of the pictures I can add to his book.
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| His mother's family. His mom, Clara, is standing on the left. |
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| My father-in-law as a child. He still loves cars. |
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| This photo was taken after his father's funeral. My husband is the youngest boy standing next to Grandma Clara. |
Time with family members is precious, but their time on Earth won't last forever. Start recording the memories of your loved ones today. Save their photos, recipes, letters, and cards in this personal book. Record their wisdom because future generations will love their stories! Order your very own copy of My Life Inscribed today
on Amazon.
Labels: Crafts, Happy Tidbits, Marriage
