Last weekend it was Mothers’ Day (I’m not going to enter into the debate here about where the apostrophe should be. Suffice to say, there was more than one mother at our Mothers’ Day celebrations so, in my mind, the apostrophe goes after the s). It was a busy day, with lots of treats made at our house, as we were hosting the celebrations, which included my parents, my brother and my husband’s parents. In spite of the busy-ness, it was a good day. I got a nice new teapot which I promptly used to make so tea for my guests and we enjoyed chocolate cake and cinnamon rolls. Yum!
My mother was the oldest person in attendance. She is past eighty now (I won’t say exactly how far past!) and I recently featured her photo on my blog when I wrote about my great uncle, her uncle, who lost his life at Gallipoli in the First World War. When I wrote that blog I reflected on the loss of my uncle and any real information about him. After all, he died when he was twenty and probably didn’t think of leaving anything for others to remember him by.
My mother, having lived quite a bit longer, has had long enough to have a legacy of stories told about her and by her, things which we will be able to remember after she leaves the earth. We can also pass them on to other members of the family. I’m fortunate in that my father is also a writer and a bit of a historian. He has written down much of his family history and some of his wife’s as well. I appreciate this, as I know that, no matter how hard I try to remember, as time marches on, I will forget some of the things they’ve told me.
Taking down a family history of some sort, by some method, is a wonderful thing to do. Just think of all the hours of knowledge, not to mention entertainment, that you will have access to! If you can, try and get down some of your family memories so you can keep them forever. Photos can be a great way to do this, as can video, and recording the stories your family members tell. We mustn’t stop taking down as much information from our loves ones as we can by whatever method that comes to hand. We need their stories for future generations.
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