Storybooking:
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For better or for worse, and whether we collaborate with our families or not, we are shaped by our families’ notions… |
Then... and now
In days gone by, family stories were shared orally from one generation to the next via informal means. Families spent more time with one another. They ate dinner together, they worked the family business together and they played together. It was easier to learn about Great Grandpa Henry who loved to ride horses and Aunt Emma who inherited that love of horses and now runs her own business.
Children naturally absorbed this kind of family information from their elders as they lived, worked and played side by side.
These days families don’t live in the same city. And, more often than not, they don’t even live in the same state. Country either, for that matter. Therefore, we have to learn and tell our family stories on purpose or they – and all that they teach – will be lost.
 | “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” – Anais Nin |
What to do?
Say hello to Heritage Makers.
Document your family stories by writing a personalized, non-fiction storybook that you and your family can actually pick up and read on a regular basis. These storybooks quickly become family favorites, as they build self esteem, identify ancestral role models and teach family values.
We all want to be the hero. And by telling our family stories, we get to be that hero… AND preserve a little family heritage along the way by documenting the other heroes in our family through this family history project.
Storybooking: Life's Instructions
Heritage Makers, is a company that encourages individuals to “keep [family] stories alive” by creating beautiful hardbound books. They identify four of the most important “cornerstone” stories that we should each record. Here is where storybooking begins.
- FAMILY – What does it mean to be a member of your family? What are your values and traditions? What matters most to your family? These stories make your children proud to be a member of your family.
- CHILD – Share the story of your child's life as an infant. What were your hopes, wishes, and dreams?
- YOU/US – What's your love story? How did you meet your spouse? What do you love most about him/her? Bring back the memories that made you fall in love. Remember the reason you are together.
- GRANDPARENT – What do you remember most about your grandparents? Pass those memories to future generations by recording the stories and memories before they fade. These are the people who gave you the foundation for who you are today.
Eventually we come of age and tell the story of our own lives in which the past has become our prologue. |
Sign up for a Free Heritage Makers Account and Exclusive Templates
When you sign up through me for your free Heritages Makers account, you'll receive these free and EXCLUSIVE family reunion templates. Each template is completely customizable and yours to change and edit to your heart's content. Signing up for an account and downloading templates does NOT obligate you to any purchase whatsoever. To preview the templates, just follow the links.
"Branches of My Family Tree"
Free Template Series:* Poster - Customize your own 18"x24" vertical family tree poster to give family reunion attendees a visual of your family posterity and structure. Place each family member's picture on the family branch to which he/she belongs.
* Poster - Create a 24"x18" horizontal pedigree chart poster to give family reunion attendees a visual of your ancestry.
* Card Game - Customize this deck of 54 playing cards to make your very own "Crazy Cousins" game of memory or concentration. Play the card game at the reunion and then give a deck to each family to take home with them as a reunion keepsake.
* Memory Book - After the reunion, assemble everyone's favorite digital photos into a lasting storybook treasure. Each family can purchase their own copy or give them as gifts.
To sign up for a Heritage Makers account, visit www.MyLifeMyHeritage.com and click on the "sign up for free" link in the upper right hand corner.
Family stories are unvoiced instructions. They teach us family values and important traditions. They tell us how to love and how to handle anger. Storybooking is a family history project that captures the great power in individual and family stories. When these stories are lost, so is much of our ability to make sense of the world. We have to hang onto our heritage and create a family legacy on purpose. Remember your family history.
Family stories are invisible, as “weightless as dreams” but always there for us. They provide us “a way to be part of and apart from our families, a way of holding on and letting go.” |
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