Our Family History book, update

I've been working on our familys' book for about two months now and have found it to be quite fun to add things to. I've included some favorite songs, recipes, events (minor and major), and slowly, but surely, it's getting fuller.

Recap: I bought a 2-inch, 3-ring binder to begin our book. I had some white and pastel colored card stock, and some miscellaneous scrapbook paper, along with some fancy-edged scissors, and a few glue sticks (which work better than regular glue). I added some copies of some of our favorite music, put recipes on cutsie card stock, dressed up a few other pages, and every once in a while, the kids will look at the book and remember things we did as a family. I'm not a scrapbooker, so my pages are "interesting." I've tried to remind the kids that this is OUR family book, for the FAMILY (not just another "Mom" project), and anything they'd like to add should be included. The book is kept in a safe place (almost too safe, because sometimes I forget where it is - out of sight, out of mind), but still accessible. It has been fun, so far, to add events to our book.
The only hard part is to choose WHAT to include, and remember to add pages. The days and weeks race by. So I decided to choose one day a week to spend evaluating the week's activities and collect, cut, paste, and write about the happenings in our family to add to our book.

This is something that'll add quite a bit of variety to our family when all the photo books come out for a reunion, and hopefully others will be sparked to copy.

(Okay, so I wasn't going to share pictures, but how else will you see how I did it?)

The 15-generation chart

For those who have completed a 6-generation pedgiree chart, with all the names filled in (which is quite an accomplishment, indeed), you might want to move on to a 9-generation or a 15-generation pedigree chart which allows you to see more of your ancestry. These charts aren't very common, but if you're interested in documenting your family names, you'll want at least one of these.

One family history web site, called "The Family History Store" has several selections of smaller pedigree charts you could display on the wall of your home. When you visit this site, click on the "Charts" tab, then the "Misbach Genealogy Charts" picture to see the 15-generation chart. You can enlarge it to get a better look.

The 15-generation chart is invaluable for the "at a glance" ancestry we claim.

A Book of History

Starting today, gather things that represent a slice of your life: store receipt, child's progress report from school, museum map, a copy of the recipe you're going to use for dinner, gas receipt, etc., and glue them onto a blank piece of paper with today's date. If there's room, write why you were there, who was with you, if anyone, and whatever else you did during the day. This is your "A Day in the life of..." beginnings of your history.

Then, over the next few days, when memorable things occur, write it down and include, if possible, something that represents why it is memorable. For example, on the first day of school you could include a wish list from a teacher, a copy of that first paycheck on a new job, the receipt from a barber after the haircut that left way too much on the floor, or the business card from a real estate agency you were impressed with. After glueing or taping these things on paper, and writing notes, even brief notes, about them, put them into a three-ring notebook. As time goes by, you can dress up the pages if you want, or leave it as is. At least, you'll have a personal history, a family history, a book of memories to look at and remember.

For more serious matters, there should be a separate place to keep important documents like birth certificates, immunization records, citizenship records, death certificates, wills, vehicle purchases, financial information, etc. These records/documents should be kept in a safe place, all together where they can be reached easily. File folders or expanding folders work great for keeping important papers together. Copies of these documents can be added to your book, if you so desire, and will be interesting to thumb through much later.

Music

On my dad's side of the family, there used to be yearly family reunions (until the last remaining sibling died). At these gatherings, a few of the girls (ladies, really) would break out the violins, gather 'round the piano and play some of the favorite songs that "Grandma and Grandpa" sang and played. All of the twelve original children in this family knew these tunes quite well, and now a few of their children and grandchildren had learned the music to play at reunions in remembrance of "the good 'ol days!" There would even be a little dance included if the mood was right. At one of these reunions, when the music was played, I inquired about how to get a copy of this music to play for my children and keep for posterity (and because they were really quite fun to listen to). There didn't seem to be any written or recorded copies available. No one had been able to get it on a CD, tape recorder, or sheet music. I was really saddened because it seemed to be such an important part of my family's history, and it would be lost to all the descendants if it didn't get passed on to the rest of the children and grandchildren.

Music has always been a part of my dads family's history, so it should be included with a book of remembrance, or listed in journals; but because there's no "hard copy" to add, it looks like it's a piece of the puzzle that's missing; at least, for now.

This experience caused me to look at my own family and gather our favorite music together. When my children were young (16 and younger), we learned a few songs and would sing them at different times before a congregation at church. The children weren't too excited about it, but it was one of those "Mom" things that is required in our family. They do it because Mom says to, and hopefully something positive was gained by these experiences.

Whenever a piece of music can be included in a book, journal, or history, it helps us to know that family member better, tying us to him/her even more.

This is what its all about!