A Long Ago Love Story~Sharing Your Family's History

Sharing your Family's History~

This Thanksgiving season is a time when we give thanks for our family and all our many blessings. Wouldn't it be a perfect time to share the story of your family's history?

Background~

My husband has been going through boxes and boxes of his family's photos and mementos. His father was stationed in England during World War II. There he met his bride, a young English girl whose father's farm backed up to the air base where he served. My husband discovered all his dad's photos of their courtship and his time in England in one of those boxes. What a treasure! I decided I HAD to put those photos in a book and tell the story of their love's beginning for their children, grand children and great-grandchildren. It's important to tell our children their family history.

According to an article in Parade magazine by Bruce Feiler ("The Secrets to a Happy Family," February 17, 2013): "The more children know about their family's history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives and the higher their self-esteem." 

Bruce continues with the reason for this--"These children have a strong sense of 'intergenerational self'--they understand that they belong to something bigger than themselves and that families naturally experience both high and lows."

After reading that article, I knew I had to share this history and love story from World War II!

I had a wealth of old photos.

Time in England...

My sweet mother-in-law when she was a young girl in England.

My father-in-law was an airplane mechanic during World War II.

Procedure~

The instructions are like all my books I've blogged about so far--gather all the old photos you have, appropriate for a book, and scan them, saving them to a file on your computer. Then go to your favorite bookmaking site and follow their directions for downloading those photos and adding text. I've listed various sites at the end of this blog. Since I have a Mac, I used the bookmaking app contained in "Projects" within IPhoto. 

I actually gave this book to my grands for Valentine's Day several years ago. They were quite young so I kept the text very simple, And actually the pictures tell the story.

​Added note~

Since the time is approaching Thanksgiving, I've read, and I'm sure you have too, that the Thanksgiving feast is a great time to interview family members that you don't often see. Another way to get more of your family's story. 

Sure hoping that you'll take the opportunity to somehow record your family's story for future generations--either in a scrapbook, a book, or video format. The ideas are endless. I happen to agree with Bruce Feiler--it can make a big difference in your grandchildren's self esteem. Everyone should know their history! Just do it!

Books for adults:

The Secrets of Happy Families by Bruce Feiler

Books for children:

"The Blessing Cup" by Patricia Polacco
"Keeping Quilt" by Patricia Polacco
"Knots on a Counting Rope" by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

Websites for bookmaking:

Mixbook
Shutterfly
Picaboo
Blurb
Montage