I come from a large family. We cousins often talked about memories of our childhood, and we enjoyed sharing our past ... some of it good, and some not so good. Although it didn't change who we are currently, it helped us understand our family history.
Thinking back on those discussions, my siblings and I decided to embark on a fun project. Throughout this year, each of us will write about one memory per week -- four per month. We're asking the articles to be a minimum of 250 words, and a maximum of 750. (750 words is close to the length of this Reflection you are reading.)
We'll all take turns choosing the "Topic of the Week." We have a week to write it -- in between everything else life mandates -- and each sibling emails his or her write-up to me. I'll store them (at least 24 a month) on my computer, and at the end of the year, I may have up to 300 memory stories (including mine).
Writing only one short article a week might seem difficult or time-consuming for some folks, but guess what? We will be preserving family history! If only we had decided this before our parents graduated to heaven, we would have a more complete family history to hand down to our posterity.
You might ask, "Okay. So what? What are you going to do with it all?"
Well, I'm glad you were going to ask that question. My brother, Paul, and I will consider formatting them into books for the family. Compiling 300 documents, averaging 500 words each, might produce three or four books. But not just any book -- these will contain priceless memories. The fact of life is: When a person dies, his or her memories are deleted from human history ... unless they are documented.
Yeah, but who would want to read them?
Again, thanks for asking.
Those who participate in this endeavor will be preserving portions of his or her history for the children, grandchildren, and on down the line. How many times have you wondered about what happened to your grandparents? To your great-grandparents? How often have you wondered what kind of life they lived, and what they thought about life? For example, the following is part of a story I told my grandkids about my visit with my grandparents when I was seven years old.
"Grandma had a parrot who could sing. Several times, Grandma said, "Pol, let's sing." Polly would take the lead while grandma sang alto. They sang, I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles. I can still hear them now, 66 years later. Pol would add his usual squawk throughout the song. When the phone rang, Pol hollered out in grandma's voice, "Hello, hello." Once when grandma came into the living room, she was startled to see the mailman inside the house. Upon challenging him, he said, "I heard you say, "Come in. Come in." Grandma laughed and said it was the parrot who invited him in. Grandma laughed a lot.
Both grandma and grandpa ordered me -- not advised, but ordered -- 'DON'T stick your fingers into Polly's cage!' I couldn't understand why such a nice bird would hurt anyone, and I had to prove to myself that Pol wouldn't hurt me. This was where I learned to obey without questioning.
As I inserted my finger between the cage bars, Pol leaned over to get a closer look. Perhaps he couldn't believe that I would do such an insolent thing. He then slowly edged his way – stepping sideways – the length of his perch to get a better look. It was his next move that helped me to believe my grandparents. I got my finger out of there in the nick of time, but not before I felt the sharp point of his beak. My previous love for the bird turned into mild fear, and a healthy respect for grandma and grandpa's warnings. Laughing, grandma reminded me to obey her."
When I told that story to some of our grandkids, they wanted me to write it down so they could remember it. Our oldest grandchild, Anna, said, "Grandpa, you need to write a lot of your stories so we can remember them and tell our kids." I'm doing it, Anna. I'm starting with siblings, but I'll eventually write a book of my own memories.
So, dear reader, why don't you document your memories for your family? You never know how much they might appreciate it.
-- S. Eugene Linzey is the author of 'Charter of the Christian Faith.' Send comments and questions to [email protected]. Visit his website at www.genelinzey.com. The opinions expressed are those of the author.