How To Start Your Family Story - Get Started Today

FOR YOU, the important lesson I want to share is that getting started with YOUR FAMILY STORY is something to do TODAY - whether you are young, medium, or later in the aging process. Take pictures, talk to your family about their stories and their lives, now. Write them down, record them, if they are not.

Many people today are worried that young people are not getting involved in their family history. But, we are MAKING our family history, every day. Frankly, if we keep it simple enough, young folks will love family stories, and pass them on, as well. When they do, down the road, they will continue to have interest and dig back into further family history stories and details.

This lens is the confluence of an IMMINENT Quest and the Story Telling emphasis I have been reading about at RootsTech 2013 this past weekend in Salt Lake City. RootsTech is an annual conference of technology and genealogy folks to share and learn together - something like 7000 people converged for that conference.

NOTE: You do not need to go back many generations to find GREAT family stories... that is the point here! ;-)

Read on to learn more about "How to Start Your Family Story" now!

All the photos in this lens were taken by me or on my camera - like this one, since I'm in it! ;-)

What do you think? Interesting stuff... Will new technology make it easier?

These were the aunts and uncles of my Dad's side of the family - their kids were my Smith first cousins. I didn't spend as much time with them as I did with my cousins on Mom's side. Did you find that to be true, as well.

Does this remind you of stories you should be telling your kids about your first cousins and family connections and relationships? I hope so. This is how we get them started, and keep them going.

Do you have a family photo like this? I'll bet you do. These really get us going. Do/did you children know all your aunts and uncle? Are they all still living? Do you have photos of each of them? When and where was the photo taken? What do you remember, if you were there?

No spouses, here, but they are important, as well.

And, one more thing!! Front right is Irene. She never married, had no children. She helped in many ways with her brothers and sisters, her nieces and nephews - but, she was very sensitive about not have her own descendants. Be sensitive to these concerns as you tell your stories! ;-)

Do you have a good understanding of the lives of your parents? Their brothers and sisters?

Share your thoughts, in the comments!

Does your family regularly share stories about your family, now and in the past?

When we say "Family" - who do you think of?

Theses are my wife's uncles and aunts - and her mother, of course. Did/do uncles and aunts play important roles in your life? A photo like this, sitting down with young people, for instance, can start a long story telling session, just talking about what you have done with them, how the acted and treated you, about their children, etc.

Their children are/were your first cousins. First cousin stories are normally rich and often fill a life-time of story telling. What first cousin story of yours do you think of first?

The little one seems a bit shy. That went away. Above, you already saw her with her husband and our two grandchildren, in Austin, Texas, on a weekend outing by the lake.

See, there is a story in every photo. And quite a few in-between.

This photo was taken in Baton Rouge, LA, visiting a brother of my wife - one of those uncles to the kids... And, they have seven of our kids' first cousins. Talk about a few stories. They are all grown with children of their own, too, now, of course. More stories.

I included this photo image to remind us all that these kinds of family photos - they always have stories - sometimes great, sometimes just interesting.

This was when I was in the Iowa Governor's office, and the Halloween Costume Party was at the Governor's Mansion. Unforgettable memories from the event - and surrounding circumstances.

What was your most memorable costume party?

What was your most memorable job?

Family stories all around! ;-)

As I chose photos for this lens, I just couldn't pass this one because it shows a family where some are there, some are not - some live in other states and missed this 40th Anniversary celebration. Some, and some spouses, are already deceased, of course.

This is more typical than the photos where "everyone is there."

Again, more stories to tell. Do your children know where all your sibs and aunts and uncles? Even those who live in another state? Do you know where they all are, and what they are doing? What are their interests? What 'turns them on' - 'turns them off?'

This is a fun photo, on its own - but, when little Cindy slipped in there, on the left, it really made it gem! Agree?

On Mom's side, these are the aunts and uncles - parents of first cousins that I grew up with. They are now scattered across the country, of course.

Uncle Buzzy and his wife, Colleen, on left, are still with us and reasonably active in their 80s - having many, many great-grandchildren as we speak!

Leo and Ida, on the right, are in their mid-nineties now, recently celebrated their 75th Wedding Anniversary, and seem to be doing fine! [As I update this, Leo and Ida will celebrate their 77th on October 17, just 11 days away…]

Talk about family stories. My Mom and Dad, and Grandpa and Grandma, have all been gone for many year. More stories, some lived long, some far too short. Do your kids know all those stories?