While not a “consumer” column, today’s advice may be just as crucial. Readers might recall amongst other hats, I wear one of professional storyteller, and my special love is telling family tales. With today’s society in such flux, past generations’ stories get left in yesteryear and, all of a sudden, Grandmother or Uncle Dave die and their favorite family memories are lost forever. With the additional loss of oral communication (as opposed to the ever-reigning text) and just as with history lessons, it’s imperative we learn as much about our past as possible for those lessons also to be passed on to subsequent generations. So how do we go about telling the story of our lives?
1. Start with your parent’s generational members.
Ask questions, such as “What’s your earliest memory about having a pet?” or “If you received spankings when you were young, what misbehaviors did you do to deserve them? Did you have to pick your personal switch and what happened if it wasn’t big enough?” Put your thinking cap on to come up with loads of questions – ones that will make your interviewee really think and ignore yes or no answers unless you follow these up with other leading questions.
2. Use the resources available to you.
Ideally, hire a videographer. This way, he or she can record throughout the day while the “memories” are pouring out and, at the end of the sessions, the professional can put them all together for one or more wonderful family tales. If money’s too tight for this avenue, put your cell phone to better use than the eternal texting role. Video the senior with your cell and then, following these sessions, gather, compose, and write the memories into a story or two. Truly, you’ll be amazed what you learn. When I first became the certified “Tale-Teller” back in the late 1990, I sent a tape recorder and cassette home to my parents in Alabama. As my mother’s parents both died within months of each other when she was quite young, she had very few recollections of her youth or what situations evolved around her folks. Amazingly enough, once she began to simply talk into the recorder, her reminiscences became clearer and recollections of her early life as a small child grew clearer and more vivid, resulting in such family tales as “Mama and the Gun,” “Mean Dogs,” and several others. (On the other hand, my dad had entertained us for years with stories of his youth so it was an easy task to generate those into a series of paternal family tales. What fun I had developing and still telling, among others, such humorous accounts as “Syrup Pie,” The ‘Snake’,” and “De Wats” – otherwise deciphered as “The Rats.”) Priceless treasures to be passed on down forever