Five
years ago some of
you were part of the first class of Prime Timers who began turning
their memories into memoirs. Those who have joined the group since have
heard and read some of those stories and want to write their own
stories. Soooo . . . . . we will work together again this year on
turning some more memories into memoirs during our morning intellectual
stimulation which we call Rogain for the brain.
Sometimes we dismiss recording our
stories for a multitude of reasons. Here are some
reasons to begin now
“Remember the days of old, consider the years long past; ask
your
father, and he will inform you; your elders and they will tell you.”
(Deuteronomy 32:7).
• In a church I worked at years ago, we had an annual
intergenerational event called “Making Memories.” It was held just
prior to advent. Young and old gathered for a potluck meal together and
to share stories, participate in a play, and make an advent wreath or
other symbol of the Christmas season to take home.
• During the summer of 1991, my two oldest grandsons then 9
and 11
years old came from Arizona to spend the summer with me in Pittsburgh.
Highlights for them of that time, were the times they spent looking at
scrapbooks, photo albums and going through boxes of old scrapbook
material (which never found it’s way to a book) saved from their
mother’s school years. A couple of evenings were spent looking at old
slides taken of their mother and her siblings. They discovered to their
delight a part of history theretofore unknown to them.
One of the grandsons came across material in one of the
albums
noting that he was a descendant of Ethan Allen, leader of the “Green
Mt. Boys” during the revolutionary war and that another of his
ancestors was a part of “Sherman’s March to the Sea.” It proved to have
added value for him by being the topic and source of information for a
project in his history class.
Remembering our stories is a legacy we leave
• Toward the end of the summer of my first year at Community
Presbyterian Church, Dr. Stephen Sapp, head of the Department of
Religious Studies and the Center on Aging at the University of Miami,
preached at our church. I had asked him in a conversation prior to his
coming if he would have a few minutes to talk with me about a program,
in the planning stage, for older adults. He had so many suggestions and
insights, but one thing he said I have never forgotten. He had
suggested as one of the activities of the program, having participants
write their life stories. He said it was so very important,
for
the senior adults who had wisdom and information that no one else was
savvy to regarding their family, to have a written record of it. He
used the analogy of a part of a history shelf in a library being wiped
clean when the person dies if there has been no “book” written of the
person’s life.
• During the summer of 1997 I attended a conference on Older
Adult
Ministry in North Carolina. There I met Richard Morgan, Presbyterian
minister, conference leader, author, and friend of Dr. Sapp. He was the
keynote speaker of the conference and teacher of one of the classes I
took. He added another reason, another dimension, to and for writing
one’s life story. He quoted Henri Nouwen from his book Life
of the Beloved.
"Your life and my life are, each of them, one-of-a-kind, No
one
has ever lived your life or my life before, and no one will live them
again. Our lives are unique stones in the mosaic of human existence -
priceless and irreplaceable."
I purchased one of Morgan’s books Remembering Your
Story: A guide to Spiritual Autobiography. He says our
stories contain our very souls.
Remembering Our Stories Is a Legacy We Leave.