Using The Holidays to Further Your Research
Now that Halloween is behind us, the holidays are fast approaching. Thanksgiving and Christmas are often the only time an entire family gets together during the year. It’s the perfect time to talk family history! Ask everyone to bring copies of their favorite family pictures, or ones of folks they can’t identify. Pass them around and wait for the stories to begin-and trust me, they will. Pictures bring out the storyteller in everyone and trigger lots of memories. You could do the same with home movies-especially the dusty old 16mm ones that are sitting in most people’s closets-relics from the pre-camcorder days!
If there will be older members of the family there, don’t be afraid to ask questions and encourage storytelling-especially if those questions rose from your research. A good start would be to ask about what Thanksgiving was like when they were kids. If you have a camcorder and nobody objects, record the storytelling. You’ll have a priceless piece of family history for current and future generations. Most older folks would love the chance to talk about “the old days”. I remember being enthralled as I listened to my grandmother and her sister talk about the days of their youth. You’d have never guessed how wild they were as young girls by looking at them! The stories they told helped unlock our family history and bring it alive.
So this holiday season, when you’re gathered with family members you don’t get a chance to see often, don’t be afraid to ask a few questions or show a few pics-what you’ll get in return could be priceless!
genealogy, family history, Thanksgiving, Christmas, researching family history
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