This book has pages for you to write small paragraphs about yourself and other family members. The paragraphs are interspersed with beautiful photographs of Thomas Kinkaid paintings and faith-based prose.
The book has a place to add the members of your family tree and a page about your birthday, full name and place of birth. In addition to these pages there are many other topics for you to write your memories. Here are a few of the topics:
- What happened in the world when you were born?
- My favorite verse about love.
- The best thing about being your grandmother.
- Memories of my Mother.
- Memories of my Father.
- Favorite photos of you and me.
- Favorite Bible verse.
There are many other subjects that help to give you ideas of what to write. I found this book easy to write and I like the way it turned out. I wrote in the book over a 6-month time frame to give me time to think about each subject and then put down my thoughts.
Story Worth Book
On Mother's Day, my son and daughter-in-law gave me a subscription to the "Story Worth" memory book. Each week I was emailed a question from the company and then I would write my answer to the question and add any photos that I had that would go with that subject. At the end of 52 weeks the questions and answers, along with the photos were put into a book. Here is the cover from my book.Here are a few of the topics from my book. They are all listed in the index of the book.
- How did you feel when your first child was born?
- Which fads did you embrace while growing up?
- Describe one of you most memorable birthdays.
- What is one of your favorite memories of your mother?
- Did you have a car in high school?
- Who are the best cooks in your family?
- What did you read as a child?
- Who inspires you?
- What simple pleasures of life do you truly enjoy?
- If you could choose any talent to have, what would it be?
- Tell me about your siblings.
This is just a sampling of the questions to give you an idea of the types of questions in the book. If you are sent a question that just doesn't work for you, you can ask for a replacement question. I did this a couple of time during the year but after some thought I found I could find something to write for every question.
Shutterfly Book
After making memory books of my life, my husband and I decided we would also like some books made of his memories. I have always made a photo book each year using the format in Shutterfly. In looking at their options I found that I could also use pages of text in Shutterfly in addition or instead of photos. We decided this would be a good option for making a book of my husband's memories.
We started with some basic questions that he answered, and that I put in the book along with corresponding photographs. We then looked at all the questions that I answered in my books, and we used those questions as a starting point for his book. Each week I give him one or two questions. I then add the answers to the book. I also go through old photo albums and copy any photos that will work with the questions. We are still in the process of creating this book, but I really like the way it is turning out.
Whatever method you decide to use, I encourage you to get started. I think it is good to do it over several months to a year. At the end of the project, you will have a wonderful sense of accomplishment and your family will have a wonderful gift from you.
My son recently asked me if he could interview me about my memories. Sounds just like the suggestions you have put here for sharing your memories. We don't realize until we are older how important it is to record the memories of our elders before the knowledge of their past is lost forever. Thanks for this lovely reminder, Mary Beth.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful gift, Mary Beth! I am sure your granddaughters will cherish their memory books all their lives. I especially love the idea you used for making another memory book based on your husband's life & his memories. While I love the idea of writing out the answers in the Thomas Kinkade illustrated book, I know I would end up making mistakes. A book created on Shutterfly would allow me to edit and correct any mistakes. My sister-in-law suggested my mother create a book on "Story Worth". She opted to handwrite memories instead, but she has beautiful handwriting.
ReplyDeleteThanks my handwriting is getting rather shaky now so I’m glad I did the Kinkade books several years ago. The Shutterfly option is really working well.
DeleteThis is one thing I have never thought about, and I agree it's something worth doing. Hubby put together a CD for our children a few years ago with all the pictures we had of them as babies, toddlers and beyond. It would be a great idea to put this all into a book! Thanks for this suggestion Mary Beth I will have to look into it!
ReplyDeleteMary Beth, what beautiful and priceless gifts for your granddaughters! I am sure they must cherish them, and these gifts from the heart will surely become family heirlooms. If my husband and I had kids or grandkids, I would definitely want us to create something like this for them. The cassette tapes I asked my late mom to let me record of her recounting her memories are among my most treasured possessions.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is such a wonderful gift for grandchildren, they'll have it forever and pass it down. You have me thinking how I can do this better now! I haven't created a memory book - the only thing I did was work diligently on the family history on Ancestory - this needs to be done for my family - you have me thinking now! Oh my another progect.
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful gift idea. How wonderful to record memories like this for future generations. I have many memories in different ways of my late parents but this memory book would have been an added treasure. This is a lovely thing for anyone to do but especially for those with children who want to pass on their memories.
ReplyDeleteI love this! Such a deeply thoughtful way to enrich the life of family members (and even ourselves as we reflect). I regret that I did not capture the memories of my parents and grandparents before they passed on. What you are doing is so important and beautiful. Thanks for sharing these amazing resources with me.
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