Americans love a good storyâ¦
And isnât that the essence of what your family history should be. It seems to me a family history is a collection of stories that your relatives tell about the family members. It is up to you to make sure they have as much detail as possible. As the story is retold ask the questions that you as a reader would want to know. The more questions the more details and more the story can pop off a page.
Are they true or not? I can tell you, some of you will never know for certain. I had been told a story of how my motherâs grandfather died only to be told after publishing my motherâs life story that was not the case. She swears to this day that is how she was told the story. The real story to her was not as real as the story that was handed down in her family.
Some of your family stories maybe in a newspaper or a history book where you can find if it is true or not. I personally think the tales are as interesting as the real story. You want to have as much truth as possible so do your homework after the story has been told to you. You might want to write the story you were told and then if you find information that is conflict, add that story too. It will give readers more insight than you have thought.
So as the family gets together to spend the Easter holidays let the family elders that they will be asked lots of questions about older generations of the family. They can tell stories about their lives too. All the stories will fill the time and if relatives have different versions of the same story, that is okay. Record it too. Family some how have many versions of the same story. Truth, Tale or Fiction it really does doesnât matter as long as you tell your readers who told the story and you have or have not verified the stories.
Happy Easter!
