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Jim and I prepared a class for church this past weekend. It was about the Memories Section of the Family Tree on Family Search and Why and How to use it, and the value of doing so. We as genealogists and family historians should have an excellent idea of why this is a great idea.
How much better is it to find a written history of a person or some of their stories to get a very good idea of who they are, who they are related to and any other particulars that will make knowing them easier? We just need to do this for our posterity and other family members that will come in the future from common ancestors.
Why it is so important to add them to Family Search/ Family Tree's Memories Section? Because once they are archived on FS they can be viewed by all the interested people forever. The long handwritten accounts in journals are wonderful too and hopefully someone among our descendants will value them enough to keep them in the family. Sadly, this is often not the case when we pass away. Years of work can hit the dumpster without a care in many cases. All of us work hard enough to not want that to happen. Electronic copies stored in various places are the best hope of our work surviving us.
Another thing we thought of was leaving a message with a family member to convert our Person Details Page on FamilySearch/Family Tree from "Living" to "Deceased" after we are gone. This could take years otherwise. There is no plan for that to be done automatically after a certain number of years at this point in the FS System.
So why don't some of us write our stories and personal history? Some people just do not want to leave anything behind for fear that they are not a good writer, or they have nothing of interest to report or they feel no one would care. Some feel they have things they just don't want to be known by others. They feel they should go to their grave with it rather than share it. That is valid in some cases, and every person's right to privacy for sure. However, in this computer age if there is a public record of something, a good researcher will find it anyway. Why not tell the story in your own way. Rather than having someone else attempt it a hundred years later? Of course we are under no obligation to tell all of our story but certainly tell some of it. Leave something of value to another.
I like what Winston Churchill once said, " I will be remembered favorably in history?" The person he was conversing with said, "Oh really, how is that?" Churchill replied, "Because I plan to write my history myself." That is exactly what he did! He is, indeed, remembered favorably because of it.
How will you choose to be remembered? What are you willing to do to make it happen. What would life be like it no one kept histories; personal, social, cultural histories or the history of world events? Our own personal life and learning would be pretty small. What we learn from histories or the lack thereof is extremely important. I hope we all choose to participate in this great work. It is a win/win for everyone and the benefits to us personally are great.
There is an interesting thought about the word History. If we take my story and your story, then all of our stories become His-Story. Or History! The story of His children on earth. Cool thought, don't you think? So let's write away, right away. A little at a time it will get done. If you need suggestions on topics to write about let me know, as there are many resources available in this endeavor of preserving our legacy.
