Your Family History, You Can Do It!

It used to be that families never strayed a long distance from where they grew up. Many extended family members had homes close together, a lot of times in the same city or even as neighbors. Today it is hard to find many families that reside close. Education and job opportunities have created families that are located all over the world. Although it is possible to stay in touch by phoning and email, we don't get to experience the personal relationships. Over time, we lose touch and fail to get to know our faraway family.
The interaction we have with our family that lives far away is similar to how we understand our ancestors. We know of them, we may even know something about their lives and how they earn a living. But do we know their stories? nnWe learn more of who we and are where our place in a family by staying in touch with our extended family, whether it is faraway family of today or our family of the past. Personal stories and experiences are invaluable to creating that connection. It is important to keep in touch with our extended family as well as learn about our ancestors.
Keeping the connection with our family that live far from us is both easier and harder than ever before. It is easier because of all the technology available to us today. We can email, send videos and make phone calls. We can visit our extended family. People in years past might have never got the opportunity to see family members that moved few hundred miles away because of the slow modes of transportation available to them. We can quickly cover the distance with modern travel. However, our lives are busier than ever so it is hard to find the time to create those important family ties.

There are easy ways to stay in touch with your far away family. You will need to make the time, but when you sit down and think about it family is worth the time. Most of these tips will also help toward writing your history for your posterity. One day we will be the ancestors and our descendants will wonder about our stories.
You could start a circle journal. If you have family that live far apart, create a circle journal and pass it around. Start a journal and keep it for a few days. Include information about your family, things you have been doing and what your kids are involved in. When your time with the journal is up, send it to the next person on the list and they will do the same. Plan the time period so everyone gets the journal around every six weeks. When you get the journal back you can find out about what your family members have been doing with their lives, then you write your update and send it along again. Every year, copy all the pages and mail everyone a copy. This is a perfect method to keep in touch with several people and it is more personal than a Christmas card.
A good thing about a circle journal is you are making a history of your daily routine for your descendants. We generally record the big events, but not our everyday life. If you research your family history you will discover that you cherish the accounts of the routine things of daily life. This can help make our ancestors real and help us to identify with them. You should want to leave a record like that for your posterity.
Start a family blog. Blogging is a great way to keep in touch and exchange stories. You don't have to share your blog with the world, keep it private and just invite family members. A blog is a great way to share events and milestones.
Create a digital scrapbook. Digital scrapbooking is an inexpensive, mess free way to start a family history. The wonderful thing about digital scrapbooking is you can share your pages with family anywhere by posting them on the web. You can also have your scrapbook professionally printed and give it as a gift.
There are several ways to create a history of your life. Just as the histories of ancestors are important to us, someday your history will be invaluable to your posterity. Family history is a way that we know where we have been and where we are going. Make sure your family history has you in it!

About the Author

Tara enjoys researching her family history and using her USB slide scanner. She enjoys nature, reading and spending time with her family. You can learn more about using a slide scanner on her website www.35mmslideconverter.org.

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