"Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your children's children."
Deuteronomy 4:9
In a complex, mobile society like ours, the stories of our lives get overshadowed and replaced by stories from Hollywood and CNN. Our histories are fragile, scattered and replaced. Our need to examine and to share our stories is vital--for our own mental health, for our relationships and our cohesiveness in community, and for the good of a future that can learn from our past. for these reasons every family needs a Memory Keeper.
My mother is our families memory keeper and she turns 80 years old today. Happy Birthday, Mom! She believed at a very young age that everyone has a rich history and a story to tell - a story that should be passed on and her efforts at preserving her families legacy have been priceless.
Mom bought a camera at a young age many of us still enjoy the photos from over 60 years ago. My earliest memories are of getting my picture taken and she carried her camera as we all carry cell phones today. We all learned early that she wasn't going to give up until she got the picture she wanted and we knew that a quick pose and a smile was the quickest way to get her to put the camera down. Her home has an entire wall of shelves filled with photo albums and at a recent family reunion she gave away hundreds of pictures to aunts, uncles, neices, nephews, children and grandchildren. Our lives were very well documented and the memories we all share will remain alive - for generations to come! These are the moments and memories that make us human and that connect us to our heritage.
"We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies." ~Shirley Abbott
Mom always appreciated the importance of family and felt the need to preserve her families history. In the mid 1970's, Roots was shown on TV and it created a million new genealogists in America. Mom and I were among them. It was an interest that I could share with my mother even at 15. 35 years later we both still have genealogy charts on our walls and can immediately tell you where Great Great Grandfather was married in 1880 or which village in Sweden our family comes from. Everytime I discover a new ancestor - someone who lived and loved and died and who's DNA flows through my own veins, I imagine that they are grateful to be discovered and remembered. It makes me feel connected to something bigger than myself and I love that I can share this hobby with my mother.
"I promise that if you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations. Each of us is important to those who are near and dear to us and as our posterity reads of our life's experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us." Spencer W. Kimball
One of the reasons I keep a blog is because I believe that it is a 21st century version of a journal. Perhaps this is something else I picked up from Mom. The family histories she has written are a treasure to me and I believe they also will be to my great grand children. The records she kept of my childhood allowed me to compare what I weighed at 18 months to what my own children weighed at the same age. Every year she recorded what I wanted to be when I grew up. (mostly Batman or an astronaut) Because of her example I've tried to do the same for my kids and I hope they'll appreciate it as much as I have.
So Mom, for your 80th birthday I want to let you know how much I appreciate the stories you have given me and the memories you have recorded. Your life is a legacy and a gift that only you could have given. Thank-you for sharing it with me. I Love You.
