Everyone has a story. Now that I've started writing down recollections about my grandmother, Agnes McGrath Sunderland, and have made only a tiny start in the stories of my parents, I wish I could get everyone in the family to write about themselves.
It may not seem important to each person, but when I think of all the questions that I never asked my parents, aunts, uncles and grandmothers I wish I could record the stories of everyone in the family. If you are a part of the extended clan it would be wonderful to hear your story.
How do you start? Well, familysearch.org has 52 questions you can use to get started. Here is the link https://familysearch.org/blog/en/52-questions-52-weeks/. Please try to write out answers to those questions. If you can, use those as a guide to write the stories of your parents and other relatives.
Even if you don't feel you can write answers to all the questions, maybe you have a recollection or brief anecdote. I would love to hear it and read it and incorporate it into the family saga. What's more important, those that come after us will have a much better understanding of us if we can put something on paper which they can read maybe 50 years from now, or even 100 years from now. I wish I had such written memories of my forebears. Sadly I don't know of anyone who has passed away, who left a written record.
Well, that's not exactly true. I do have a diary that my mother kept from 1939 to 1943. Her entries were short. It was a 5 year diary with only a few lines of space for each day. Each date had a small space for each of 5 years. She was very faithful in recording how she spent her time. It's a window into her life.
Tomorrow I hope to get to the Irish embassy in downtown Ottawa to see if I could possibly get an extension on the 90 day limit on visits. I want to spend about 110 days in Ireland next winter and spring. Stay tuned.
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