Our Ask An Angel correspondent is Arlene Petersen, Certified Senior Advisor and Life Care Navigation Specialist in the area of senior home care.
Q: I’d like to leave my life’s story to my family, but I don’t know where to start. Do you have any suggestions?
A: Everyone has a story to tell, and there are so many ways to capture your life’s story. We have seen the way scrapbooking has evolved and taken over through the years, haven’t we? It says a lot about people wanting to communicate about life, whether it’s theirs or their children’s, or grandchildren’s. Plus, it is fun.
Here are some steps to help you:
1. Creating a personal story starts with planning. Sometimes creating a timeline on paper will help jog your memory about significant milestones in your life. Once you put the stories in place, it’s easier to decide how to communicate them. You may choose to write out some of the stories in a journal format, while other memories may be written in a paragraph style and put in a scrapbook next to pictures to share with family and friends.
2. Select the right media. Photographic images can transform a memorial into a visual biography by depicting all aspects of a life – from military service to special honors to leisure activities. A photo helps provide a story not only to your family but to future generations to come. An artistic option could be to create a collage or piece of artwork that depicts your life story. The possibilities are endless. I have done this very simply at a drugstore photo counter and had amazing results. A more sophisticated photo center can help you organize your photos in a hard bound book format. These photo books can tell a life story in a professional-looking format. If writing is a difficulty, you may want to consider recording your story through video or audio technology.
3. Select the right words. You can use poems, songs, spiritual verses, or letters to add to your life story. Did you ever receive love letters from your spouse prior to marriage? As precious as they are to you, imagine how they would be cherished if passed down from generation to generation. Sometimes those mementos communicate best what you are made up of.
4. Involve family and friends. Asking loved ones to participate in designing your life story can make the process less intimidating. Look through old family photo albums together and share anecdotes and favorite stories that may provide inspiration when selecting the creative elements of your life story. It’s a fun way to reconnect with your family and to communicate with your grandchildren, giving them a deeper understanding into your life.
From the Egyptian pyramids to the Vietnam Veterans Wall in Washington, D.C., the emotional importance of creating a memorial of our lives transcends history and cultures and it satisfies a basic human need to remember and to be remembered.
If you would like information on how to capture your life’s story, give me a call. I will send out an information guide to help you.
Have a question for our angel correspondent? You can send our angel an email to AskAnAngel@att.net or send your question via mail to Ask An Angel, 65 Woodbury St., South Elgin, IL 60177.
