Does your family feel fractured and scattered across the country?
Here’s a way to feel more emotionally stable by bringing your family together and having a sense of connection to the past and future:
Research your family’s history and the many emotional benefits like my husband, Gerald, did.
You might think you don’t want anything to do with your family, especially favorite or least favorite aunts and uncles who ooooed and awwwwed over you during Thanksgiving, pinching your face and asking how your grades were in school.
Annoying, right?
And many people have suffered hurts in their families because no family is … you’ve heard it said lots of times … perfect.
Despite the problems, researching family history and saving your findings for future generations is a healthy thing to do.
You’ll feel in control
A professor at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia, has found that “engaging in ancestry research often leads to people feeling more in control of their lives and experiencing a deeper understanding of themselves and their place in the world – including gratitude for the struggles their predecessors faced on behalf of their children.” (BBC.com, link below)
You’ll have a greater sense of wellbeing
Imagine floating at sea clinging to a life preserver and a boat is on the horizon.
Living with little to no knowledge of your family’s story can make you feel like you’re floating in the ocean of humanity alone, especially in a mobile society. People making about 11 moves during their lifetime and about half of those moves are made between the ages of 18 and 45 (GoBankingRates quoted on Nasdaq.com, link below).
Chronicle your family’s history and you can enjoy greater wellbeing while offering a sense of stability and continuity to future generations.
Life feels more complete and you feel more connected when you know where you fit in your family’s history.
Resources to research your family history if you’re starting or stuck
Free resources
Start with family photos and other media and interviews with relatives.
Look for family photos, VHS tapes, slide shows, Super 8 home movies, handwritten letters and other media. Who and What are in your collection? Who are the people and what are the places, buildings, vacations and other memories?
I’m glad my children got to know my parents personally.
Talk to older relatives, cousins, and friends of parents and grandparents and ask them what they remember about their childhood, marriages, businesses and other important details. Show them your photos and other files to fill in the stories.
Check with historical societies in your town, county, and state. You can often do plenty of free research.
Visit the National Archives online or in person if you’re visiting Washinton, D.C.
I’m also thankful that my children can look back on the digital albums of my parents and have the memories to share with their families.
Professional genealogists
I’ve traced my family back to the Civil War and a friend of mine has traced her family line back to the late 1500s in Germany using professional genealogists with FOREVER®. Read on and I’ll share more on how to use this powerful service.
Why FOREVER®
This is the best solution I’ve seen for safeguarding your family’s stories. You’re able to:
Digitize older files in all different formats (printed photos, audio cassettes, home movies, VHS tapes, slide shows, handwritten letters, and more.
Create digital albums for upcoming holiday gatherings and upcoming trips.
Store your files in digital albums that let you identify the date it was taken. You have room to type in brief descriptions or thorough stories.
Use your digitized files to print keepsake photo books and create personalized gifts to give for Christmas, anniversaries, or as thank-you gifts and thinking-of-you memories.
Consult with professional genealogists as needed to locate hard-to-find family records and uncover information if you’re facing blocks due to language barriers and immigration issues.
I never thought of my childhood photo as “history in the making” but descendents in 2124 and later will be able to access it thanks to FOREVER®.
More key points:
You own your FOREVER® account so you’re in control. I’ll be able to describe why this is important for you to store your files safely and permanently.
Your files are guaranteed safe for a lifetime plus 100 years and with the goal of preserving them beyond that time frame. The FOREVER Guarantee Fund will migrate your files to newest formats when the current format becomes obsolete. No extra cost to you, your children, future generations.
Declutter and digitize as you research
This is your opportunity to clean up scattered files.
Gather all your memories and bring them into a central location. Get rid of duplicate photos and ones that are poor quality.
You can use manila folders or envelopes and mark them with “grandparents, parents, children” or the places of where you’ve taken memorable vacations. Mark them so they make sense to you.
Digitize the memories you want to keep.
Store them in digital albums you create in FOREVER®.
Write brief or thorough descriptions of the people in the files.
Upload photos and videos from your smartphone and other digital devices to your digital albums in FOREVER®.
Now, you’re bringing all of your memories into one, safe place.
You’ll be able to share these with family and friends wherever they have an internet connection and they’ll be available for future generations.
Need help with your family research?
Your family stories are worth safeguarding for your children, grandchildren, and their grandchildren.
Contact me and let me know how I can help you either get started or use FOREVER® to chronicle your family’s history.
Click on the links below for resources and more input.
Helpful Links
Previous Post
Benefits of Using Professional Genealogists to Help You Research Your Family History
Links Used Above
BBC.com Healing Generational Trauma and Mental Health by Understanding Ancestry
Here’s How Often Americans Move, and How Much They’re Spending
Listings of historical societies