Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Week Thirteen: The Significant Other in Your Life

Yes, I'm late again (hangs head). This was a busy weekend with lots of errands and necessary shopping, plus I hosted Scanfest. I apologize for my tardiness, as we head into the next topic, the Significant Other in Your Life. This could be your Husband/Wife or the love of your life.

*How did you meet him/her?

*Were you attracted to him/her right away, or much later?

*Write about your first date. Who asked who out? What did you do? Where did you go? Was it terrific or a disaster?!

*Tell about some of your other memorable dates.

*When did you know that he/she was "the one"?

*Tell about how you got engaged, if applicable. Was it a surprise proposal, or expected?

*Write about any bridal showers or bachelor(ette) parties you might have had.

*Did you receive any pre-marital counseling, or go on a retreat?

*If you never married the love of your life, what were/are your reasons?

*How long have you been together?

We'll finish this topic next week with "Your Wedding." I promise I will get back on track and have the next prompt ready Sunday morning!

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Week Twelve: Your Daily Life

After reading some ancestral diaries that others have posted on their genealogy blogs, I thought it would be interesting to provide our descendants with a narrative of our daily lives. In other words, on a typical weekday, what happens? Here are some things to consider:

*What time do you get up?

*What do you do first?

*How do you get to work or school (or do you work at home)?

*What ordinary, perhaps even boring (to you) things to you do at each hour of the day?

*What people do you interact with on a daily basis (co-workers, friends, neighbors, family, community workers such as the mail carrier, etc.)?

*What do usually eat, and where?

*At the end of the workday, what things do you do at home?

*What do you do to relax in the evening? List television or radio shows you watch, music you listen to, websites you visit, etc.

*When do you go to bed?

Now spend some time journaling about your typical weekend day:

*What sorts of things do you normally do on Saturday?

*Where do you go?

*Do you attend worship services on Sunday, sleep in, or regularly participate in some other activity?

*How do you prepare for the coming workweek?

If you have regular activities that happen on certain days of the week, you could add those. For instance, I like to visit my Family History Center nearly every Thursday evening to do research, and I could write about what I do and the volunteers I have gotten to know there.

If you like, you could list this in an hour-by-hour procedure, such as "6:00 a.m. - wake, get dressed; 6:15 - work out on treadmill; 6:45 - eat breakfast: yogurt and a cup of coffee," etc.

It would be interesting to bring your camera to work and take pictures of your workplace and co-workers to add to your journal; or even the commute, if you're sitting, stuck in traffic. If you work at home, you could use the auto-timer or arrange to have someone taking photos of you.

It's often the ordinary days that are overlooked; and I think our descendants would love to know what a typical day was like for us...after all, wouldn't we want to know the same about OUR ancestors?

Next week, we'll be talking about marriage, significant others, or the loves of our lives.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Week Eleven: Your Father's Life

Last week's prompt was to write all about your mother. This week you'll be writing about your father's life.

Besides the basic details of his life (birth, marriage(s), death (if deceased), parents, siblings, etc.) write about the things that no future genealogist will probably be able to discover: his personality, his traits, strengths, weaknesses. What were his aspirations? Was he happy and fulfilled in his occupation? What was your relationship with him like? Was he cold and aloof, warm and affectionate, or somewhere in between? What sorts of things did you do together? What was his relationship with your mother like? Again, you may be one of the few people on this earth that know/knew your father well, and you have the ability to share this information with future generations!

Include photos of different stages of your father's life, especially those of the two of you together.

Next week's prompt will be "Your Daily Life."

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Week Ten: Your Mother's Life

I'm late and I'm sorry...it's been a stressful week at work, followed by a busy weekend. Nevertheless, here we are!

The topic is "Your Mother's Life." Did you know that March is Women's History Month, and March 8 is International Woman's Day (widely celebrated in Europe)? So in this prompt, I'm encouraging to spend time writing about your mother. Write about the events of her life, her accomplishments, personality, hobbies, and your relationship with her. Those parent-child relationships can be complicated, so if yours isn't all you wish(ed) it could be, be frank. Maybe you were one of the lucky ones, and had an absolutely wonderful mother. Or perhaps yours was somewhere in the middle between terrific and not-so-great. Chances are, you're one of the few people who know/knew your mother well, and your memories of her are definitely worth sharing with your descendants!

Include photos of different stages of your mother's life, especially those of the two of you together.

Next week: You guessed it! "Your Father's Life."