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!

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.

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."

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."

Week Nine: Letters to Your Siblings' Descendants

The prompt for Week Nine is an expansion of some of the prompts from Week Three: Your Immediate Family. Week Nine focuses on your siblings, but we're going to take a slightly different approach from the question-and-answer format. For each of your siblings, write a letter to their future descendants of 50 years from now. Imagine that you are the only one left to describe the lives of your siblings to their descendants (and for some of you, this may be so). Incorporate the important events, locations, and people of your siblings' lives, but most importantly, describe the things that make them "real," which are difficult for the family historian to discover: their personalities, their flaws and strengths, their passions and dislikes, their relationship with you.

Obviously, if you have many siblings, this assignment will take a while. You may choose to write one letter a day, or to write one now and each of the others around the time of your siblings' birthdays, as a way to honor them. Don't forget half- and step-siblings.

If you are an only child, you can adapt this for favorite cousins or even close friends.

You can include photos of your siblings at different ages of their lives, and photos that include both of you. Make copies of these letters and share them with your siblings (cousins, friends) and/or their descendants. They would make nice gifts at birthdays, anniversaries, or reunions.

Week Ten will focus on your mother and her life.

Week Eight: Your Oldest Living Ancestor

Who was your oldest living ancestor (grandparent, great-grandparent, even possibly a great-great-grandparent!) at the time you were born? Perhaps you didn't have a direct ancestor living, but a collateral one, i.e. a sibling or cousin of a grandparent or great-grandparent. You can choose to write about this person instead, especially if your grandparents weren't living when you were born or didn't live nearby while you were growing up. Just to make it a bit easier for me, I'm going to refer to this person in my prompts as "she."

*What was the relationship (grandparent, great-aunt, etc.) of the oldest living ancestor you had at the time of your birth?

*What was her full maiden name? What was/were her married name(s)?

*When and where was she born? Who was president when she was born? Go here to find out.

*How old was she when you were born?

*Did you get to know this ancestor/relative personally? What was your relationship like? Were they a favorite, or were you neutral towards this person? Perhaps the relationship was even strained. How did that affect you?

*Describe this ancestor's personality, likes/dislikes, strengths/weaknesses. How are you similar to this ancestor? How are you different?

*Describe this ancestor's physical features, including complexion, hair and eye color, build, height, and any possible disabilities that she had. How are you alike or different from her in your appearance?

*Did you inherit anything of sentimental value from this ancestor? Describe the item(s) and include a photograph in your blog or journal.

*Did this person ever talk about her ancestors? Tell about the oldest ancestor she may have mentioned, following the same prompts that this blog has.

*Write a short biography of her life from birth to death. Include her parents' and siblings' names, her spouse(s) and child(ren), the places she lived, her occupation(s), military service, etc. Make sure to include full dates and locations of major life events. Also include photographs, especially any that has the both of you in them.

Next week, we'll return closer to home and go in-depth about your siblings. Are you an only child? We can journal about that, too!

Week Seven: Your Religious Life

Were you raised in a household where religion/faith was a major part of every day living? Was your family only nominally religious, or somewhere in between? These questions are the basis for our weekly prompt, Your Religious Life.

*What religion/faith/denomination/sect were you raised in, if any?

*What do you know about the history of your faith or particular religious organization?

*For how many generations was your family involved in this particular faith or denomination?

*Who would you characterize as the religious leader in your childhood household or extended family? How involved with your local house of worship were the adults in your household?

*How often did you attend your house of worship? Was your attendance on major religious days only, several times a year, once a month, once a week, or every time the doors were open?

*What religious leaders were important to you, and how did they make a difference in your life?

*As an infant, were you baptized, dedicated, christened or accepted into your faith in a ceremonial way? Tell about this event.

*As a child, did you participate in Sunday School, Children's Church, Vacation Bible School, Hebrew School, or any other faith-based children's program on a regular basis?

*Were you involved in any club-like group as a child that was organized through your house of worship (Awanas, Boy or Girl Scouts, Royal Rangers, Missionettes, etc.)? Tell about any awards or badges you received.

*Did you ever attend retreats or camps for children or youth, sponsored by your religious organization?

*As a youth, were you involved in a youth group? Tell about some of the activities you participated in, whether service-oriented or just for fun.

*Did you participate in any ceremonies in your childhood or youth that demonstrated your commitment to your faith (first communion or confirmation, becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, etc.)? Tell about that event: what was the ceremony like, who attended, what gifts did you receive?

*As a youth or adult, did you become an official member of your particular faith? Did you make a public commitment or profession of faith (baptism, etc.) or participate in a ritual or ceremony to celebrate it?

*As an adult, do you still remain involved in the faith of your youth? Have you changed denominations or even religions? Are you no longer involved in faith-based organizations? What has caused you to remain with or change from the faith of your youth? If you were not involved with a faith as a child, but now are as an adult, how did that change occur, and why?

*Are you currently involved in any service to or activities within your house of worship, and if so, in what capacities?

*If you are married, did you marry someone within your faith, and was the ceremony conducted by a religious leader of your faith?

*If you have children, did you raise--or are you raising--your children in the same faith? Why or why not?

*Have you had what some call a religious experience or life-changing moment?

*If you could write a statement of your personal faith, what would it be? Include your own personal philosophies and beliefs, whether or not they are generally accepted by your official faith. Things to consider can include the meaning of life and suffering, your beliefs about God and holy leaders, and your beliefs about the after-life.

*Do you have a special scripture from your holy book that has particular meaning for you, or that you use for a personal statement of your faith?

*Do you have any favorite hymns, songs, and/or prayers? Why are they significant to you?

Photos from major religious events in your life, of the house(s) of worship you attended, of religious leaders, and of religious activities in which you participated would be great illustrations for this topic. You could also add ephemera (certificates, awards, church newsletters, Sunday bulletins, etc.) to your journal.

Next week, we will change our focus from our own lives to the life of the oldest ancestor that was alive at the time of your birth. Start thinking now about what you know about this person. We will return to more prompts about our own lives at a later date. Mixing it up a bit will help us be more creative in our thinking, and thus our writing!