I used to work in the quilting industry. It was always fun to be a part of the heightened flurry of activity that began about this time of year as our customers hurried to complete quilts and other handmade gifts for loved ones in time for the holidays. As a genealogist, I have that same desire to share what I am passionate about with those around me in meaningful ways. The upcoming holiday season provides the opportunity to do just that. What family history related gifts will you be giving this year? Here are a few quick and easy gift...
Last month, I wrote a post for Family Locket all about how much I enjoyed using EPSON FastFoto Scanner to digitize all our wonderful family photos. Unfortunately, right after I sent the scanner back, I found a few pictures that I missed and wasn’t sure what to do! Nicole told me about another option for scanning, so I thought I’d try it out too. Photomyne is an app available for iOS and android. It ‘scans’ photos right from your phone or other digital device (it felt like I was just taking pictures of the pictures with my phone). The app...
The Adventures of Cowboy Bob: Texas Tricks and Trouble Stories are a powerful way to connect to the past. The trick is finding a way to share them that conveys the emotion and passion of the original telling. My dad had a childhood filled with adventures and he loved to tell them to his children and grandchildren. But how to pass those treasured tales on to future generations? To preserve them in a way that will speak to his posterity, I've chosen to fictionalize those tales. Enjoy this step back in time to Texas about 1933. Texas Tricks and Trouble...
Sometimes a gem of story can be discovered from clues in our family histories. My parents recorded my grandfather telling his life history in the 1970's. After relating the basic facts of his life story, Grandpa began to loosen up and with his memory jogged, he started to tell some of the most memorable events of the early years. His tale of the snake and my dad's bluetick coonhound should have been one I recognized, but my dad didn't include this story in his history. However he did write about coon hunting, so I combined the two memories into this fictionalized...
Memories are fleeting. Why do we remember some things in vivid detail and others not at all? As I've been writing stories based on my dad's memories, I've realized that the stories he recorded were those that made an impact on him. Enough of an impact that 70 years after the event, he still recalled them vividly. Seeing the wonder of snow through my Arizona grandchildren's eyes, I gained insight into my dad's memory of a big snowstorm. Here is my fictionalized telling of that event. The Big Snowstorm By Diana Elder, based on an account by Bobby Gene Shults....
My mom has been writing a series of short stories to share with our family about her dad. I decided to illustrate one of the scenes using StoryBoard That. Eventually I'd like to illustrate each of the scenes and short stories she is writing so I can read them to my kids at bedtime. The scene I did was about picking cotton in Texas when my grandpa was a boy, in the 1930s. The software is pretty simple to use. I was happy to find that there was a cotton field background ready to use. I added some characters, adjusted...
What do you do when you have a great family history story and have just learned how to use a new set of historical records? If you're my friend, Karen, you share the story with your extended family then help your interested niece find some land patents. Today we have a guest post from Karen telling how she helped her teenage niece connect with her ancestors. By Karen Walters A few months ago, we were enjoying a barbeque with extended family. My mother came from out of state and brought an old, forgotten memory book. It had a story about our...
Do you have a Christmas memory that stands out as particularly significant? Maybe an incident involving a family member or friend or maybe the year you learned giving was better than receiving? It could be a hodgepodge of memories centering around a family tradition. Have you shared that memory about a Christmas past? We're reading the classic "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote for our December Book Club selection. Capote wrote this short story in 1956. He tells of one Christmas when his seven-year-old self and an elderly cousin celebrated in their humble, simple way. A poignant, beautifully written story,...
Have you thought about what it must have been like for your ancestors who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930's? My dad's family experienced the Dust Bowl, the era of incredible dust storms that choked the plains of Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas from about 1932-1938. He told of the drifts of sandy dirt on the roads and breathing through a damp handkerchief in the midst of a dust storm. The third in my series The Adventures of Cowboy Bob, here is a fictionalized telling of one of those storms. Dust Storm By Diana Elder, based on accounts from...
Family history stories: research is showing that they contribute to a child's resilience and strength. But what about adults? What can we gain from a family member's experiences, thoughts, and feelings? I set out to write this article for Veteran's Day. I wanted to finally get down in writing my mother's memories of sending off three brothers to fight in World War II. With almost all of her generation gone, my time for getting the rest of the story is diminishing. In so doing, I was touched and strengthened. I gained hope for my generation and future generations. Veteran's Day,...
