Memories Make You

To Do List

1. What are you going to tell the kids?
It doesn’t matter much. What counts is the time together. Try reminiscing. Talk about their babyhood. Remember them as tots, teen-agers. It helps them to “identify”.
Ask your grandchild if he or she or they would like to hear about “my adventure,” the
one, say, of breaking ground and plowing fields by oxen in northern Saskatchewan, or of “The time I roped horses for the rodeo in Calgary,” or “The time I spilled the beans when we were making Boston Baked Beans for the party,” or . . . whatever. Spin them a tale (preferably true but dramatized) and they’ll love it. And you.
Maybe you can tell them, or show them with the aid of your photographs, how you did things in the old days. Maybe your photographs need sorting and filing. Scrapbook them together.
Do little boys still make model airplanes? Have one at your place to work on together.
Do little girls still knit or crochet? Maybe you could give yourselves a project, like knitting socks for the homeless, or dolls for child victims of fire, flood or other catastrophe.

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2. You ARE a Writer
They say we remember old times while we forget what we ate for breakfast. But don’t worry; it’s not likely Alzheimer’s.
If you’re anything like me, your mind keeps going back to your childhood, and the older I get the more it goes.
So, write it down. Whatever memory you have, commit it to paper. It is precious to you, so it will be precious to your children. And it’s probably a part of you that you haven’t revealed before.
Never mind that you aren’t a Margaret Atwood or a Pierre Berton. It’s part of you, and your children and grandchildren will enjoy the stories and appreciate them as part of their heritage. These are, after all, some of the things that made you you and, therefore, them them.
It will help them remember you as young and vital, important and alive. Your memory becomes their collective memory.
And besides, you can then remember them together, and it will give your children and grandchildren material for your memorial.
So get a journal, and plenty of pens. Another part of you is your handwriting.
Sooner or later, your children and grandchildren are going to wonder “where did I come from.” Your jottings will help them to find out.

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3. A Recipe to Connect
If you’re not up to surfing on the internet, you might want to get involved with computers. It’s a great connection with grandchildren, I find. You can easily become familiar with your word processing programme. Think of it as an electronic typewriter. And a friend.
Microsoft Word is the standard program today, and it’s easy to use. Simply accept the jargon and follow the built-in help. Your grandchild will bail you out if you go wrong.
What will you type into your word processor?
You can write letters. You can write your memoirs, snippet by snippet.You can also pass on your family recipes. Recipes are a universal favorite, forever fascinating, popular, and in demand. Compile them as you remember them. People will be glad to have them. And the family will cherish the family’s “secret” recipes, your specialties.You can also type in detailed instructions on how to freeze different foods, how to microwave them, how to process (can) different foods. Perhaps you hold the secret to cooking and baking at different altitudes. Great knowledge to have; it saves on disasters and waste. That makes it great stuff to pass on.
After all, you are a storehouse of knowledge.

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4. What Genealogy Doesn’t say
Tracking family history (genealogy) has become an all-time favourite pastime. Everybody wants to know who started their family tree and if there are any famous bandits or explorers, pirates or politicians in their blood.
Well, by and large, genealogy records usually show place and date of birth, father and mother, and if you’re lucky, the father’s occupation. That’s not much to go on.
So what can you do?
You can buy a journal, stock up on pens, and jot down such details of your family as you know them. Enter some details. If you’re computer literate, enter them in a folder labeled, say, “Family History”.
Tell “Grandpa John’s Story.” Say he was a lumberjack. Call him a pioneer. Relate how he chopped down trees, how he sawed lumber, tell what kind of tools and machines he used, and how he helped open up, say the northwest section of parcel X in northern whatever province.
If Uncle Jack built a log house, tell all about it. This is interesting to those of us who weren’t there.
These are the things that are being forgotten. Don’t let them be.
Your grandchildren will one day find this fascinating; and so will theirs.

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5. Good Medicine
Sooner or later, most of us wind up in our doctor’s office. And likely or not, there comes a time when Doc asks you those disturbing questions. One such question is, “Any cancer in your family?”
Not all of us have a grip on the family’s medical history. Who knows if Granddad on Mother’s side suffered cataracts? Do you know if Uncle Harold had an enlarged prostate?
Your doctor asks these questions for a reason.
So do a search. Ask your mother, your father—everybody—“what’s wrong with you?” Oh, you’ll be tactful, of course. Tell them your doctor asked you for a family medical history. Mine did. My brother’s did. It was my brother who dredged up the information in our family. Then we added information from our cousin’s family history, which added notable facts that even our mother hadn’t been aware of.
Doc will appreciate being better able to diagnose you.
Knowing your medical history is, after all, good medicine.