November is National Family Stories Month. This celebration focuses on the importance of keeping those family stories alive from generation to generation. Too often, families put off recording those stories and then the wonderful history of their family’s legacies disappear as the eldest family members pass away. A Senior Home Care provider can help with this process.
Why Are Family Stories Important?
Knowing the stories of your family helps a person feel connected even when they are distant. It can remind them that they are an important part of the overall family unit, even if they feel like they don’t contribute much anymore. This can be especially important for seniors who sometimes reach a point in their lives where they wonder if they still have value for the family. No longer providers or caregivers, (and often having to be provided care or supported by younger family members), they can lose their sense of self-worth within the family.
Assuring your elderly loved ones that as keepers of family stories, they provide enormous worth to the family unit will help them regain that sense of value.
Recording Family Stories
While one of the best ways to learn about your family stories is to sit around a table or other community gathering spot and hear them directly from your elderly loved one, oftentimes, not all family members can be there for those moments. For that reason, and to hold onto those stories permanently for future generations, consider recording those stories this month to celebrate National Family Stories Month. Here are a couple of easy ways to do it:
Videotape
Thanks to the convenience of just about every phone having good video-taping ability, it’s never been easier to sit with a loved one and ask questions about your family history while recording him and the answers he provides. It can often help to have shorter videos that’ll be easier to share, so start out asking specific questions like “Grandpa, what did mealtime look like for you when you were a child?” or “Grandma, who were your childhood friends and what did you do for fun?”
There are many programs made specifically for downloading videos and creating easy sharable links to send out to all family members, near and far.
Written
If your loved one still likes to write, you might consider having him write down his stories. There are great books you can buy that have plenty of fun questions prompting your loved one to dig deep into his memories. If your loved one’s writing is hard to read, typing it up in a computer document is another great way to capture the stories in writing.
Photos
Create photo albums that allow you to include both a photo and a short written anecdote about the photo. Photos are excellent at jogging memories and opening up doors to long-ago stories.
Enlist some help
You don’t need to wait to start the process of recording your loved one’s family stories. Consider enlisting a senior home care provider to help get the ball rolling before the next big holiday get-together. A senior home care provider can record stories and send them to you or help your loved one write down his stories for your next family gathering. Your loved one may appreciate telling his stories to his senior home care provider in his calm home environment over trying to share it during a bustling holiday gathering.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring Senior Home Care at Home in Westwood, CA, please call Mom's Home Care and talk to our friendly, knowledgeable staff.
Our number is 323-244-4789.
