uncle Junie comes home from school
where’s your mother mo your sister mo
Zetas at ask grandma oh no mom was in
trouble Wow uncle Junie looks at her and
goes she’s down the street fighting the
three boys who were picking on me yes
that’s my mom the rough in tough protect
her siblings at all costs child the very
next day the neighbor knocks on the door
and says your daughter mozhet is out
there fighting on that front porch poor
grandma she goes to find my mom and sure
enough she sees her on the front porch
and she’s out there dancing with a
friend and they’re doing the jerk the
movements look like you’re fighting but
it’s very far from it and that’s my mom
– the dancing queen she can outdance
anyone my mom told this story often and
I was surprised when I called uncle
Curtis and he recited the same exact
story without this story I would never
know that my mom was the rough and tough
dancing queen what do you know about
your family what do you know about your
family history what do you know about
each and every member of your family you
read historical textbooks through 12
years of schooling yet what do you know
about your family today I’m not going to
discuss how to save the environment
nor will I talk about how to save the
economy I’m not going to discuss how to
save children from poverty I am going to
tell you the importance of the one thing
that we all have family history the
world has written its history it’s time
to write yours now what is a family
history well it begins with a story
according to dictionary.com a story is a
narrative whether true or fictitious
written
in prose or verse intended to inform
entertain or instruct the here or a
reader family according to
dictionary.com our group of members
closely relate it by blood you put the
two together and you have family history
my family is filled with rich stories
interesting individuals in fun stories
and songs a history that needs to be
told for future generations to come
maybe not for the masses but for my own
family think about your last holiday
gathering my family loved to get
together and ever since I was a little
girl I can remember us getting together
on Memorial Day we would grab the whole
family and go out to the cemetery and
truck from cemetery plot to cemetery
plot planting flowers on our deceased
loved ones graves but eventually my
grandparents passed away couple aunts
passed away family members moved out of
town and finally it was just my mom my
son and I going from gravesite to
gravesite mom died this year but my son
and I still went and I made sure to
continue to tell him the stories of our
deceased loved ones as we planted
flowers on each and every grave think
about fun stories and songs that you
were told as a child when I would help
my mom wash clothes on Saturday evenings
and as a little girl she would sing with
me and she would sing Jana Jana Bo Berra
banana fanna fo fanna me my mo Mara Jada
and then there were times when I was
sick and she would rub my back with
alcohol hoping that my fever would break
in sing Mama’s little baby loves
shortening shortening Mama’s little baby
last short and then bread and then later
when I had my own son and she would help
him get dressed and she would bicycle
his little feet and sing when you ride a
bicycle never take your hands off the
handlebars wonderful memories
that I’ve recorded when mom died January
4 2018
losing her stories and song startled me
the most but I remembered them and I
wrote them down I saved them in a book
and now I have that peace of heart with
me forever family members pass away no
one lasts forever when grandpa was
living he had a saying that he used to
tell us kids to help put our hats on
before going out in the cold he would
say on the head like a big billy goat
well goats didn’t really have hats but
we would listen to grandpa put our hats
on and go merrily about our way when
family members pass away their stories
in sayings can go with them if they’re
not written down and recorded which is
why I began my journey to save my family
history so why is it important to save
these family memories well the answer is
very simple we’ve simply stopped
recording our history I remember going
to Grandma’s house I loved leafing
through the photo albums looking at my
family members I learned about my family
through their photos and photos of their
journeys there were pictures of aunt
Gloria
in the early 70s at the World’s Fair and
then later on Gloria on top of the Great
Wall of China but times have changed
since then
people have stopped producing photos and
making photo albums everything is stored
online people upload their videos and
photos to social media for family and
members to see but what happens when
those social media sites go out of
business
what happens when they’re no longer the
in thing they take your photos memories
with them forever and saving them on
your phone doesn’t help as well you can
lose your phone it can break or worse
yet when you purchase a new phone and
you go to transfer your photos and they
don’t you lose your photo memories just
that quickly in 2018 the DNA searches
are the big craze you can pay for
service too
search your DNA to find out your
genealogy your ancestry or your genetic
health information but those sites
cannot tell you the personal family
history that you have they can’t tell
you about Uncle Junie who sang in the
doo-wop group or uncle Curtis who loved
traveling the world being in the
military or Aunt Rose who cooked like a
gourmet chef those DNA sources can’t
give you that type of personal
information so how can we start saving
these stories my first suggestion is to
talk to your family members and use a
recording device because family stories
are passed down by word of mouth from
generation to generation and so they’re
not always accurate according to
interpersonal communication expert
Joseph DeVito in 2017
he stated that our memories are
recreations of our perception of our
experiences and our happenings so speak
to more than one family member to get
different perspectives I know the
problem that everybody has it’s time
when do I have time to do all this with
all the other things I have to get done
we’ll take one day for one hour once a
month and use this as story collection
day this will be a fun experience for
your immediate family and at the end
you’ll have a wonderful Journal family
stories matter my uncle Curtis told me
about my great grandparents who lived in
rince Georgia when their slave owners
died they left land to my great
grandparents they were the only black
slaves who owned land in that area but
when the Ku Klux Klan found out about it
they were so unhappy that they killed
one of my relatives so my family had to
relocate from Georgia to Ohio
without this impactful story I would
never know why we live in Youngstown
Ohio saving and watching
stories and videos are important as well
one video that I have that I cherish the
most is one that my mom made of my dad
who died when I was four years old in
this video I was trying to jump rope and
dad was dancing around this video showed
his personality and his love for me and
his family think about it what if all
you knew about your dad was a photo now
think what if you had videos photos
stories which would you rather have so I
have three challenges for you I would
like you to commit to collecting a
family story this week talk to your
favorite let’s talk to your dad or mom
ask them questions start with the
question of what was your most memorable
experience as a child this will be a
starting point for a great family story
number two print one of the photos that
you have stored on your phone or in
social media put it in a picture frame
start your first photo album of the year
and number three begin recording your
family videos the next time you talk to
a family member pull out that video
camera and videotape them don’t miss out
on the richness of your family’s history
don’t lose the chance to pass these
stories on to family members preserving
your family history for generations to
come and look I created a new family
memory today I’m the first family member
who was invited to do a TEDx talk and
this top will be recorded in history
forever on ted.com the world has written
its history now it’s time to write yours thank you
where’s your mother mo your sister mo
Zetas at ask grandma oh no mom was in
trouble Wow uncle Junie looks at her and
goes she’s down the street fighting the
three boys who were picking on me yes
that’s my mom the rough in tough protect
her siblings at all costs child the very
next day the neighbor knocks on the door
and says your daughter mozhet is out
there fighting on that front porch poor
grandma she goes to find my mom and sure
enough she sees her on the front porch
and she’s out there dancing with a
friend and they’re doing the jerk the
movements look like you’re fighting but
it’s very far from it and that’s my mom
– the dancing queen she can outdance
anyone my mom told this story often and
I was surprised when I called uncle
Curtis and he recited the same exact
story without this story I would never
know that my mom was the rough and tough
dancing queen what do you know about
your family what do you know about your
family history what do you know about
each and every member of your family you
read historical textbooks through 12
years of schooling yet what do you know
about your family today I’m not going to
discuss how to save the environment
nor will I talk about how to save the
economy I’m not going to discuss how to
save children from poverty I am going to
tell you the importance of the one thing
that we all have family history the
world has written its history it’s time
to write yours now what is a family
history well it begins with a story
according to dictionary.com a story is a
narrative whether true or fictitious
written
in prose or verse intended to inform
entertain or instruct the here or a
reader family according to
dictionary.com our group of members
closely relate it by blood you put the
two together and you have family history
my family is filled with rich stories
interesting individuals in fun stories
and songs a history that needs to be
told for future generations to come
maybe not for the masses but for my own
family think about your last holiday
gathering my family loved to get
together and ever since I was a little
girl I can remember us getting together
on Memorial Day we would grab the whole
family and go out to the cemetery and
truck from cemetery plot to cemetery
plot planting flowers on our deceased
loved ones graves but eventually my
grandparents passed away couple aunts
passed away family members moved out of
town and finally it was just my mom my
son and I going from gravesite to
gravesite mom died this year but my son
and I still went and I made sure to
continue to tell him the stories of our
deceased loved ones as we planted
flowers on each and every grave think
about fun stories and songs that you
were told as a child when I would help
my mom wash clothes on Saturday evenings
and as a little girl she would sing with
me and she would sing Jana Jana Bo Berra
banana fanna fo fanna me my mo Mara Jada
and then there were times when I was
sick and she would rub my back with
alcohol hoping that my fever would break
in sing Mama’s little baby loves
shortening shortening Mama’s little baby
last short and then bread and then later
when I had my own son and she would help
him get dressed and she would bicycle
his little feet and sing when you ride a
bicycle never take your hands off the
handlebars wonderful memories
that I’ve recorded when mom died January
4 2018
losing her stories and song startled me
the most but I remembered them and I
wrote them down I saved them in a book
and now I have that peace of heart with
me forever family members pass away no
one lasts forever when grandpa was
living he had a saying that he used to
tell us kids to help put our hats on
before going out in the cold he would
say on the head like a big billy goat
well goats didn’t really have hats but
we would listen to grandpa put our hats
on and go merrily about our way when
family members pass away their stories
in sayings can go with them if they’re
not written down and recorded which is
why I began my journey to save my family
history so why is it important to save
these family memories well the answer is
very simple we’ve simply stopped
recording our history I remember going
to Grandma’s house I loved leafing
through the photo albums looking at my
family members I learned about my family
through their photos and photos of their
journeys there were pictures of aunt
Gloria
in the early 70s at the World’s Fair and
then later on Gloria on top of the Great
Wall of China but times have changed
since then
people have stopped producing photos and
making photo albums everything is stored
online people upload their videos and
photos to social media for family and
members to see but what happens when
those social media sites go out of
business
what happens when they’re no longer the
in thing they take your photos memories
with them forever and saving them on
your phone doesn’t help as well you can
lose your phone it can break or worse
yet when you purchase a new phone and
you go to transfer your photos and they
don’t you lose your photo memories just
that quickly in 2018 the DNA searches
are the big craze you can pay for
service too
search your DNA to find out your
genealogy your ancestry or your genetic
health information but those sites
cannot tell you the personal family
history that you have they can’t tell
you about Uncle Junie who sang in the
doo-wop group or uncle Curtis who loved
traveling the world being in the
military or Aunt Rose who cooked like a
gourmet chef those DNA sources can’t
give you that type of personal
information so how can we start saving
these stories my first suggestion is to
talk to your family members and use a
recording device because family stories
are passed down by word of mouth from
generation to generation and so they’re
not always accurate according to
interpersonal communication expert
Joseph DeVito in 2017
he stated that our memories are
recreations of our perception of our
experiences and our happenings so speak
to more than one family member to get
different perspectives I know the
problem that everybody has it’s time
when do I have time to do all this with
all the other things I have to get done
we’ll take one day for one hour once a
month and use this as story collection
day this will be a fun experience for
your immediate family and at the end
you’ll have a wonderful Journal family
stories matter my uncle Curtis told me
about my great grandparents who lived in
rince Georgia when their slave owners
died they left land to my great
grandparents they were the only black
slaves who owned land in that area but
when the Ku Klux Klan found out about it
they were so unhappy that they killed
one of my relatives so my family had to
relocate from Georgia to Ohio
without this impactful story I would
never know why we live in Youngstown
Ohio saving and watching
stories and videos are important as well
one video that I have that I cherish the
most is one that my mom made of my dad
who died when I was four years old in
this video I was trying to jump rope and
dad was dancing around this video showed
his personality and his love for me and
his family think about it what if all
you knew about your dad was a photo now
think what if you had videos photos
stories which would you rather have so I
have three challenges for you I would
like you to commit to collecting a
family story this week talk to your
favorite let’s talk to your dad or mom
ask them questions start with the
question of what was your most memorable
experience as a child this will be a
starting point for a great family story
number two print one of the photos that
you have stored on your phone or in
social media put it in a picture frame
start your first photo album of the year
and number three begin recording your
family videos the next time you talk to
a family member pull out that video
camera and videotape them don’t miss out
on the richness of your family’s history
don’t lose the chance to pass these
stories on to family members preserving
your family history for generations to
come and look I created a new family
memory today I’m the first family member
who was invited to do a TEDx talk and
this top will be recorded in history
forever on ted.com the world has written
its history now it’s time to write yours thank you
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