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How many of us wish the same…that we’d recorded stories and memories of parents, grandparents and other relatives who are no longer here to tell us about our heritage?  Or we wish we’d at least jotted down some notes as they told stories.

These family stories are precious.  When we hear parents and grandparents telling them, we think we’ll always remember.  Or we may even get tired of hearing them, so tune the person out.

Then, years later, we wish we could recall the details.

It isn’t always convenient to record while someone is talking or it makes them uncomfortable.  At least jot down some notes and record the details.  Sometimes you can even get them to write down their memories, as I did with my dad and aunt.

My mom enjoyed my “interviewing” her as I did other people in my work as a newspaper reporter.  “Are you going to interview me now?” she asked, as we settled at the kitchen table with a cup of tea.

Keep a record of these memories, even when you think you’ll never forget the endless tales of family members. 

Also, record your own memories! 

 ”Mom, you spend so much time on family history but don’t write down your own memories for us,” my daughter commented.  So I’m starting to record mine, too.

Post from: Blisstree

Recording Family Memories

What a great idea to spend time reminiscing and writing it down to share with the grandchildren. I did get a book for grandparents to record their memories and filled in some of it with my dad. I just wish I’d started it sooner.

 Yes, Kaye, those grandparents’ memory books are great.  They’re a good way to start in recording memories.  Often they’re all that you need. 

And most of us, I think, wish we’d jotted down or recorded more of the memories while our parents or grandparents were still with us or could remember (in the case of Alzheimer’s).  Fortunately I had my dad write down some of his memories before he died.  Then I began to ask my mom about hers before Alzheimer’s became too severe.

How have you recorded family memories?

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Keeping a Grandmother’s Memory Book

As I recall my experiences with Mother and Auntie and read some of the comments I receive here at Alzheimer’s Notes, I realize there are small triumphs, or joys, if we’ll but recognize them…and remember them.

Write them down in a notebook.  You can read them when you have frustrating days and add to them as you go along.  I find, even several years after Mother and Auntie’s deaths, that remembering these incidents can bring a smile and fond thoughts about these ladies.

Amanda says:  I’ve worked with demntia patients in a nursing home, and it’s very sad to see what there going through.  But I found it very rewarding also since they are still wonderful people even though they’re lost in time.

I like Amanda’s expression that they’re “lost in time.”  I learned to enjoy my experiences with Mother in another dimension of time.

Krystle, who enjoys working in geriatrics, says of one patient: He had lost ability to speak and had to be led around wherever he needed to go; eventually he lost the ability to walk. One day, after I had worked there a year or more, he spoke to me. He asked me if we were going to go get something to drink. The entire time I had worked there I had never heard him talk. It’s the small triumphs that mean all the world with Alzheimer patients.

Yes, I agree with Kristle.  Those small triumphs, whether you’re caring for a family member or someone in a nursing home, make it all worthwhile.

What are your small triumphs with your Alzheimer’s patient?

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Enjoying the Small Triumphs of Caring for Alzheimer’s Patients