Getting your story told
Perhaps my biggest personal frustration when it comes to genealogy and old photographs, is trying to share my family’s story.
Family Searcher
By Nina Brawn
However, my sister Cindy has once again come to my rescue, and, I hope, yours, too. She read an article which led to this website: http://www.turningmemories.com
I have had only a few minutes to check out the website, but there I have found both insight and inspiration. Maine native, Denis Ledoux, draws from a rich writing and teaching history, and uses it to help others bring their personal stories to life. He has started a business called Soleil Lifestory Network, and they help you take your personal memories and photographs and breathe life into them.
There are several options available. Soleil will teach you to write; help you to write; or write for you! They have an international slate of teachers ready to show you concrete ways to turn your thoughts into memoirs. And I do mean concrete. The free Web site offerings helped me understand where I have gone wrong and how to improve.
To paraphrase an example from the website: I have a picture of my Mother alone in a living room. Normally, I might caption it something like: “Mom, at our house in Sangerville, 1968.” From my short visit to turningmemories.com, instead I would now write: “This is my mother in her favorite room in our home in Sangerville in the 1960s.
She had a flair for dramatic decorating, and I was always so proud of her bold and daring color schemes. We called this the ‘Green Room’ and it was also one of my favorite rooms.” 100 years from now, without me there to tell the story, the person who looks at this picture will understand a lot about my mother, about me, and one facet of our relationship.
The other great thing about this website, beyond the concrete knowledge which you will find, is the inspiration to make a start. I feel better knowing that there is “someone” who can lift the burden from my shoulders should the job get too heavy for me. But I also feel like I can begin to make a dent in the thousands of pictures I have that would otherwise die without their stories being told. I was overwhelmed. Now I will be able to decide which photos deserve attention, and how to handle the un-photographed moments in our family history.
I imagine my grandchildren and myself snuggled over a scrapbook and sharing memories to be passed on. The reality is softball and homework first. I have finally found “someone” to help me make sure the stories we cannot find time for in our daily lives do not die with me. Turningmemories.com is helping people do that! On the first page of the website, look for “Free info/Support” on the left side. You will find enough here to help you get started on what may be the most worthwhile step in your genealogical journey, getting your story told!
Good luck and have fun.
Editor’s note: This regular column is sponsored by the Aroostook County Genealogical Society. The group meets the fourth Monday of the month except in July and December at the Cary Medical Center’s Chan Education Center, 163 Van Buren Road, Caribou, at 6:30 p.m. Guests and prospective members are always welcome. FMI contact Edwin “J” Bullard at 492-5501. Columnist Nina Brawn of Dover-Foxcroft has been doing genealogy for over 30 years, is a freelance genealogy researcher, speaker and teacher. Reader e-mails are welcome at ninabrawn@gmail.com.
