Writing Family Memoirs

     Family stories are so much fun.  Have you ever sat and just listened to your parents talk about the good old days?  What an inspiration the older generation can be to us if we pay attention.
     Dad was raised by his mother and Mom was raised by her dad.  Dad's father was out making a living while Grandma and her ten living kids were farming the homestead.  When Dad turned 11, he went on a cattle drive with a bunch of other boys and men he didn't know.  Can you imagine how homesick he must have been?  He completed the seventh grade and spent the rest of his years before marrying Mom making a living for his mother, brothers and sisters.  He was the oldest so he quit school so the others could continue their education.  That's how things were done.
     Mom's mother died while giving birth to Mom's youngest sister.  Mom was seven at the time.  A couple of aunts and a grandmother stepped in and took all four of the girls and kept them for a while.  Granddad missed them so after a few months he picked his daughters up and took them home.
     Can you imagine the stories my parents told about growing up, getting married and raising eight kids?  Now you know why I enjoyed listening to their stories.
     One year for Christmas I wrote a book for Mom and Dad. It was filled with stories I collected from my brothers and sisters about things we kept secret from Mom and Dad when we were growing up.  When I gave them the book, Mom put it into their suitcase because Dad was scheduled for major surgery the first of January and she said they would read it while Dad was recuperating.
     Dad's blood pressure bottomed out at two one morning and the security guard went to the motel and got Mom and took her to sit with Dad.  That's when Mom read the book to him.  She said he just kept smiling and saying, "Not my kids!  They wouldn't do that." 
     Family stories are a great way to let your children and future generations know how things were done in the good old days.  Talk to those in your family who are of the older generation.  You will hear some great stories to write.

Karen Sperra