My grandmother passed away a few weeks ago at 90 years of age. She was an amazing women who lit up a room and brought joy to everyone in it. Really. She was funny and frank and loving and strong. I am blessed to have had her as my grandmother, my Mammy, and I was amazingly blessed to have had her in my life for so many years.
A few months before she passed, she returned a book to me which I gave her about 14 years ago. It was a book of 365 questions about her life, one question per day for a year, that I asked her to answer and return. Some friends of mine and I built the question list and then one of our friends had the pages formatted and printed so we could decorate the books and give them to special people in our lives to fill out for us.
It took my grandmother a bit longer than the 356 days (I did say ’14 years ago’ up there.) and she didn’t answer even half of the questions. But that is okay with me. The questions she did answer have brought me so much joy and insight. They are yet another blessing to me, to my mom (her daughter), to my son, and to others who have leafed through the pages and read about her rollerskating adventures in a neighbor’s garage and driveway, the times she and my grandfather would sit in the outhouse and talk together, what it was like growing up in a small town, and her general outlook on life.
I want you to have this gift and I want to share this gift with my family someday when I am gone.
To do this, I am launching Memories to Share.
I have rethought the questions, changed the volume of questions and the format and created something I hope will help you to learn more about your own family and share your legacy.
On the first Sunday of each month I will post one PDF with a writing prompt about your life, at least one memory to share, for you to print and fill out yourself. Please then store your answers in a binder which you can give to someone you love one day. Or, if you’re strictly digital, answer the questions somewhere else that you can share one day, but please let someone else know where those docs are stored and they they are there waiting to be shared. You might also print a copy of the Memories to Share PDF and give it to someone else you love each week to have her fill out the answers and return them to you.
It is my hope that a weekly format will make it easier to complete than a daily one and also that it will become something to look forward to completing each month. By posting the questions on MomsToolbox on Sundays, it is my hope that perhaps this can be a part of your Sabbath exercises, as you look back on God’s blessings and soak them in as you share about them.
If you’d rather have all of the questions at once, I also offer a free ebook download of Memories to Share: the eBook.
Don’t feel like these memories can only be shared by writing. Consider bringing the questions up with your family at dinner or another time to help share your stories and her others.
Just to keep everyone on the same page here and cover bases that need to be covered: Yes, I want you to share these Memories to Share PDFs with friends and family members for your personal use. I want this idea to grow so families will have a tool to document their histories and stories for reflection. But this is a gift I am sharing with you. I do not give you permission to use the questions or PDFs in any commercial way, however. You may not sell these sheets or post the prompts in any other way. The questions are my own and protected by copyright and may not be duplicated in any other way without my written permission. Please respect that.
That being said, please join me. Please begin reflecting and recording your Memories to Share.
Memories to Share:
Click on each memory to take you to the question and free PDF download.
- Memory 1: One “Treasure” that represents a memory
- Memory 2: Religion in your life
- Memory 3: Celebrating Halloween
- Memory 4: Your favorite children’s books
- Memory 5: Military experience
- Memory 6: Parade experience
- Memory 7: Thanksgiving
- Memory 8: Baking and Cooking
- Memory 9: Favorite Family Recipes
- Memory 10: Santa Claus
- Memory 11: Christmas Morning / Family Traditions
- Memory 12: New Year’s Resolutions
- Memory 13: An Experience with a Grandparent
- Memory 14: Your Siblings
- Memory 15: Favorite Winter Coat, Hat, or Scarf
- Memory 16: Meeting Your Spouse
- Memory 17: Wedding Day
- Memory 18: Engagement Story
- Memory 19: Your Honeymoon
- Memory 20: College
- Memory 21: High School
- Memory 22: Childhood Summers
- Memory 23: Family Travel
- Memory 24: Passport
- Memory 25: Summer Camp
- Memory 26: Your Father
- Memory 27: Roller Skates
- Memory 28: Celebrating Easter
- Memory 29: 4th of July
- Memory 30: Swimming
- Memory 31: Camping Trips
- Memory 32: Car Games
- Memory 33: Childhood Neighbor
- Memory 34: Imaginary Friend
- Memory 35: Childhood Best Friend
- Memory 36: Back to School
- Memory 37: Middle School Friends
- Memory 38: Middle School Best Friend
- Memory 39: Bicycle
- Memory 40: Birthdays
- Memory 47: Formal Dance
- Memory 48: Your Mother
- Memory 49: First Job
- Memory 50: Jobs
- Memory 51: Driving
- Memory 52: First Movie
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