Keepsakes and Memorabilia: Mementos From My Former Life

I always thought this would make for interesting and revealing conversation with friends: If you could sum up your childhood by compiling a few items, what would they be?

Going through Mom and Dad's "stuff," I've found bits and pieces of my childhood. A Hopalong Cassidy box of paper straws. Partially used ticketbooks from early 1960's Disneyland. I can still pan for gold or sample the Old Miner's Burro Ride (if it's still in existence) without a charge because I unearthed a Knott's Golden Nugget Adventures Fun Book.

Dad liked to enclose important items in frames like Mom's check from her first sale and Brent's first dollar earned.

Mom kept a sampling of our clay models (my piglike bear and a man's face created by my sister), even my pressed preschool handprint.

Most things, I know, landed into the great "trashcan in the sky." But it's amusing to find these kinds of keepsakes (maybe put them into a scrapbook). It makes me glad that mom wasn't absolutely fastidious about her home. And it's kind of a reminder that I had a life before I got married at 20.

Writing About Your Life

Yesterday I took photos of the things around our house since Car-man repeatedly reminded me that photos "saved" us when we had the big earthquake (1994, Northridge, CA) and we could then prove to our insurance company what we owned.  So I went around this house and garage and itemized on camera the appliances, antiques, paintings, china, crystal, etc.

What would make little difference to anyone but my family are the boxes and boxes of photos stashed both in the house and garage.  These, obviously, couldn't be replaced unless they were saved in some off-site computer storage like Shutterfly or Snapfish.  Nor could the memories that go along with them.

Journal for Jordan has made the headlines of late.  Jordan's father, Sgt. Charles Monroe King (pictured), spent only two weeks with his infant son before he returned to duty in Iraq where he was killed in 1996.   In his writings King, unique and spirited,  lovingly shared his personal wisdom with the son he would never share first steps, first date, and first child.

I don't have to look far to remember faces  younger than I who once occupied special moments in my life but who are no longer on this earth.  You never know when you time is up--it only takes one car accident or one visit to the doctor to know that your days are numbered. 

In the spirit of Charles King, we, too, can leave a legacy for your children and grandchildren. We can impart the wisdom we have gleaned from years of living.  As a New Year's resolution, think about putting pen to paper about what makes you you, what you believe in, what's most important to you. And let those who descend you know the person you really are.  

Holiday Gifts for Grandpa--So He Doesn't Feel Left Out

"It's not fair", I hear in the background.  "Grandpas are people too!  We like presents just as much as Grandmas do."

Okay, Grandpas of the world.  Here go my suggestions for your kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids so turn off the computers like good boys and go back to whatever you were doing.

For the rest of you:

Not being male I don't actually know what the other gender likes but I'll give it a try:

1. Software for the computer.  How about his creating the family tree or trying his hand at Poker or Bridge (so he can play with Grandma)?

2. Lessons.  I bought my daughter-in-law a private tutorial in golf.  She gets a pro instructor and all these cameras focusing on her swing.  She would learn alot (if only she could find the gift certificate!).

3. I love museum stores.  What could be better than something from the Smithsonian?

I really like the autographed baseball tie and the book about the Best of the National Air and Space Museum.

4. When Car-man and I were in Alabama, we ventured cross the border into Tennessee (no, we didn't need our passports) only to discover Jack Daniels Distillery.  The place where the winner of multiple awards is distilled can't sell the product (it's a dry county) but you can still buy it.

5.  Two tickets to a ball game, Concours d'Elegance, or a film festival.  

6. A trip back to Normandy (to remember D-Day) or to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.   

7. Line his office or den (or garage) with historical photos.  Better yet, get some old photos of the town he grew up in and frame them.  Maybe the local public library could help you out.  

8. An massage easy chair.  Get this for him and you are his hero for life.  

9. Omaha Steaks has a special right now.  At no shipping cost, you can get 8 steaks, 4 stuffed sole, 6 burgers, 4 franks, 6 stuffed potatoes, and 4 caramel apple tartlets.  All for $109.99.  Such a deal!

10. Coupon books (like the ones you used to make in grammar school) are always winners.  Mow the lawn, make a meal, go on a picnic, take to a movie, plus lots of hugs and kisses.  This ranks with the easy chair.

11. Save Grandpa a trip out in the cold when Fido empties his bladder. 

12. Give Grandpa the world--on a write-on map mural, that is.  Fill a wall with all the places he's been or would like to be.  

13. Make getting around as fun as getting that first car.  Don't forget the basket for picking up some chocolates for Grandma. 

14. A bath/shower combo just gets roomier with curved shower rods.  Why couldn't I have thought of that?

And finally, the piece de resistance...

15. Give Grandpa's balding head a new look.

Best Websites of 2008 Continued

Time invites the rest of us to vote for our favorite website among the 50 presented.  Here's my boomer-slanted take on some of the choices:

Free Rice and Web Sudoku are already famous among people-in-the-know. Improve your vocabulary, test your problem-solving skills, feed the hungry, and entertain yourself for hours and hours.

Find the right pet for you in Petfinder.  Auntie Peggy found the cutest Yorkie. Make sure you can pass their 3rd degree so that you're not disappointed.

I'm a nut for genealogy (you mean a stork didn't deliver me?).  So is Cousin Larry, thank goodness, because we have the same relatives on both sides (my dad's sister married my mom's brother--and yes, that's legal).  Geni is your headstart on growing your own family tree.

ProFootballTalk wouldn't be one of my favorites but my son would kill me if I didn't let other fanatics in on his little secret.

Do-it-yourselfer alert:  Look no further than HowCast  for videos and step-by-step instructions (from people like you) relating to arts, media, crafts, environment, health, mind & body, personal care, pets, etc..  I love the sorting system--you can select videos and guides by "Most Viewed," "Most Recent," "Top-Rated" (I liked "How to Get Rid of a Hickey"), "Top Favorites," "Most Emailed," and "Most Discussed."

Is that you I hear crying out there?  You mean you, too, have been dealt the cruel financial setbacks by the economic mess we're in?  Check out Mint.  Here you'll get the tools (free!) to brush up on personal finance, money management, and financial planning.  

Telling Your Story

I wonder how many precious stories are lost because people don't have the skills to put pen to paper.  Maybe some people think their narrative would be of little interest to others.  Maybe the embarrassment of not picking up the basics of grammar, spelling, or punctuation in school is preventing them.  

Sad, I think.  I'd relish reading about a family member's actual thoughts, hopes, desires or events (or listen to them) in ANY form than have them vanish for all time.  

Unlike teachers grading "What I did This Summer," I don't believe our descendants would sit in judgment over silly communication errors.  There are volumes of reasons some school lessons don't stick.  So, please.  Don't worry about rambling, about fragmented sentences, about improper use of pronouns, or even about spelling. 

A journal is a safe place to record your reflections. 

Spurred on by a conversation with an old friend, your autobiography can be completed in an afternoon.

Consider other forms for sharing your stories--like gathering the family's favorite recipes or compiling a scrapbook or album.   

I think they would be delighted to learn more about you.

At least I would.

Baby Boomers, Preserve Your Memories

Marcia is the Amiable Archivist. She took a 14-week class with me. While I decided to create a website dedicated to the 50-something lifestyle, her interests steered her toward chronicling other person's memories.

Why write down or collect photos about the past?

I can only speak from my own experience: Dad died about 6 years ago. Now mom is moving out of her home of 40 years. Emotions are flooding our senses as we sift through all the remnants of lives once lived. Memories once fresh in our collective minds have faded somewhat. Details are less precise. And contrary to what I perceived my post-50 years to be, my life is not only incredibly busy, it is slipping by.

Marcia's job is to get us to focus on preserving our memories and capture them for our children and grandchildren. She unfolds our stories in digital format. And she's "amiable" too.

If Not Now...When: Telling Your Story

Boomers and seniors: Record your history. There are many resources at your fingertips to help with research. Remember the stories while they are still relatively fresh in your mind.

You may want to begin with Cyndi's List. Tap into AARP's references and do not hesitate to use Family Search.

Here is the beginning of my family's story:

With an oil lamp burning at the table above the general store in the barren prairies of Saskatchewan in the 1930's, Dad discussed and argued values, ethics, and morals with the visiting pastor. Not surprisingly, remnants of these debates appeared in the sermons on Sunday mornings in church where dad loved to sing in the choir.

Hazlet is a small town in central Canada. To this day the main street is dirt. The population has varied little from its original 120 homesteaders, mostly English, Scots, and Norwegians, who were lured to the area with promises of free land and an easy water supply. Free land was doled out provided the homesteaders could endure primitive conditions and a harsh climate. The surrounding towns such as Swift Current and Gull Lake had neither rivers, lakes, nor gulls. To this day the tap water has a natural sulfuric (rotten egg) taste.

It was relatively common for Jewish families to venture to hamlets spiking off the Canadian Railroad to set up stores to supply burgeoning farming communities.

Dad, 16, and his father personally built their store hoping to lessen their struggle to support their large family. But on the day that they were moving into the store, my grandfather suffered a heart attack and died. The role of breadwinner now was placed squarely on my father's shoulders.

It was through the kindness of the homesteaders and their patronage that Dad was able to keep his siblings out of orphanages and foster homes.

Dad grew to love the people (among them the Bangs, Starkeys, Schnuths, Akres, Dewars, and Pattersons) and served them fairly. He earned their esteem and goodwill by keeping long hours, by buying and selling products off their farms, by helping with harvesting, and by participating on the school board. Eventually he was wooed to run for provincial office but because it meant that he would be away in the capital, Regina, from family and business for long stretches of time, he declined.