Memory Jar
Charles Forshaw
As we have just closed out the year of 2015, now is the time to peer into 2016. If we tried to look back into 2015, most likely we could only remember a few of the happenings in our lives, as well as family members. Big things are pretty easy to remember, but smaller things are easily forgotten. A great way to keep these memories alive is to put them into a “Memory Jar.”
What’s a Family Memory Jar? It’s a rather large glass jar or perhaps a decorated old fish bowl in which to store family memories. If you could find an old Mason jar or an old Atlas glass seal top jar, it would bring back memories of seeing Grandma’s stored vegetables in those old jars. Your memory jar can be filled with short messages about daily happenings, small photos or anything else that you want to preserve and remember. Start simple and work your way up to using different colored note paper for perhaps each month, etc.
If it is possible, start with two jars. Use the first jar for your faint memories of yesterday. Even old stories you remember hearing from your parents or grandparents make good memories. Be sure to give dates and places. Old memories make good stories to tell your children and grandchildren. Recalling these faint memories is a great way to introduce your heritage to current and generations to come.
The second jar is for your current memories. Most important is consistency. If you don’t do it daily, then try to add to the jar at least once a week. Once you begin writing notes you’ll think of many new items to add to the jar. Don’t forget to date each of your notes. At the end of the year you can share your memories with family members or just seal them up in that old jar and leave them for future generations. Don’t you wish your parents would have left you a legacy like this? Try it, I think you will enjoy it.
Robson Genealogy Club invites you to come and join us as we all search for those hidden ancestors. Our meetings are the4 first and third Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. with a help session on the second Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. of each month.