Creating A Personal History: Difference between revisions

''History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.'' (Sir Winston Churchill)

<br><br>Here is a good place to tell your reader why you are writing this personal history. Was it because your family or friends wanted you too? Or did you decide to do it on your own? If so, why? What may have motivated you to begin this project can be of help to others who maybe thinking of doing the same thing themselves.

''Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good ol age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.'' (Genesis 25:8) It’s always a good idea to tell what you know about your ancestry. You may be the only source of information, for example, about your grand parents which your grand children will ever have. You are the bridge between these generations. <br>In addition, these questions give you a chance to not only pass on what you know about them but how they may have effected your life. Your decendents will be just as interested in these people as they are in you. Again, you may be the only source of information about them. <br>If you were not all that familiar with your family’s ancestry, you may want to go to other family members and ask them these questions.  

<br><br>Now I admit that these questions are very superficial. If you want to make a far more detail history of your parent’s then you may want to interview them using all the questions in this guide.  

''There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.'' (George Santayana)

<br><br>For the first years of your life, you will obviously have to consult with family. If you don’t like taking notes or afraid you’ll not remember all that you were told, you might think about using a audio recorder or camcorder.  

<br>Not only do you have a recording of what was said but you a recording of the person saying it which may be a bonus if they are a relative. If it is a parent or grandparent, it may be the only record your decendents have of them.  

<br><br>Tell us about the family you grew up in. While you’re at it try to get audio or better yet, video recordings of them to pass down. Consider giving these records to your children too.  

''I once wanted to become an atheist, but I gave up - they have no holidays.'' (Henny Youngman)  

''The undiscovered country from whose bourn No traveler returns.'' (Shakespear)  

<br><br>These are questions which deal with what you were learning in the teenage years when you were trying to find yourself and your place in this world.  

<br><br>Religion plays a large roll in many of our lives. The questions here are for members of The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints. However, they can be reworded if you are a member of some other Christian denomination.  

''When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not.''(Mark Twain)

<br><br>You may have by now made a career choice and were pursuing higher education or additional training in your field of interest. Maybe the military interrupted your plans. You probably were thinking about marriage, too. Here are questions that relate to these major life decisions.  

''Marriage is the alliance of two people, one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other never forgets them.'' (Ogden Nash) <br>Discribing the beginning of your own family You can describe the birth of each child and tell them about their very early roll in the family. This can be of great importance to your children. Much of this material they will probably use when they get around to writing their own personal histories.  

<br><br>Not all relationships go smoothly. Here are questions if you were divorce and remarriaged.  

<br><br>Life may be settling down to routine by now and you are playing the game of getting ahead in life. Here you can also describe your efforts to teach your children and watch them grow up. For many, thirty marks the end of youth and the real beginning of adulthood.  

<br><br>Your probably thinking about how your life as been up to this point. Here you can tell about your successes in your occupation and/or family.  

<br><br>Some go through “mid life crisis” at about this time. You may wonder if you should have taken a different course. You may feel deeply about some failures you have endured. Here is the place to tell about that.  

<br><br>Some look forward to this time in their life. They think they can now take it easy and let the world worry about all the things it likes to worry about. But many find life even busier.  

<br><br>Here you can put any words of wisdom, sum up things learned and say something to each important person in your life.  

<br><br>If you would rather write about topics rather than a narrative, here are a few topics you might consider writing on. These will give the reader great insights to your character and thinking processes. In addition, you will learn things about yourself that you may not have known.