Shaking up the routine can be a good thing. Normally, my days would be spent in my office or at the library. But for a few days, I’m trading the view out of my office window for a view of the lake.
But while I don’t have an Internet connection except for my iPhone and the nearest library has limited hours right now, I’m still working on my genealogy. How?
Living memory.
I’m lucky/fortunate/blessed to have the opportunity to spend some time with my parents. Both of them are filled with stories. There are times that my sister and I ask them specific questions, sometimes the stories just flow on their own.
I want to keep things as simple as possible right now (for a variety of reasons). For this situation, when the stories start flowing, I’m hitting the “Record” button on the Voice Memos app that came pre-installed on my iPhone. So when Dad starts describing the Thanksgiving dinners he had growing up, all I have to do is press Record and sit back and listen… and enjoy.
It isn’t the “best” method for doing it, but it’s getting done. Some day, when my mom and dad are gone, I won’t have to say, “I wish I would have recorded some of their stories.”
Please excuse me now. The lake — and the stories — are calling me.
Oh, such treasure, Amy. My parents were long gone – as were my grandparents, most aunts/uncles – by the time I even began to start to commence genealogy. Oh, plus one grandmother told straight-out lies, and the other threw a professional genealogy report/family tree into the old oil stove with total disdain (ancestors from Northern Ireland – sigh).
Enjoy the lake and your parents!
Sounds like a lovely time! Enjoy and I hope you get some great stories!