Family History, a gentle reminder to keep records

I never knew my Great-Grandmother but I have been told she was a strong, wonderful woman. I was recently reading her 3-page autobiography and the words made her more "real" to me. As I read to the third page of her autobiography a few things occurred to me:

1. I was sad when the story ended...I wanted to know more about her and her life. What did she enjoy, dislike, was she funny, what heartaches happened to her, and what kept her awake at night or on her knees praying?

2. Will my great-grandchildren know any of those answers from my life? I am pretty bad at keeping a journal going but I know I want to share with them, teach them and hopefully help them to feel that they know me.

3. My Great-Grandmother closes by saying that she wishes she knew more about her parents early lives, I do too. If I know little of her, I know even less about my great-great grandparents. I wish she had shared what she did know. Maybe a few stories of her childhood remembrances. Am I telling my great grandchildren about my parents, my childhood?

4. My Great-Grandmother promises that my grandfather, Charles, will tell us, as Paul Harvey would say, "the rest of the story". My grandfather did not. He was an amazing man, captain in the Navy at Pearl Harbor on the day the Japanese bombed us. Father of 8 children and married to my grandmother for over 50 years (I don't know the exact number of years because I was 15 when he died). He was busy, as we all are and did not finish the story. How I wish he had!

5. Lastly, I'm thankful for Ruby Adele Davis Ide, my Great-Grandmother. I'm thankful for the three pages she did leave me. I'm thankful for the time she took to do it. She has inspired and motivated me. I look forward to meeting her someday in the life to come.


While I may not have kept a daily journal I realize that I do keep my own records of sorts. I have paper scrap-booked and digitally scrap-booked many events of my life. I have years of Facebook entries that tell of my day-to-day life and I even have some real sob-story paper journals, when life has been especially rough. I think our digital photo age has also helped me keep a photo journal of my life. I'm definitely not tied down to 24 photos to a roll of film anymore. If I ever doubt that my excessive amount of digital photos are actually a real "journal" may I just consider how much I wish I had a photo record of my great-grandmother's life. Our digital photos are family history gold.

I'd be interested in your thoughts and stories on how family history has reminded you of the need to be a better historian of your life. In what ways are we using modern methods and inventions to record history in ways that were not available in the past? Please share your stories and advice in the comments section. Thanks!