Isn't family history amazing? Describing the pain and triumph experienced by granparents and great grandparents can be fascinating for younger generations to hear. Romantic anecdotes about how mom and dad met are also fun to share. April 27 is Tell a Story Day, so what a great time to talk about family history with our children.
Lots of family stories have become great books. Some that immediately spring to mind are Roots by Alex Haley, and his followup, Alex Haley's Queen. Margaret Walker's Jubilee was a fictional account of her great grandmother, based on stories told to Walker by her grandmother.
My mom's written a children's book entitled The Spoon, using facts from a true story. She was the last child in her family to eat from this particular baby spoon. It's origin is unknown, but after using it to feed my mom, my grandmother passed it on to another relative. But soon after, that relative's infant fell from a window and died.
The spoon was then passed on to my grandmother's sister. However, not long after that, the sister's baby contracted tuberculosis and passed away, as well. Of course, the spoon used to feed those children was in no way responsible for their untimely deaths, but the back to back tragedies wierded out the family so much, they never used "the spoon" again!
After my grandmother died, my mom found the spoon in the back of her mother's silverware drawer. It's now framed in a window box, hanging in mom's kitchen. Talk about a conversation piece!
True life romances also make great books. In 2007, Harlequin published Friends: A Love Story by Hollywood power couple Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance about their real life romance.
My own true love story is how I met my husband. While I was out running one day, future hubby drove by, then pulled over and asked me out!
So never pass up an opportunity to share some family history or tell all about a real life romance. But don't just wait for Tell a Story Day--everyday can be story day!
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