In the past, I have written several posts about the importance of passing on family stories to children and how doing so can help them develop the resilience needed to deal with the exigencies of life. Many new websites and groups have emerged with the goal of applying this evidence-based recommendation. In this short post I hope to give a shout-out to two resources that families can use in their efforts to transmit their family stories.
First, I want to call your attention to the work of Alonzo Felder, in North Carolina, who has established the MyRoots Foundation which you can access here. Basing all of his work on sound science, Felder and his colleagues have provided guidance for any family wishing to transmit its family narrative to generations to come.
A second resource has been developed by two grandchildren, named Vaishali (age 11) and Aishvarya (age 7), who have developed a set of fill-in-the-blank books and a website to aid families in generating their family stories. They call their books, Grandstories. These remarkable young girls have gathered together just about every question that grandchildren could possibly ask their grandparents and provided plenty of spaces for the answers. When completed, the Grandstories book with its brightly colored spiral binder can take its place among a family’s treasures and, itself, like the stories it contains, be passed on to future generations.
I urge you to take a moment to visit the MyRoots Foundation website and also to consider obtaining several copies of “Grandstories.” Both of these efforts will be rewarding to your families. (And the Grandstories are so much fun for everyone! Even parents will be surprised by what grandparents tell their grandchildren if asked the right questions!!)
