Family stories and keepsakes
For families with a parent to ask or a box of papers to sort.
Family stories are kept in two places: in the memory of the oldest relatives, and in the boxes of photographs and papers they leave behind. These guides cover both. They give the questions to ask, explain how to record a parent's answers and keep the recordings safe, and set out what to do with old photographs, letters and documents so that nothing is lost and every name can be checked later.
In frum families the questions often turn to the rav and the shul, the town in Europe and the Yiddish names, and the guides include them. They are written for families of every background.
Name the people while someone can, then sort, label, store and copy, and keep the papers that lead to records.
Questions to ask
- Questions to ask your parents before they dieGuideGentle questions in short sittings for a parent who is old or ill, the practical ones, and how to keep the answers.
- Questions to ask your grandparents about their livesListA hundred numbered questions grouped by period of life, a short set for young children, and where the answers lead in the records.
- Questions to ask your parents about their livesListA hundred numbered questions grouped by period of life, matched to the occasion, with how to keep the answers and where they lead.
- Family history interview questions that lead to real recordsGuideQuestions on names, towns, the crossing, addresses, work, shuls and service, each set beside the record its answer leads to.
Recording and writing
- How to record a parent's or grandparent's stories, and keep the recordings safeGuidePlan short sittings, choose a quiet room, ask well, agree on consent, and keep every recording named, copied and summarized.
- How to write your mother's or father's life storyGuideGathering, checking, outlining, writing and printing a parent's life story, with a worked chapter outline.
- How to write a legacy letter to your children and grandchildrenExamplesWhat a legacy letter holds, a template to follow, two short examples, the tzava'ah tradition, and how to give and keep the letter.
Photos, papers and keepsakes
- Family heirlooms to pass down, and the stories that go with themGuideWhat counts as an heirloom, examples to pass down, how to record each one's story, how to care for it, and how to divide them fairly.
The names, towns and dates a parent mentions are what the archives need, and a Zichronos book starts from them. How we work