Just read a review for what appears to be a fabulous new book for all who are interested in preserving personal and family histories-- or history in general for that matter-- through recipes.  Holocaust survivors offer the stories of their lives and their  survival, along with their recollections of family recipes.  For many, these recipes are all that remain of their families. Apparently, unlike other collections of recipes from the Holocaust, all of the recipes have been tested and modified as necessary so one can make them with currently available ingredients.

Take a look at it on Amazon.  I just ordered one for myself and each of my children.  

http://www.amazon.com/Recipes-Remembered-June-Feiss-Hersh/dp/0983486301/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308086645&sr=8-1

It's holiday time again, which of course, for those of us interested in recording family histories, is a perfect time to ask family members to recall, and ideally to document, memories of holidays from the past.

Last week I posted a request on Facebook, asking my Facebook friends for Passover or Easter memories they would be willing to share.  One friend recalled his family bringing their Easter baskets to Church on Saturday before Easter to have them blessed.  From a Polish American heritage, his family's baskets were filled with rye bread, Polish sausage, hard boiled eggs, horseradish and lamb--not just Easter eggs and little chocolates.  Although I am Jewish, I remember my friends getting real baby ducklings in their Easter baskets.  Another friend of mine recalled the time when her father ate some horseradish at the Passover Seder that was so hot, he ran from the table to get some water, taking the dining room drapes down with him.  Another friend wrote about his daughter's tradition of griping about having  to sit at the kids table every year, even though she is now 30-something.  In my own family, my mother still wants me (now 55 years old) to  take a nap before the Seder so I don't get cranky.  Many families also have their own unique traditions for the Afikomen, the piece of matzoh that is eaten to end the Passover Seder.  In my family, the father hid the Afikomen and the children looked for it.  In my husband's family, the children hid it and the father looked for it.  In my friend's family, the mother hid it.

Of all these stories, though, I was particularly moved by the recollection of Hani Hara, an Egyptian born Jewish man who now lives in Columbus Ohio.  Hani's family fled Egypt to come to the United States in the late 1950's.  This was the time when Nassar's mission was to "nationalize" Egypt.  Jews who lived in modern day Egypt were no longer welcome--even those, who like Hani's family, had lived in Egypt for centuries.  Hani remembers his first Passover Seder in America, when he was 10 years old, being struck by the parallels between the Jews in the Biblical Exodus and his own family's journey to a land where they could live freely, without persecution.

What struck me when I received Hani's response on Facebook, was that although I had known him and his family casually for probably twenty years, I never knew about his Egyptian background.  So take the time this holiday season to ask those around you about their backgrounds--their life stories.

This past week I had the good fortune of meeting with two other women who are involved in working with people  to  preserve their life stories.  The meeting was arranged by one of the women, who realized that we are all members of the Association for Personal Historians, and that we live in close proximity to each other.

What immediately became apparent in our discussion was how passionate each of us is about this pursuit of preserving personal histories, but that each of us  approaches it from very different angles.  As anyone who reads this blog probably knows, I am working with people to preserve their stories in a video format, creating both video memoirs and narrated video photo albums.  Pam Spence, www.pamspence.com, offers a range of services including assisting people in writing their personal memoirs and ethical wills, conducting oral histories, and creating annotated photo albums and family cookbooks with stories incorporated into them.  Pat White, www.postersastherapy.com, creates wall posters for people with cognitive impairment.  These posters are created using the individual's photos, with each photo captioned. Not only do the pictures on the poster aid in keeping memories alive and provide comfort for those with memory impairment, but they have the added benefit of being a conversation assist for those who visit. In addition, for those who live in a nursing home or other facility, the presence of this poster helps caregivers see the individual as a unique person who has had a full life and meaningful connections--not just as a patient with a disorder.

If any of you readers would like to share your ideas for other ways to preserve people's life stories--and family histories--please do. 

Perhaps the most common reaction I get after completing a personal history is surprise.  People are taken by surprise at just how satisfied they feel about the process of reflecting upon and recounting the stories of their lives--particularly because often this sense of satisfaction comes after initial reluctance to participate.  Many of the clients with whom I work agree to be interviewed only as a "favor" to their children, who want a record of their parents' lives.  Either they are worried that they won't have enough of interest to say, or they won't be able to remember or say what they want well enough, or they just don't want to be in front of a camera.  And yet, once the camera starts rolling, and we (the client and I) begin to converse, really without exception, a certain transformation of attitude seems to occur.  There seems to be something almost soothing about having the opportunity to talk about one's life (e.g., about one's childhood, parents and grandparents, personal challenges), knowing that not only am I listening, but that their words will be available for posterity.

Below is a link to a NY Times article about the healing potential of telling and listening  to personal narratives.  Consistent with my own observations, patients who listened to personal narratives of other patients actually showed significant improvement in health status!

Yesterday, in the context of researching some background on a potential client, I had the good fortune of being directed to a website produced by the Holocaust Education Committee of the Columbus Jewish Federation,  http://www.holocausteducationvideo.com/.  On this site one can access the testimonies, in the form of video interviews, of close to fifty Holocaust survivors in Central Ohio.  Not only did I not know about the existence of this treasury of historical records, but in looking through the pictures on this site, I realized that many of the faces were familiar.  These were the faces of people I often saw at the grocery store, at community events, or while exercising at our local Jewish Center.  And yet, before I saw this site, I knew nothing of these people's backgrounds.  I had no appreciation of what each of these individuals had to survive to be here today.

Which brings me to my topic for today's blog.  There are so many ways in which personal historians, both professional and amateur, can develop service projects that contribute and enhance their communities.  When I was at the recent conference of the Association for Personal Historians in Victoria, B.C., Dan Curtis, a personal historian, spoke about a program he developed for his local hospice, in which he has trained volunteers to conduct oral histories with terminally ill patients.  The model of having a professional train volunteers could be developed for all sorts of organizations, whether it be a Rotary Club wanting to document the lives of their older members, or a YWCA wanting to document the lives of women who have been successful thanks to the YWCA programming, or teenagers wanting to serve their communities by preserving  the life stories and historical memories of their elders.

Feel free to share any of your ideas for service projects, either on this blog, or you can always contact me personally.

Today's topic is Be creative--Better late than never  (of course as this  pertains to Chronicling Life Stories).  I come to this topic after having just completed a project for someone whose mother had six siblings.  My client's mother and all of the siblings were deceased except for one.  However, my client felt strongly about preserving the stories of her mother's family life.  Her idea was to get the  children of all the siblings to share the stories they knew of their parents' lives, of course together with the sibling who was still alive. So this is exactly what we did--taking advantage of the time when family members from all over the country were gathering for a family event.

If I do say so myself, the DVD we produced from this conversation was quite special. However, as in so many personal history projects in which I've been involved,  I think the process itself became very meaningful for everyone who participated.  Each person in the group took the time to dig up old pictures, documents, letters and writings from their parent--and although some of the stories told were known to all, many of the stories about grandparents, and about each others' parents, were heard for the first time that day.

So, despite my warnings on my website about not missing opportunities to chronicle life stories, if you do, be creative.  There may be other options for capturing, preserving, and passing on your family history.

I once went to a workshop of creativity in which the speaker, Artie Isaac, made the observation that creative people are those who say yes and not no to the ideas they have.  In other words, creative people run with their ideas.  They don't automatically nix ideas that seem to difficult or far-fetched.  So, if you have a creative idea for a family history project--run with it a little.  Don't be intimidated by the practicalities.

During this gift giving season, a gift certificate to record a loved one's life story makes for an especially meaningful gift.  The gift certificate can be for a "do it yourself" (DIY) project, or for a professionally produced project---depending on your time and inclinations.

I have seen many exceptionally moving DIY projects, including a cookbook memoir written by my niece about her grandmother, a video interview of my uncle conducted by a cousin and his teenage son,  an audio taped and transcribed interview (an oral history) of another uncle conducted by another cousin, and many beautifully annotated scrapbooks created by friends.  Like other hand made gifts,  DIY projects have a unique charm.  The problem DIY'ers often encounter, though, is actually getting these projects done.  For example, as I have written about elsewhere on my website, I have deep regrets about never having gotten it together to chronicle my own father's life stories, despite the best of intentions.  In fact, not having done this was motivation for me to launch a second career, assisting others with this task.

If you are a determined and motivated DIY'er, though, there are all sorts of wonderful resources on the web and elsewhere to get you started.  Probably the best place to start is to go to the Association of Personal Historians website.  This is a link to their Getting Started page," http://www.personalhistorians.org/getstarted/, but check out the Resources page as well. 

If you decide that you want to get professional assistance with creating a project, the same website contains a directory of personal historians, listing them by geographical area and services they provide.

There also, of course, is the possibility of a hybrid project--a DIY project done with the assistance or guidance of a professional.

Whatever you decide, remember that by chronicling the life stories of your loved one, you will be doing something very special--not only for your loved one, but for the entire family--  for now and for the future.

This year, the first night of the 8-day holiday of Hanukkah begins on December 1st.  Hanukkah is another great time to gather family history, and there are so many ways to do this.  Try having everyone share their favorite Hanukkah memories. Ask the "elders" in the family what they remember of how they celebrated Hanukkah when they were children--or what they know of how their parents and grandparents celebrated.  I know that my father told me that his favorite Hanukkah as a child was when he received a fresh orange as a gift.  Apparently an orange was not something that was easily obtained in Lithuania.

Also elucidating is to ask others about their families' Hanukkah traditions.  Often you'll find that different branches of the family celebrate the holidays in different ways.  We have cousins who rather than giving Hanukkah gifts each night, give a gift only on one night.  On other nights they do something special or meaningful, and related to Hanukkah.  So, one night they might make traditional Hanukkah latkes (potato pancakes), one night they might attend a Hanukkah party at their local home for the aged, one day they might volunteer to read Hanukah stories to the children at their Jewish Center's after school daycare program, etc. On a lighter note, we also have family members who celebrate Hanukkah each year by watching reruns of Saturday Night Live's Hanukkah Harry.

For fun, click on the link or picture below.

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/hanukkah-harry/2462/

As  discussed in previous posts, Thanksgiving can be the perfect time to gather and record family memories, through sharing family stories and pictures.  Another wonderful way to preserve family history is through family recipes.  Try asking everyone to bring their favorite family recipes to Thanksgiving dinner.  You could ask everyone to bring a favorite family Thanksgiving recipe, but really, Thanksgiving could just be the time to begin gathering any and all favorite family recipes.  Recipes could be old--from parents, grandparents and further back--or recipes can be ones your family enjoys right now, as preserving family history for the future means preserving the present as well.

Once you have the family recipes, you can copy and distribute them to all your family members.  There also are many other great options, though, for creating a professional looking Heirloom Cookbook.  In general, Heirloom Cookbooks include not only recipes.  They also can include pictures, stories, family trees--whatever you have that would tell your family stories.  Here are two sites that can help you get started:  www.heritagecookbook.com and www.platefullofmemories.com.

Following is a recipe for my mother-in-law's pie crust recipe, which she got from a friend, who inherited it from her mother.  My husband and children insist that this is the best pie crust ever!

For 2 crusts:

2 c sifted flour

4 heaping T Crisco

1/4 c orange juice

pinch of salt

Mix flour and Crisco in a bowl.  Add orange juice and salt.  Cut in half and refrigerate.  Then flour a board, roll out, and use with your favorite filling.

As we all have experienced, a picture (and I'll extend that to other visuals as well) can say a thousand words.

Another idea for Thanksgiving is to ask each guest to bring to Thanksgiving dinner a picture or any other item related to a memory they have of Thanksgiving--or to a family story about Thanksgiving.  For those people who don't have a picture or item related specifically to Thanksgiving, they can bring something related to the topic of giving thanks.  Dinnertime can then be a time to go around the table and have each person tell about the picture or item they brought.  Again, don't forget to have a camcorder or audio recorder going if possible--or at least someone taking notes--because  during this exercise you'll be sharing memories, but making them as well.

And don't worry if there are guests at the dinner who are not family.  It's a fun way to learn more about friends and their families as well.

Below is a Thanksgiving "visual" that I plan to share this year.  I found it when I was cleaning out one of my drawers. It's a note that my youngest daughter gave to me and my husband at Thanksgiving, when she was 6 years old.  She's 23 now.