A lot of us have time now to do things we normally don't have time to do, like clean out the closet or organize the garage, or make some meals and put them in the freezer. Fun? Maybe. Here's another idea: write about your life.
Many of my contemporaries are now grandparents. What legacy are we leaving our grandchildren?
I would give anything in the world to have a handwritten account of the life of any one of my grandparents. No such document exists. They all had pretty interesting lives, too. They lived through two world wars and the Great Depression. Their struggles were real and their lives were fascinating, even though only one of them was semi-famous. You don't have to be at all famous to be fascinating and important to the next generations.
Most people who are not writers struggle to start a project -- especially one like this, that might feel overwhelming. So below are some writing prompts, to help get you started. You may want to only use some of these, or none of these, but hopefully they will help you get your thoughts organized.
These are the names and birth/death years of my parents and grandparents
Here are some recollections of my grandparents
I was born on __________ to _________ and _________. My father was a __________. My mother worked/stayed home. I had ___ siblings. We lived in ____________.
Growing up, my favorite activities were:
My parents taught me a lot of life lessons, and here are some of them:
I wanted to be a ____________ when I grew up. I ended up being a _____________ because
When I was growing up we didn't have computers, microwave ovens, videogames, cell phones. We played with
My parents tried to instill their values in me and here are some examples
Here are some of the important world events that happened during my lifetime. [You can go on to say "When the Challenger exploded I was" / "Here's what I was doing on 9/11" / "This is what I recall about the Coronavirus Crisis of 2020"]
Growing up, the most important non-family influence on me was
Books I loved as a kid/as an adult
My political affiliation and why
When I was ___ years old I married __________. I was attracted to him/her because
Our children [give names and birthdates]
My faith is important to me because
Raising my children was a challenge because
Here are some of my favorite bands
I love the colors
Famous people I've met
My favorite movies
I decorated my house in the ________ style
I have traveled to the following places in my life
Here are some things I've been through that were really hard and some of the life lessons I learned as a result
When I picture you, grandchild, here's what I see
If you save this to a thumb drive or an external hard drive, that will be better [more permanent] than printing out the pages. However, if you do print it out take it to Kinko's and get it printed on acid-free paper because it will last longer. Also try to scan in important photos and identify the people and places in the photos and label them.
