I spent a good bit of time this week putting together a Powerpoint about my father's parents and their descendants. I enjoyed doing it. I have a ton of old photos on my computer, and I know a lot of stories. Powerpoints are a great way to share stories and photos. Once they become really large Google converts them to a link, which makes sharing much easier.
What prompted me to do it was that I shared the handkerchief story with one of my first cousins and she had never heard the story.
That got me to thinking.
My parents told me lots of anecdotes and stories about Dad's parents because they died before I was born, and Mom and Dad wanted me to know about them. I loved hearing about them. To me, they were the grandparents in the paintings. My uncle Lewis Thompson did oil portraits of both of them, using photos, in the late 1950's. Those portraits hung in the living room of our home, for years. It was a revelation to me to realize that my cousins, the children of my father's two brothers, were not told all the stories that I was told. I got to thinking, how will future generations hold on to these stories?
I enjoy creating Powerpoints, so I spent hours putting together a Powerpoint about Thompson and Cordelia, and their three sons, and the subsequent generations.
A hundred years from now I hope one of the descendants of Thompson and Cordelia [pictured at left] will have access to this Powerpoint and be interested in learning about their ancestors who lived in the late 19th and 20th centuries. We are so blessed to have the ability to put together these Powerpoints and save them.
Right, a wonderful photo showing my parents and Dad's two brothers and their families. My parents are at the far left. Mom was pregnant with my older brother. Of the four small children pictured, they are all now in their 60's and only two of them have children, but that's fine. The children and grandchildren are hopefully the ones who will preserve the family photos and lore.
I also did Powerpoints about each of my parents, and about my maternal grandparents.
If I had a Powerpoint -- or even just a photo album -- about my ancestors I would treasure it. I know so little about the generations beyond my grandparents.
Do you have family photos and/or stories to share? Consider doing a Powerpoint. Someday, your descendants will thank you.
