Consider setting down the stories of your life ~ By Frank Terranella

I remember a time 60 years ago when my grandfather used to try to tell me stories about his life.  Being a teenager, I had little or no interest. I would just sit there silently and let him talk for a few minutes, my eyes glazing over. Eventually he would see my lack of interest and say something like, “Old people tell boring stories, don’t they?” And I would nod and smile and be on my way.

Now, 60 years later, I have a long list of questions I wish I’d asked him. And not just him, I have questions for all my grandparents, and even some for my parents as well as great aunts and uncles. Most kids just don’t appreciate oral histories. Or maybe I should say that they don’t appreciate being a captive audience for stories from another time. And they just aren’t old enough to know what interesting questions to ask. If only my elders had taken the time to write down their stories instead of trying to push their oral history on me.

Now I am in the position my grandfather was in all those years ago. I have a treasure trove of stories about my life, and my grandchildren are as glassy-eyed as I was when I try to tell them.

Fortunately, in this computer age there are lots of ways that we can pass down the stories of our lives.  There are online memoir-writing services like Memowrite, Storyworth, Memorygram, Remento, Lifetales and many more. Through prompts and other methods, all help you to painlessly set your stories down in a printable form. They allow you to leave behind a record of your life! And remember, it’s the facts that matter. Your memoir doesn’t need to be a literary masterpiece.

If you are interested in doing this (and you should be) I recommend doing it sooner rather than later, while the memories are still there. Fortunately, age usually has a much more debilitating effect on short-term memory than on the long-term variety. So if you think you won’t remember anything, you are wrong. I was amazed at the details that came to mind as I started to write down my life stories. I found that once you start to think about a specific time or event, memories you haven’t accessed in years come spilling forward in your mind.

I emphasize that you don’t have to be a writer to successfully create a memoir. The services I referenced above are designed for non-writers. Some of them just ask you to respond to questions like “What was your first big trip like,” “What was the best job you ever had,” and “What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life.” You would be surprised how much detail questions like these bring to mind once you start writing.
Always remember the primary audience for whom you’re writing— for me it’s my grandchildren. Let them really get to know you. Save them from the regrets of questions they never asked.