The best Mother’s Day gift ever: memories

The best Mother's Day gift is the one Mom really wants: Memories! Ideas for bringing mom's memories to life in a most unique heirloom book she will always cherish.

book ideas & inspiration, gift ideas, why tell your stories?Dawn M. RoodeMarch 7, 2017mothers day ideas, remembering my mother, tribute book ideas for mother Comment

The tyranny of the family heirloom

Maybe it's true that "nobody wants your parents' stuff," but before you donate their things, tell the stories of your family heirlooms, preserving your memories.

remember lost loved ones, book ideas & inspiration, family historyDawn M. RoodeFebruary 17, 2017what we inherit, family heirlooms as burden, curating family heirlooms, family heirloom stories, family heirlooms Comments

“Billee’s ‘Famous’ Foods”

Gramma Billee kept a jar for bacon drippings on her stove; she used it liberally and kept it full. She knew everyone’s favorite foods and provided them—often.

book ideas & inspiration, family history, memoir & writing, food memoriesDawn M. RoodeAugust 17, 2016grandmother's cooking reminds her of childhood, food is nourishing and food is love, recipes passed down through generationsComment

“Mom’s Spaghetti and Meatballs”

Red sauce ran in her grandmother's blood, and every family member would one day memorize her beloved recipe. Peek into a family kitchen, and a mother's heart.

book ideas & inspiration, family history, memoir & writing, food memoriesDawn M. RoodeAugust 8, 2016spaghetti sauce recipe handed down from grandmother to mother to daughter, the power of red sauce to bring back childhood memories, family passed down recipe through generationsComment

“Pop’s Pie”

Is a grandfather’s love the missing ingredient to the best key lime pie? A young mother delves into memories of the treats her beloved Pop made just for her.

book ideas & inspiration, family history, memoir & writing, food memoriesDawn M. RoodeAugust 2, 2016grandfather's key lime pie, recipes passed down through generations hold meaning, remembering a grandfather through the foods he cookedComment

A taste of the past

Smells and tastes conjure memories in a most primal way, and can transport us right back to our childhood kitchens. Our recipe for preserving your food stories.

book ideas & inspiration, family history, memoir & writing, food memoriesDawn M. RoodeAugust 1, 2016the power of food to recall memories, food related memories through generations, preserving family recipes for futureComment

“His are the sepia eyes that passed through me.”

“His is the broad nose, the high cheekbones, the determined mouth, the face not like an oval or a heart, but like a square. He died long before I'd ever meet him, but I carried him in my blood.” In Beth Kephart's contribution to our “Pictures Into Words” series, you’ll find inspiration for writing about a photograph that holds more mystery than memory. Sometimes it's the wondering, the imagining, that brings life to an old photo—that carries your ancestors from the past into the present and finds the narrative thread in our connected lives.

memoir & writing, family history, book ideas & inspiration, photo legacyDawn M. RoodeMay 31, 2016writing about people you have never met, imagination enhancing memories in life story writing, mother preserves family stories for sonComment

“Honoring Mamita”

Yuliana Gomez Delgado reflects on a favorite photograph with her grandmother, a shot that has taken on new meaning now that Yuliana herself knows what it is to be called Mother. As she poignantly writes, “Burying her was saying goodbye to my childhood—it was the first time I realized time went forever forward, and so many happy memories were destined to stay behind.” And yet, she finds a lasting way to honor her Mamita, and create a loving legacy for her family.