Memories Matter
Featured blog Posts
READ THE LATEST POSTS
Life Story Links: December 16, 2025
Our final curated roundup before the new year includes lots about memoir (reading and writing!) as well as inspirational pieces on legacy and family history.
“After a while in the process, you have some distance and you start thinking of it as a story, not as your story…. [It’s] something that has not just happened to me and my family, but something that’s happened in the world.”
—Edwidge Danticat
Vintage postcard with illustration of Rainier National Park, Mt. Rainier and Paradise Valley, Washington, circa 1930–1945, courtesy Boston Public Library Arts Department, The Tichnor Brothers Collection (postcard originally from Tichnor Bros., Inc., Boston, Mass.).
Moments in memoir
FEEL YOUR WAY
“Your nonfiction or memoir book idea is already forming inside you; you do not need to hunt it down, you only need to listen long enough for it to reveal itself. The moment you feel both a little scared and a little relieved, that is the beginning of an idea that wants to become a book.”
PEOPLE ON THE PAGE
“By writing a memoir that serves as a magnifying glass to my own demons, I am also turning attention toward my mother.”
STORIES FROM LIFE
“I wrote from the heart, with as much honesty as I could. The problem is, you can only tell the truth you know.” Marion Witik on reissuing a memoir she originally considering releasing as fiction.
JUST-BARELY-OUT-OF-REACH
“This is no celebrity memoir. This is a woman extending a long hand and returning with news of her wanderings.” Beth Kephart on Patti Smith’s latest book, and on what the writer craves.
The power of personal storytelling
FINDING SOLACE THROUGH REMEMBRANCE
Because grief never goes fully, away—and is often stirred during the holiday season—I resurface this personal post from my blog every December.
THE COST OF UNSPOKEN STORIES
“Research has long documented that people tend to become more forgiving when they understand the origins of another’s pain. Storytelling allows each to see the other...”
MOSAIC WRITING
“When I tried to write my book the way I thought I was supposed to, in order, in clean arcs, in sustained sessions, I’d shut down. The story felt too big, too close, too alive. I could not stay present long enough to shape it. So I started writing in pieces...”
Miscellaneous
DELVING INTO YOUR LINEAGE
Watching shows like Who Do You Think You Are? can inspire a thirst for knowing about your own family history. Here, one of the show’s genealogists shares her top tips for researching your own genealogy.
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN
“As strange and troubling as it may be to put aside our own moral precepts when looking at the past, this is the work of the historian, Bourke said: ‘to unpick the universal experience.’”
...and a few more links
See which memoir and which biography made the NYT list of the 10 best books of 2025.
NJ-based Our Living Story enters the personal history space with video packages.
Actor Eric Dane’s memoir, including his life with ALS, to be published in April.
Read an excerpt from a new biography of playwright Sam Shepard.
Short takes
Missing a loved one this holiday season?
Dawn Roode offers up four suggestions for further reading (and listening) for anyone who, like her, is missing a friend or family member during the holidays.
As families celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas in the coming days, we can get caught up in the hustle and bustle, in expectations of mirth and traditions honored… For many of us, though, grief has a way of underpinning everything during this season, even amidst the joy and carols.
Those who have followed my journey for a while or who know me personally understand that loss is a theme I revisit often. I do so because the loss of three loved ones—my mother, in particular—has changed me as a person. The absence of my mom permeates my life. And while there is sadness, and there is a sense of longing—especially during the holidays—I have also gained much; I have become a new me in the wake of her loss. And I feel compelled to help others remember their own lost loved ones, to use story and memory as ways to honor those they have lost, to help them heal—even if it’s a (very) little bit at a time…
But sometimes there is nothing that will make those stabbing moments of grief go away. And maybe we’re meant to feel them. I find some consolation in connecting with others who may feel similarly; of reading others’ experiences with loss and holiday grief. And so I thought this week I would share with you a few things that have resonated with me, and a few I have written myself; I hope one or more of these will help you feel seen anew, will connect you with positive memories of the loved one you are grieving (whether they died yesterday or three decades ago), and will help you find moments of solace and light when grief seems like a shadow darkening all else.
4 ideas for finding solace on your holiday grief journey
personal reflections
I wrote this piece in 2017. I was missing my mom fiercely as Mother’s Day approached. Something compelled me to share some especially personal words on Facebook (and I am not one who is typically vulnerable—or even active, really—on Facebook). That act connected me in a most beautiful and unexpected way with a community of others who felt similar grief—and the bonus these days is that it comes up in my feed periodically as a memory. Rereading my words from that day makes me feel closer to my mom, and gives me hope when I need it. May it do the same for you:
“Wish You Were Here, Mom”
“Because a number of people expressed gratitude for my words—for recognizing my prolonged grief as their own, for glimpsing something universal in my very individual experience—I decided to share the post in this broader setting…”
being there for others who are grieving
What if someone else in your circle is experiencing grief? In a world where rituals around dying are disappearing, where talking to someone about loss feels almost taboo, I find it can be helpful to have some concrete ideas on how to be there for another who is grieving. Take a look at this story for those ideas—and know that some of them may help you, too:
A Balm for Holiday Grief
A few ideas for sharing memories of someone who has died…
LISTENING IN, living on
As an avid podcast listener, I was thrilled to stumble upon the first episode of Anderson Cooper’s podcast “All There Is” back in September 2022. He started recording while going through his late mother’s journals and keepsakes, as well as things left behind by his father and brother, narrating his experiences—and emotions—as he went. The result is a vulnerable, human, necessary meditation on grief (including a series of compelling interviews) that had me feeling seen—and wanting to hug Cooper and others walking through grief. I highly recommend giving it a listen (as for me, I will be revisiting episode two, where Stephen Colbert joins Cooper for a profound conversation).
As of December 2025, Cooper continues to explore the theme of grief in this podcast, and his generosity of spirit with his community of listeners—he says he has listened to thousands of audio messages and read tens of thousands of DMs, and that he is moved by every single one—is powerfully moving. “Listening to your messages, hearing your voices, learning the names of your lost loved ones,” he says, “has been incredibly profound. It’s made me feel less alone in my grief, and I hope these messages you’re about to hear help you feel less alone, as well.” I recommend this episode where he reads from some of those messages.
“All There Is”
I have recommended this podcast to many people this year. Anderson Cooper shares “a series of emotional and moving conversations about the people we lose, the things they leave behind, and how to live on—with loss, with laughter, and with love.”
FINDING COMMUNITY
In the wake of my mother’s death in 2009, I desperately sought community and a safe space for sharing my grief. It wasn’t easy. I eventually found a grief support group in my neighborhood in Park Slope, Brooklyn; it met at the nearby hospital and was a balm to my soul and frazzled nerves—that is, for the two sessions we met. Because it was run by a volunteer and there was no funding or outside support, it disbanded as quickly as I had discovered it. But many of us (a wildly diverse group—all ages, religions, and colors with unique experiences of recent death) had exchanged numbers. So I proposed we meet without a moderator at a local public place…and every single person showed up. That community was necessary for us then. If I hadn’t moved to another state, I would probably still be organizing our make-shift grief support get-togethers.
This year I discovered grief specialist Barri Leiner Grant via Instagram and extend an invitation to you to follow her, too, especially if you, like I was in 2009, are craving community around your loss. She offers memory circles, grief resources, a write-to-heal support group, and beautiful doses of inspiration through her work.
The Memory Circle
Barri Leiner Grant says that grief tending—“time dedicated to your release and relief”—is the foundational grounding of her philosophy. See if the tools she provides can help you maintain a meaningful connection with your lost loved one.
This blog post, originally written in December 2022, has been updated with new content on December 8, 2025.
Life Story Links: December 2, 2025
This week’s curated roundup is on the short but mighty! Find recent stories about our bodies holding our stories, the Memory of the World Register, and more.
“Anyone who has survived childhood has enough to write for their entire life.”
—Flannery O’Conner
Vintage family photo
Where memories reside
AN AVALANCHE OF BOOMER STUFF
“The delicate dance around family dynamics of inheritance and gift-giving among generations is an awkward one for a multitude of reasons, perhaps most importantly, that nobody really wants to think about their ultimate demise or that of their loved ones.”
OUR BODIES HOLD OUR STORIES
“Somatic Semiotics™ is the name I am giving to this truth. It is the study of how the body communicates in signs and signals long before we consciously craft a narrative, a drop in the stomach, a clenched jaw, a wave of heat when you try to speak a truth you were taught to swallow. These are not accidents, they are the body’s early drafts.”
LIMITED EDITION
“Through candid yet unsentimental photography, [Nadia Lee Cohen] captures the rhythms of rural heartland life, weaving together fragmented childhood memories with the present-day reality of four generations living side by side.”
Personal history miscellany
A DOSE OF INSPIRATION
Last week I shared four quotes from my commonplace book—I hope they remind you why family history and stories of our ancestors matter (and why now is always the best time to delve in).
INTERGENERATIONAL STORY SHARING!
“Interviewing loved ones brings you closer and offers a window into the past.” There’s nothing new here if you’re a personal historian, but (a) it’s always great to see articles such as this promoting story keeping, and (b) I always, always find the comments section of these types of articles so enlightening!
FROM KITCHEN TO STAGE
“We, as descendants of Africa who were taken, can only [trace our roots] back so far. I think I’ve always longed for that bigger and deeper and more ancient connection.” An ‘immersive adaptation’ about African American cuisine.
NOW STREAMING
A new documentary, A Road Trip to Remember, charts a journey across Australia as actor Chris Hemsworth and his father confront the realities of Alzheimer's and the ways in which memory loss alters everyday life.
PART OF THE UNESCO MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER
A new exhibition, The Recordings: Voices from the ShoahTapes, is now on view at the New York Historical until March 29, 2026. The audio recordings—which were not originally created for publication—document the many conversations that Claude Lanzmann and his assistants had in the 1970s and early 1980s during several years of research on the film Shoah (1985). The recordings are part of the Jewish Museum Berlin collection and will be fully accessible online by 2027.
...and a few more links
Short takes
4 inspiring quotes about delving into your family history
I hope these quotes from my commonplace book remind you why family history and stories of our ancestors matter—and why now is always the best time to delve in.
Exploring family history is about more than tracing your lineage or collecting names and dates—it’s about understanding where we come from, and even deepening relationships. I hope these four quotes from my own commonplace book remind you why family history matters—and why now is always the best time to delve in.
“It is hard for a child to imagine that her parents were ever children themselves, and that their life events also shaped them into the adults they became. This discovery was the doorway to my greater benevolence and love for my parents as human beings.” —Carole E. Anderson
Most of us grow up seeing our parents and grandparents only in relation to ourselves—as caretakers, providers, disciplinarians, or protectors. But they were once young, full of dreams, fears, and experiences that shaped them long before we came into the picture.
Understanding their stories helps us see them as full, complex individuals, not just as Mom or Grandpa. When we learn about our parents’ childhoods, their struggles, and their triumphs, we may come to understand their choices in ways we never did before. This can transform our relationships—sometimes even bringing healing and reconciliation.
“Curiosity is a muscle. Questions are exercise.” —M. Diane McCormick
Family stories are waiting to be told, but they don’t always emerge on their own. The key to unlocking them is simple: Ask.
The more we engage our parents, grandparents, and older relatives in meaningful conversations, the more doors open to family stories we never knew existed (ou never know what incredible stories one thoughtful question might unlock!).
“A family history is not complete until it considers the time and place in which each individual lived. Our ancestors were affected by the events around them, just as people are now; their relationship to their environment is an important part of the family’s story.” —Carmen J. Finley
No one’s life unfolds in a vacuum. The challenges, opportunities, and decisions our ancestors faced were deeply influenced by historical events, social norms, and cultural expectations—just as our own lives are today.
By placing our family history in historical context, we gain a richer, more nuanced understanding of why people made certain choices, moved to certain places, or held specific beliefs.
When we explore family history alongside world history, we don’t just learn about our relatives—we learn about the broader forces that shaped their lives, and in turn, our own.
“Your grandparents’ stories and the memories of your elders…[are] a scaffolding for you to build your identity on—and they will not always be accessible to you.” —Emma Fulenwider
One of the most heartbreaking realities of family history is that it has an expiration date.
The elders in our lives hold stories, traditions, and memories that will one day be lost if we don’t take the time to capture them. There is a limited window to ask, to listen, and to preserve.
Start now. Even if you don’t have a specific project in mind, record conversations, take notes, and gather family photos.
Don’t assume stories will always be there. Time passes quickly, and waiting too long can mean losing precious details forever.
Turn detective work into connection. If you’ve ever wished you could ask a grandparent about their past, don’t wait until it’s too late—start the conversation today.
The stories you don’t collect now will become unanswered questions later. Don’t let the history of your family slip away—preserve it while you can.
Your family’s history is waiting to be told, and you have the power to preserve it for generations to come.
You might also like: 5 inspiring quotes about writing your life (coming next month!)
Life Story Links: November 18, 2025
This week’s curated roundup has great recent reads of interest to family historians, memoirists, and memory-keepers, plus a bunch of social media shorts.
“To be captured by a moment or to capture it. Decades later I’ll understand how they both exist, one inside the other intrinsic as breath—the inhale and the exhale.”
—Jamie Figueroa
A whole lot of memoir miscellany!
BACKSTORY
“Memories were bubbling up from all over the place—junior high, summer swim team, when I was first teaching creative writing in Utah—and I became obsessed with these moments. I wanted to sit with them and turn them in every direction like a kaleidoscope.” Melissa Fraterrigo on her new memoir-in-essays.
A RESPONSIBILITY FOR FAMILY STORIES
“After listening and transcribing and listening again, I felt different holes in our family’s history. I began searching for more stories,” memoirist Elena Sheppard writes about feeling closer to her grandfather through archival research.
‘INTIMATE AND INTRIGUING’
“In the last 15 years, [Patti] Smith has produced a tidy collection of small books that braid ruminations on her current endeavors with memories and photographs”—and now, her “most straightforwardly autobiographical book to date.”
FRIENDLY GHOSTS
“The ghostwriter is not just your thought partner and editorial support system. They are your consigliere, your part-time therapist.” A peek behind the curtains of the ghostwriting ecosystem.
NOT ANOTHER CANCER MEMOIR
“I call both of my books reported memoirs. What I really love to do is use my experiences as a jumping off point to talk about larger issues, to learn, and to interview people.”
ON MATERNAL LOSS
“To write Living Proof, I sat with my memories for thousands of hours. After decades, I made sense to myself in a way I hadn’t before. The wholeness I sought came when I was willing to examine my own story.”
SAFETY BEFORE DISCIPLINE
“Let your writing be tidal, trust the swell, trust the retreat. Your creativity is not a straight line; it is a rhythm, and rhythms belong to bodies that have lived through hard things.” Megan Febuary speaks to the highly sensitive writer.
INVENTING A LIFE
“Part memoir, travelogue, history of rock n’ roll, and insider look at the media business, Unplugged is a rollicking, often hilarious romp through [Tom] Freston’s 25-year career as a creative force in the music industry and modern media.”
VIRGINIA’S MOMENTS OF BEING
“The postcard is the self because it is instinctual and once gone, unobservable. As soon as it has been sent, it is history. The postcard is also a seeking, vulnerable self, extended toward someone else. It is the one-sided thought that asks to be acknowledged.” A wonderfully insightful look at Virginia Woolf’s postcards.
PRESERVING TESTIMONY THROUGH ART
Portrait artist Anita Lester says a recent project—featuring 16 oil paintings of Holocaust survivors—deepened her connection to her own family history. “I got to know my grandfather and members of my family through meeting these people and painting these people and understanding their experience.”
Short takes
Life Story Links: November 4, 2025
This week’s curated roundup for family historians, memoirists, and memory-keepers is brimming with ideas, wisdom, and the latest recommendations.
“To write memoir is to accumulate the facts and then write past them. It is to search through the briefcase of tattered documents because there is poetry in a passport stamp.”
—Beth Kephart
Vintage postcard depicting an illustration of a fisherman by a winding stream, postmarked 1906, from the personal ephemera collection of Dawn Roode.
Writing our lives
THERAPISTS, WRITING, FICTION…
The assumed therapeutic value of writing has become such a trope in recent decades that “trauma fiction” and “the trauma memoir” have become their own genres. Gabriel Urza on when telling your own story get in the way of processing trauma.
MORE THAN A BIO
Last week I shared a writing prompt I discovered in an unexpected place—it’s simple (not easy…there’s a difference!), provocative, and versatile, and I’ve got tips for how to use it in autobiographical writing, too.
HER AI PARTNER…
“I didn’t feel like my creativity was being replaced—I felt like it was being met.” Heather Gemmen Wilson on “the future of creative partnership with AI. Not replacement. Not shortcut. But invitation.”
…AND, A LESS OPTIMISTIC VIEW OF AI
“When I...began writing my memoir-in-essays, I felt the strength of my own mind, the experiences that made me weak bubbling through my fingertips onto the keys.” Could AI prpvide her with something similar?
INSIDE THE CRAFT
The son of a southern preacher, Michael E. Long says, “I learned how to write, and how words should go together, by listening to the music of my father's voice.” Veteran ghostwriter Daniel Paisner talks shop with Mike in a recent episode of As Told To:
Mining the past for gold
ERODED BY TIME, INDELIBLE JUST THE SAME
Lea Ypi goes on a quest to find the truth behind her grandmother’s smile: “Indignity is a memoir, biography and imagined history prompted by a viral family photograph.”
CLEARING THE FAMILY HOME
“Under the stuff I can’t throw out is the stuff my parents couldn’t throw out.” Would saying goodbye to every last newspaper clipping, button, and book her parents had saved over decades help writer Anne Enright mourn?
THE STORIES WE LIVE, THE STORIES WE TELL
“Nonfiction is, at its core, about how one chooses to live and observe life.” Julian Brave NoiseCat explores the relationship between documentary filmmaking and memoir.
Starry stories
ALMOST FAMOUS
In his new memoir, Uncool, Cameron Crowe gives readers a front-row ticket to the ’70s and, as one review says, delivers “deliciously readable tales.” Watch below as he shares some artifacts from his life, and click here for a delightful interplay between Crowe and Anderson Cooper (including a mutual appreciation of the power of silence during an interview).
A LIFE REFLECTED IN VIDEO
John Candy: I Like Me “documents the actor’s on- and off-camera existence, featuring never-before-seen home videos, intimate access to his family, and candid recollections from collaborators to paint a bigger picture of one of the brightest stars of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.”
...and a few more links
A luxurious company history that documents the Pajar family’s story and design legacy.
Floppy disks get a second life at Cambridge University Library.
Browse RootsTech live webinars (or check out those you may have missed).
Words of Veterans receives grant to help preserve military memories in Virginia.
New digital kit supports dementia care through photos and stories.
Short takes
Introduce yourself: a writing prompt, a life prompt
Go beyond labels with this powerful memoir prompt: introduce yourself without name, job, or age. Includes writing tips and a free downloadable worksheet.
Sometimes scrolling Instagram is a massive waste of time (okay… often), but I usually restrict it to in-between moments—like sitting in a doctor’s waiting room or waiting in the car to pick my son up. Every once in a while, though, a little gem sparkles bright.
One such gem came from Jade Bonacolta, a thought leader and marketing exec who doles out bite-sized career and life wisdom in her feed. She posed a deceptively simple question:
“If I asked you to introduce yourself without mentioning your name, job, age, ethnicity, or the city you live in, what would you say?”
Well, if that isn’t a provocative memoir writing prompt, I don’t know what is.
An evergreen memoir writing prompt
“Introduce yourself.” Seems straightforward, right? But most of us are conditioned to start with the basics—our job titles, family roles, geographic location, or where we grew up. These details are comfortable and expected. But they’re also just labels.
Bonacolta explains: “When you strip away these social labels, people tell you who they are. Who they really are. You hear about their values, the things they're obsessed with, the beliefs that guide their decisions.”
For memoir writing—or even just gaining clarity about your identity—this is a powerful exercise. And it’s one you can return to again and again throughout your life or project. Below are a few tangible ways to work with this prompt, whether you’re just starting your memoir or feeling stuck midway through.
3 ways to work with this writing prompt
Freewrite with No Filters
Set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes and respond to the prompt: “Who am I, without my name, age, job, or hometown?” Don’t censor yourself. Let it be messy. Start with phrases like:
• “I am someone who…”
• “I feel most myself when…”
• “What drives me is…”
Let your values, passions, fears, and quirks take center stage. You might surprise yourself with what emerges when you're no longer listing résumé bullet points.
🔍 Bonus Tip: Repeat this exercise at different points in your memoir-writing journey. The way you answer will shift—and that evolution might become part of your story.Create a character sketch—of yourself.
Treat yourself like one of the characters in your memoir. Without using surface-level identifiers, how would you describe yourself in a story? Try writing a paragraph or two about yourself in the third person. For example:
She moves through the world guided by curiosity and a hunger for connection. She tucks grocery receipts into her notebook, convinced they’ll mean something someday. She believes that books can save lives, that being a mom is a sacred undertaking, and that cheese belongs on everything..
This not only deepens your understanding of your own voice but can become rich material in your actual manuscript.Use It to unlock a chapter or theme.
If you’re feeling stuck in the middle of your memoir, revisit this prompt through the lens of your younger self, or the version of you at a pivotal point in the story. Ask yourself:
• Who was I then, beyond the job I had or the place I lived?
• What mattered to me at that moment?
• What did I believe about the world? About myself?
These reflections often lead to unexpected turns or unlock deeper emotional truths—especially useful when your writing feels stalled or superficial.
Get a free companion worksheet…
…with exercises using this “Introduce Yourself” prompt to jump-start your memoir writing!
You are more than a bio.
In a world that constantly asks us what we do, it’s grounding—and sometimes healing—to return to who we are. This simple question from an Instagram scroll can serve as a compass not only for writing, but for living more intentionally.
So, go ahead. Introduce yourself.
But this time, leave the labels behind.
Life Story Links: October 21, 2025
Personal historian Dawn Roode’s curated roundup for the week of Oct. 21, 2025, includes great recent reads about memoir, family history, and memory-keeping.
“Remember, you don’t have to be old to forget. Memories are fragile and easily muddled. Over time the details get fuzzy and even your most poignant memories can be contaminated by what you hear others say.”
—Terry Tempest Williams
Vintage postcard depicting an illustration entitled “A Fallen Monarch,” a forest scene, postmarked 1908 from Long Island City, New York, from the personal ephemera collection of Dawn Roode.
On writing our lives
EXPLORING ALL HIS CONTRADICTIONS
“You don’t have anywhere to hide. You’re trying to be as honest as you can be. Otherwise there’s not much point, I don’t think.” Actor Tim Curry on the memoir he wrote with the help of a collaborator.
NOW IS (ALWAYS) THE RIGHT TIME
Last week I wrote about the three most common excuses I hear for not writing about your life “yet,” and how—and why—to overcome them.
‘AN AMNESIAC MEMOIR’
“Memory is what remains of everything we’ve ever seen or heard or learned or cared about. It is who we think we are. But it’s not what is in your head. It’s what you can find in your head.” Judith Hannah Weiss on writing after a traumatic brain injury.
From our family archives
CENTROPA
“As one [Holocaust] survivor said, ...‘Everyone always asked how we died. No one asks us how we lived.’” Edward Serotta created an archive that includes more than 25,000 photographs, and, he says, “every one of them comes with a story.”
WHAT WAS BEHIND THESE EARLY SELFIES?
“On a recent visit to my mother’s house, in New Jersey, I was going through some old boxes and was stunned to find dozens of selfies taken by her father in the thirties and forties: funny ones, straight ones, flagrantly thirst-trappy ones.”
A ‘VERY ACCESS-DRIVEN’ ARCHIVE
The Texas Archive of the Moving Image combs the state in search of historical footage hidden in Texans' home movies. “The archive's website is a treasure trove of both the important and the mundane.”
PREVENTING A DIGITAL DARK AGE
“‘If you've got a book, it doesn’t matter how old it is—you can still read it,’ (provided you understand the language it is written in, of course). With floppy disks, however, you need specialized equipment just to access the content itself—it is like requiring a key to open a book.”
Where stories reside
THOMAS MALLON’S THEORY OF THE DIARY
“Before they become historical documents, diaries start out as ordinary ledgers, a frame-by-frame accounting of the moments and events of a person’s days. With the help of time, scholarship, and critical interest, they become history in miniature, an up-close look at how a life was formed and shaped by the times the diarist lived in.”
THE POWER OF OBJECTS
“When my parents moved out of my childhood house, I saved only a couple of items, in part because I had no room for all my juvenilia but mostly because I just didn’t care.” But, ah, the dress!
‘A STORY I NEEDED TO TELL’
“Ever since I was a little girl I’ve been obsessed with my grandmother’s stories about her life. When I was in high school, I started recording her telling those stories and found myself years later with this archive of her memories that I felt deeply responsible for.”
HER BOOK WAS PERCOLATING…
“I suggest: a list of people involved in the story you want to tell, a list of places...that have had an impact or left an impression, a list of objects with meaning,...and a list of ‘moments’” to help get started with memoir writing.
FOLLOWING THE CLUES
“This discovery is more than just a name—it’s the beginning of reclaiming her story”: on a 1910 photograph and how archivists and Native communities are working to reconnect families with photos related to their ancestors.
Put your headphones on…
Dr. Cheryl Svensson, Director of the Birren Center for Autobiographical Studies, discusses how a structured approach to life story writing can provide emotional support, reduce caregiver burden, and create the deep connections we all crave—even when loved ones seem disinterested at first. Listen in:
ONE DISH, ONE STORY
“This cookie is a gateway to sharing stories,” Maureen Abood tells Becky Hadeed. “I feel like writing the book, remembering the stories, and making the recipes, I was seeing my mother anew. And not just my mother, but all the women who came before”:
OMISSIONS AND EXAGERRATIONS
“Memoir means truth as we know it. Memory isn’t perfect, but inventing or hiding facts will ultimately backfire.” Florida-based memoir teacher Patricia Charpentier discusses the importance of truth in memoir in this video.
Miscellaneous family history
PIVOTAL MOMENT FOR GENETIC GENEALOGY
Most current commercial DNA tests only read about 700,000 base pairs of nucleotides, looking for shared patterns. Whole genome sequencing will read around three billion base pairs giving unprecendented insight into our genetic code—and it’s available to consumers now through MyHeritage.
...and a few more links
“I’d like photos from the family album my late brother’s wife has—can I ask her for copies?”
“This simple, powerful exercise makes you the author of your own narrative.”
Former NBA star Allen Iverson talks about his new memoir, Misunderstood.
New dementia caregiving book discusses the power of personal history.
Trendhunter says Lifenote “fills a niche between journaling tools and social media archives.”
Twenty-five years of SuperAger research show cognitive decline is not an inevitable part of aging.
Short takes