I often think about my life and at my age of forty-one years old, a lot has happened over the course of my life my growing to school, life and death, marriage and great life events. Over the last few years, I have lost many of my family especially in 2015 losing my mother. One of the sad truths is growing up although my mother raised me is that I didn’t really know who she was as far as her history. Yes I knew her parents my grandparents and extended life but I really didn’t know her as a person, her fears, her joys, her successes and failures and really what makes up a human being.  I of course knew she loved me until the day she died. There was so much think about especially how my mother was raised, who she loved in life other then me and my sister.

Family history beginnings 

It is my impression that my mother struggled greatly in life and there may have been possible abuse by her mother and stepfather, but that is all speculative based on conversations I had listened to in passing. My father who is still alive today shares the same problem never talking about his childhood although I know somewhat how he was raised but really, I have no idea who he is. I think this is something that many experiences today as life continues to pass us by we forget to have those real conversations with our family.

At times our families may not make it easy wanting to talk about their history especially if they feel they didn’t have a good upbringing. So what am I trying to say here is we all need to do a better job of documenting our history especially our own lives. Our lives may not always seem that exciting to want to document our history, our thoughts for future generations to know especially our kids. That is why I love writing to much because this is something tangible I can one day leave my daughter and wife to know I was here, I existed, I had thoughts, and this was who I was. The other way I document my place is through my podcast which although my daughter is only eight will one day listen to, that is why I keep it PG but I really do try to be real with my thoughts, feelings and my life as I see it.

Leaving a legacy of words and thoughts

My writing is also my other form of expression with my blogging and my creative side to me, which I hope my daughter will one day read and enjoy.  Its so imperative to know our ancestry which is why there are ways to know our linkage like ancestry.com. I have personally tried these services and they are quite amazing of those individuals that make up our linkage and who I personally will never know, that is why I am working to leave my imprint. Now I am just your average Joe, no one of great importance other then to my family. I am not a media figure, a politician, a movie star or rock star, I am just me.

Begin your documentation journey

I encourage each of you to document your life, journal your life and talk to your family and friends to know who they really are. Why is this so important because time passes us by so quickly that when it comes to the time in this life, the end we should pass down are linkage, our thoughts to those we love, a tangible gift.  I regret every day the fact my mother is no longer here and to some degree I feel like a terrible son who didn’t take the time to know my mother and father even though they raised me, but that was not enough, so don’t make the same mistake go out and sit down with those in your life especially grandparents who have a wealth of knowledge to share.  I should know because my grandfather who was a WWII vet passed in 2003 and I regret not asking him about his life because no one did, so that history essentially gets lost.

Hopefully you can see the importance of doing this in anyway you see fit, create recordings, do a scrap book, use linkage and ancestry websites but do it now.