WRITING YOUR PERSONAL HISTORY

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ORFHC MANUAL

Chapter 1: Writing Your Personal History

Objective:  As you now desire information about your ancestors, so will your descendants desire information about you.  Will you leave it for them?  Pictures too? This course is designed to help you write your histories in chronological order as your life was actually lived. 

1.  Reasons for writing personal and family histories:

a. To develop family pride and unity.

b. To present a truthful and living account of your life or the lives of your ancestors for your children.

c. To present your problems and accomplishments as a guide for your children to follow and to appreciate your growth in everyday living.
 

 
“I promise that if you will keep your journals and records and write your personal
histories, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, your children, your grandchildren and others, on through the generations…As our posterity read of our life’s experiences, they too will come to know and love us.  And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted…”
Spencer W. Kimball 
 

From “My Personal History”
by Laura Falcon

Have you ever wondered what music your great grandmother liked? What groups did she like?  What did she like to do as a child or what was her home like growing up. Maybe you are one of the few out there that are able to pick up her journal or history and read about it. It is fun to see what she was like.  Can someone tell you your ancestor’s stories that are no longer living, who can tell you their story?  Not just when they were born but what food did they like or not like? 

Now, think about your children, grandchildren or great great grandchildren, will they know who you are?  You are very important in their lives.  You are or will be the reason they are alive.  Wouldn't you want them to know your story, your hard times so they can learn from them, your success stories for them to also learn from? 

2.  Start today by writing your history. Write in a journal about your feelings. 
If you do not know where to start, here is a suggestion; below are some wonderful questions that you can start answering so that you can write your history.  On these pages, you will find new questions to answer as the weeks go by!

3.  All you have to do is find a place on your personal computer that you can make a file and answer these questions.  Save them on disk or print them out and make a book of them, so that you will not lose them.  It will be fun for you to remember or it may be hard for you and you may not want to remember.  But remember that what ever you are today will show yourself that whatever trials you have gone through you have made it. 
You are a stronger person because of them.  You are a great person largely because of those things.  Be honest in your writing, and you will find you are a great person.

CHILDHOOD HOME INSIDE DESCRIPTION

• Location.
• Describe the first childhood home you remember.
• Frame or brick.
• How many rooms.
• Two story.
• Indoor or out door bathroom.
• How was the home heated?
• Describe each room as you remember it.

• What kind of furniture was in the living room?
• Radio or TV?
• Piano?
• Did the family gather there in the evenings?
• Describe the kitchen.
• Where did the family eat?
• Where did you eat when company came?
• What did your bedroom look like?
• Did you share it, did you have your own bed?
• Which was your favorite room and why?
• Describe your favorite piece of furniture.
• Do you have in your home today any furniture that came from your childhood home?
• Did you have a telephone?  Describe.  Were you on a party line?

CHILDHOOD HOME--OUTDOOR SURROUNDINGS

• Did you have a yard?
• Was there a lawn, trees, swings, flowers, vegetable garden, orchard?
• How much property did you have?
• What other buildings were on the property?
• Did you have farm animals?  Describe.
• Did you live in an apartment building?  How big was it?  What floor did you live on?  What views did you have from the windows?
• What did the neighborhood look like?
• What kind of houses or buildings were in the neighborhood?
• Where did you shop?   Describe the stores.
• How big was the town you lived in?
• Did you travel to a bigger town to shop?

PARENTS

• Full names, birth dates and place of birth, death dates and causes of death and place where they are buried.
• Describe mother and father physically, short or tall, thin or heavy, color of hair and eyes.
• Did they have any unusual features in their appearance?
• What kind of temperament did they have, easy going or tense, quick to anger, full of humor etc.
• What was your father's role in the home as you grew up?
• How did he earn his living?
• Did he actively participate in family life or was he passive?
• What was your mother’s role in the home?
• Did she work outside the home?
• Who was the disciplinarian?
• Describe some interactions with each parent that you remember in your early childhood.

BROTHERS AND SISTERS

• Full names, birth dates, and place of birth, death dates, place of death, cause of death and where they are buried.
• Which is your place in the family, oldest child, youngest etc.?
• How did your place in the birth order affect you?
• Are you more responsible, spoiled, are you still treated as the dependable older sister or as the baby of the family?  Describe your relationship with each brother and sister.
• Are you closer to some than others?
• Which sibling (or siblings) was your special playmate as you grew up?
• Do you have special relationship with any of your other sibling when you were growing up?
• Were there any handicapped children in your family?
• If so, what lessons did you learn from your relationship with this child and what did they learn from you?
• Describe special memories you have of your brothers and sisters.

EXTENDED FAMILY

• Full names, birth dates and places, death dates and place of burial of each of your grandparents.
• Describe some memories you have of your grandparents.
• Were they stern or full of fun?
• Did they speak a foreign language and did you learn any of that language?
• What kind of clothing did your grandparents wear?
• Did you have someone that you called grandma and grandpa that had no relation to you at all?
• What made you start calling them grandma and grandpa?
• Location and brief description of your grandparent's home.
• Did you enjoy visiting them?
• Do you remember your grandparents for something special - cookies or another particular food, outings, a special play place, a toy they had in the house etc.?
• Did a grandparent live in your home as you were growing up?  If so, what did you learn from that experience?
• Do you have furniture, old photographs or other objects in your home that were once in your grandparents home?  Describe
• Were there cousins that were your close playmates?
• What activities did you do with your cousins - sleep-overs, vacations etc.?
• Did you have favorite aunts and uncles?
• What made them your favorite?
• Did you have a step-mother or father?
• What were your feelings about them and was your relationship close?
• Did you have step brothers and sisters and did you enjoy your association with them?

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
KINDERGARTEN THROUGH SIXTH GRADE

• Names and locations of elementary schools you attended.  How far from  your house was your school?  Was the building large or small, approximately how many classrooms and students.
• Was there a playground at your school?  Was there a grassy area or did it have black asphalt?  Was the school yard open all the time or were there gates around it and closed after school?
• How many rooms did your school have?  Was it a one room school or a large school with many classes?  Describe?
• List names of teachers if you remember them.  Did you have the same teacher all day, or change to several teachers?  Were there special music and physical education teachers?  Who was your favorite teacher and why?
• Which was your favorite subject and which subject did you do best in?
• Did you eat hot lunch in the school cafeteria, eat a sack lunch or go home?  Did you have a special lunchbox?
• Did you walk to school, take a school bus or carpool?
• What kind of clothing did you wear to school -  dresses, pants, uniforms, long woolen stockings, heavy galoshes?
• Describe some of the memories you have of each grade.  What were the special events you remember - plays, dance festivals, field trips, musical programs, spelling bees, sporting events, field day, fist fights etc.

RELIGIOUS TRAINING

• Blessing or Christening - when, where, by whom?  Were there unusual circumstances about your blessing?  Did you wear heirloom clothing?
• When, where and by whom were you baptized and confirmed?  Describe what you remember about the events.
• Where both your parents religious?  Did they teach you to pray?
• Were you able to go to church where you wanted or did you have to wait until you were 18 to make your choice?
• What religion are you?  Were you raised in that faith?
• Where did you attend church meetings - church, school, home, rented hall etc.?
• When did you take First Communion?  Did you wear something special?
• Was the gospel practiced in an active way in your home - family prayers, scripture study, saying of grace?  How did your family feel about the church?
• Did you have any temple experiences as a child?  Did you go to a temple to be sealed to your parents or attend any temple dedications?
• Describe some of the changes that have occurred in Primary and Sunday School since your childhood - your teachers?  Bible stories you remember?
• Are you a Hasidic, orthodox, conservative or reformed Jew?
• What Jewish name were you given and who was it after?
• What invited guests were at the ceremony?  When and where was it?
• When and where was your bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah?

RECREATION, FRIENDS AND PETS

• What were the names of your best childhood friends and how near did they live? What memories do you have of these friends?  Where are these people now, do you still keep in touch with them?
• Describe some of the games and activities you enjoyed - kick the can, hopscotch, cops and robbers, crack the whip, fox and geese, marbles, jacks etc.
• What were some of your favorite sayings, jump-the-rope rhymes, ditties, poems, and songs?
• Did you have your own bike?  Where were you able to ride it?
• How did you spend Saturdays? Did you attend Saturday movies?
• What were your favorite radio programs - Green Hornet, Jack Armstrong, The Shadow, Let's Pretend etc.?
• What were your favorite TV shows if you are young enough to have had TV - Bewitched, Archie Bunker, Gilligan, Brady Bunch, Zoom, Sesame Street, Electric Company?
• What kind of clothes did you wear to play?
• Did you go barefoot?
• Describe your pets - dogs, cats, turtles, rabbits etc.  What memories do you have of these pets?

SPECIAL EVENTS OF CHILDHOOD

• Did you move to a new home during your childhood?  Describe each home.
• What were the circumstances that made your family move?  How did you feel about the move?
• Describe trips with your family?  Where did you go?  Did you ever travel on an airplane, train or bus?
• What was the longest distance from home you traveled as a child?
• Where did you go?
• What are the special things you did with your family - picnics, boating, skiing, fishing, play games, watch movies etc.?
• Did you take camping trips, attend family reunions?
• Do you have memories of trips to the doctor and dentist?
• Did you ever have a tooth pulled?
• Describe the first permanent you had in your hair, or the first time you had your hair straightened.
• Did you have any daring escapades?

CHRISTMAS

• Did you have a Christmas tree?  Describe the decorations.
• Did you decorate your home in addition to a tree?  Do you use any of these decorations in your home today?
• What were the Christmas traditions in your family?
• What religious activities did you do regarding Christmas?  Did you read the Bible story of the birth of Jesus Christ?  Did you act out the nativity with the family?
• How did you spend Christmas Eve?
• Did you celebrate with big family parties, religious observances, sing carols, and visit friends and relatives?

• Did you open one of your gifts on Christmas Eve?
• When were all gifts opened and were they opened all together as a family?
• Did you hang a stocking and what was put in it?
• Did you believe in Santa Claus?
• Were there special foods you always ate at Christmas? Was a big dinner a tradition?  Did your mother bake fruitcake, dip chocolates etc.
• Did you earn your own money to buy gifts?
• Describe some of the gifts you remember giving to others. Did you make them or buy all your gifts?
• What was the most memorable Christmas you remember and why?
• What was the most favorite gift you received as a child?
• Did your family do some kinds of charitable activities at Christmas?

EASTER

• What religious celebration did you participated in?
• Was it with friends, family or both?
• Did you have an Easter basket, new clothes etc.?

• Did you see a Procession on Good Friday?
• What did you do for Ash Wednesday, Lent, and Palm Sunday?

THANKSGIVING

• What was the menu for dinner and was it a big family gathering?

OTHER HOLIDAYS

• How was your birthday celebrated?
• How did you observe the Fourth of July parades, fireworks, and picnics?
• What did you do for Hanukkah?

• (Use as many of the above questions, as possible to answer your Hanukkah experiences.)
• What did you do for Passover, Shavuot, Yom Kippur?
• What other holidays did you enjoy? Halloween, Labor Day Memorial Day etc.

FAMILY LIFE DURING CHILDHOOD, MISC.

• What was the climate of your home - authoritarian, permissive, strict, happy, sad, etc?  Explain what made it that way.

• Describe your family's financial condition during your childhood - rich, poor, poor but you didn't know it?
• If you were poor and didn't know it, when did you figure out that you were?
• What was the social climate of your family?  Did you have guests often?  Did you have other family members over?
• What difficulties did your family have to deal with during your childhood - deaths, divorce, and financial setbacks?
• If you were a child during World War I, the Depression or World War II, what do you remember about these times?
• Describe your happiest, most exciting memory of your childhood and describe the worst memory of your childhood.

CHILDHOOD MISC.

• When and where were you born?  Were you born in a hospital or at home?
• What were the circumstances you have heard about your birth?
• Do you know why you were given the name you were given?
• Were you a healthy baby, any birth defects or health problems you had to overcome?
• Were you adopted?  What were the circumstances surrounding the reason you were adopted if you know?  Do you have anything from your birth mother, blanket, dress toy, letters?
• Describe yourself physically, small or tall for your age, fat, thin, color of hair and eyes.  Did you have freckles?  How did you wear your hair?
• Did you wear glasses?  Did you use your right hand, left hand, or both?  Did you have pierced ears?  When did you get them pierced?
• Describe your temperament - shy, outgoing, active, passive, show displays of temper, spoiled, etc.  What worries or fears did you have as a child?
• What childhood diseases and other illnesses did you have?  Describe accidents, broken bones, tonsillectomies, operations that occurred during your childhood and what circumstances surrounded them.  Did you spend time in a hospital?  Did you have braces on your teeth?
• How did you learn responsibility?  What were your jobs around the house?  Did you have an allowance?  What were the kinds of things you did as a child that caused you to be punished and how were you punished?
• Did you have a nickname and how did you get it?  Did you have more than one nickname?
• What name did you go by for your family?  For your friends?

TALENTS, HOBBIES, SPECIAL ACTIVITIES

• Did you take music lessons, which instruments, who was your teacher and how long did you practice each day?
• Did you practice willingly or were you made to practice?
• Did you take other lessons such as dancing, tennis, swimming etc…?
• What activities did you participate in as a child - Scouts, Brownies, Campfire Girls, 4H activities, summer camps?
• Describe your first experiences cooking, sewing, embroidering, knitting, wood working etc.  What did you make?  Who did you give it to or what did you do with it?  Did you learn these things from your mother or father?
• Did you earn some of your own money baby sitting or in other ways such as racking leaves, carrying groceries home for someone, helping at home?

 JUNIOR HIGH OR MIDDLE SCHOOL

• Names and location of the Jr. high school you attended.
• Describe the building inside and out.
• Approximately how large was the student body?
• How far was it from your home?
• Did you take the bus, walk or carpool?
• What kind of clothing did you wear?  Did you wear a uniform?
• What was the "in" thing to wear?
• Did you stay in fashion or did you wear what you wanted to or could afford?  Were you a trendsetter in your school?
• What courses did you take?
• Describe some of your classes.
• Did you take cooking, sewing, band, woodworking, and gym?  Describe your gym suit.
• Which were your favorite classes and why?
• Who were your most memorable teachers?  Why do they stand out in your memory?
• Describe special activities you enjoyed - sports, clubs, dramas, music etc.
• Did you have a graduation ceremony?  Describe.
• If you did not attend any Jr. High - how did you get your education?  Who taught you?

HIGH SCHOOL

• Name and location of the high school you attended.  Describe size and physical facility.  How far was it from your home?  How did you get to school?  Did you drive to school?  What did you wear to school - street clothes or uniform?
• What course of study did you pursue?
• Tell about some of the classes you particularly remember.   Favorite teachers?
• Were you a serious student or a laid back student?
• What were the special activities you participated in - clubs, pep club, choirs, operettas, dramas, sports etc.  Describe special memories.
• Were you elected to a student office?
• Did you go to your Junior Prom?  Who was your date?  What did you wear?
• Did you receive any special recognition, scholarships or other awards?
• Describe your high school graduation.  What did you wear?  How did you celebrate after the ceremonies?

Who were your close friends during your teen years?

• Did you hang out with the same friends in and out of school?
• What did you do for fun after school and on weekends?
• Did you participate in any daring escapades?
• Did you have a part-time job to earn some of you own money?
• Did you baby-sit?  What do you remember about the children, or the experience?
• How did you use your money - spend it all on clothes, save for college, buy a car etc?
• What were the clothing fads you wore out side of school - pegged skirts, sack dressed, Joyce shoes, Jantzen sweaters, rolled up blue jeans, charm bracelets, saddle oxfords, circle skirts, platform shoes, mini skirts, psychedelic zig zag shirts etc.
• How did you wear your hair?
• Did you wear makeup?
• When did you get your first high heels?
• What music groups or individuals did you enjoy?
• Did you have a crush on anyone famous?
• What special music or other lessons did you take during this time?
• How did you use your talents - for performing or for your own enjoyment?

• Describe some of the family activities you particularly enjoyed.
• Were there special projects or experiences you participated in during these years - talents or beauty contests, state or national competitions, etc.
• What were some of the world events that took place while you was a teenager? (A great place to find this out is at the library)

RELIGION AS A YOUTH

• What religion did you have in your home?
• Did you attend church regularly and was the gospel practiced actively in your home?
• Describe the youth groups and activities you were involved in.
• Did you go to religious youth camp?
• Did you help with Vacation Bible School?  What did you do?
• If you are LDS, did you attend the Temple with the youth?
• At what age did your testimony begin to develop?
• Were there people or events that strengthened your testimony?
• Did you read the scriptures regularly as a teenager?
• Bar mitzvah?  Who attended?

When did you learn to drive a car?

• How old were you and who taught you?
• Were there funny incidents that happened while you were learning?
• Did other people drive in the same car you did while taking your drivers class?
• Did you take driver's education in school or did you take private drivers class?
• Describe the family cars you remember.
• Tell about some of the trips you took with your family.

DATING

• At what age did your parents let you date?
• Where and with whom was your first date?
• How old were you and do you remember what you wore?
• Where did you go?
• How did you feel about him/her?
• How did you meet him/her?
• What was your curfew?
• Did you have to go on only group dates or were you able to go out just the two of you?
• Did you have an adult chaperone?
• What kind of activities did you do on dates?
• Did you go in cars, ride the bus or walk?
• Did you double date or have blind dates?
• Tell about some of the most exciting, memorable evenings - proms, girl's choice dances, special dinners, football games etc.  Were you given corsages?
• Where did you go to dances and who were your favorite bands or groups?
• What kind of clothing did you wear for dates?
• Describe your most loved dresses and formals.
• Describe the absolutely worst date you can remember.  What made it the worst?  Who was it with?  Did you go on a date with that person again?
• What qualities did you most like in your dates?
• Did you "go steady" or did you date whomever you pleased?
• Where did you normally meet your dates?
• Did you date people that your parents liked or did you date people even if your parents didn't approve?
• Was there one that "got away” that later you thought about a lot?

POST HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION

• Name and location of the institution you attended after high school - university -business college - technical college, etc.
• How many years did you attend and what course of study or major did you pursue?
• Describe some of the classes you particularly enjoyed.
• Were there instructors that influenced your life either for the good or bad?
• What were the factors that helped you decide on your career choice -example of parents - influence of peers - expected income - working conditions, etc?
• How did you pay for your schooling - scholarships - earned your own expenses - parental support - support from spouse?
• Describe some of the events you remember - special speakers, concerts, athletic events, pep rallies, dances.  Did you participate in student government, clubs, sororities, etc?  Were you elected to honor societies or did you receive special recognitions?
• Did you graduate?  Describe your graduation ceremonies.

COURTSHIP WITH SPOUSE

• When, where and how did you meet your future spouse?
• What was your first impression of him/her?
• Describe your first date.  Was there an immediate attraction?
• Did your relationship grow slowly from friendship into love or was it "love at first sight"?
• Tell about some of the special, wonderful dates you remember.  Did your future spouse have money to spend on dates or did you plan dates that involved spending very little money?
• Was your relationship stable and easy or did you argue and quarrel?
• How did your first impressions change as you became better acquainted?
• What qualities did your future spouse have that you most appreciated?
• What were some of the serious differences between you - different religions or intensity of feeling about religion - different cultural backgrounds - different philosophies about family life and child rearing, etc.?
• Describe your marriage proposal.
• Who proposed?
• Was there an engagement ring?  Did you help pick it out?
• Was the proposal a surprise or did you know it was coming?
• How many months or years did you date before becoming engaged and how long were you engaged before marriage?
• Would you change anything about your courtship with your spouse if you could repeat that period of time?

WEDDING DAY AND HONEYMOON

• When, where and by whom were you married?
• What time of day were you married and what was the weather like?
• Describe what you remember about the marriage ceremony.
• (Ladies)  Did you have a wedding gown?  Describe the style and fabric.  Did you purchase it or was it homemade?  Describe your veil.  Did you wear heirloom clothing?
• Did you have a wedding breakfast or a rehearsal dinner?  When and where was the breakfast?  What was the menu?  Who were some of the guests?
• Did you have a reception or a party after the ceremony?
• If there were bridesmaids, who were they and what did they wear?
• What was the color scheme and how was the reception room decorated?
• What did you serve for refreshments or dinner?  Describe your wedding cake.
• What were your favorite gifts?
• Was it the custom to register your china and silver?
• Did anything funny or dreadful happen on your wedding day?
• Did you get cold feet at the last minute?
• Did you have a honeymoon, if so, where did you go and for how long?
• Describe fun and special events of your honeymoon.
• Who much did your wedding and honeymoon cost?  How did you pay for it? 
• Write about your feelings on your wedding day.

EARLY YEARS OF MARRIAGE

Description and address of your first apartment or home.

• Do you remember how much you paid for rent or mortgage?
• How much furniture did you have and was it cast off from your parents or borrowed or was it yours?
• Did you or your spouse attend college or some other kind of schooling after marriage?
• How did you support yourselves - student loans, G.I Bill, parental support, or were you the major means of support?
• What was your income and how did you make your budget stretch?
• Did you live in student housing?
• Did you and your spouse spend time in military service?
• When and where did you live?
• Describe memorable experiences during these early years.
• What memorable meals do you remember?
• What were some of your biggest and funniest housekeeping, cooking, sewing or budgeting errors that your could not laugh about then?
• Describe the first car you bought together.  How did you pay for it?
• What were the major adjustments you and your spouse had to make as you learned to live together?
• Do you remember your first quarrel, what was it over and how did you resolve the problem?
• What was the best thing that happened to you early in your marriage to unify you as a couple?
• Did you move away from your parents so you had to depend only on each other?
• Did you try right a way to start a family?  How soon after you were married did you have your first child?  Was it planned?

Children (Repeat for each child)

• Describe how you felt when you first realized you were expecting a baby - excited and happy, frightened, worried about finances or space, etc.
• What preparations did you make for the baby such as decorating a nursery or sewing?
• Were there unusual or funny events during the pregnancy?
• Were there any serious medical problems with either the pregnancy or the birth?
• Did your husband witness the birth?
• Describe the emotions you felt with the birth of each child.
• When and where were each of your children born?
• What inadequacies did you feel as a new mother/father?
• Were you frightened?
• Tell about funny or scary experiences you had in the first days and weeks of your child's life.
• Describe each child's personality traits.  What traits made them easy to care for and what were their difficult traits?

CURRENT RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES

• Do you still attend the same church as you were raised in?
• Do you go to church as a family?
• Do you teach at church?  What age group?
• Describe your typical Sabbath day?
• Do you participate in any special religious events or holidays?  Describe these.
• Favorite scriptures?

EMPLOYMENT

• What was the first full time job you held after your schooling?
• Did you find a job in your major field or study?
• What was your salary and how did you spend your money - on clothes, buy a car, support yourself in your own apartment?
• Describe other jobs you have held during your adult life.
• What was the reason for the change in employment?  Bigger salary, better hours or working conditions, moving to a new location, the arrival of children, etc?
• What kind of savings programs have you had?
• Have you ever been fired from a job?
• What was the reason and what did you learn from the experience?
• (Mothers) Have you been employed since you have had children?  Have you worked because you wanted to or because you really needed the salary?
• What do you feel are the advantages and disadvantages of a mother working?
• Have you ever started your own business from home?
• Did you baby-sit for others to earn money?  How did that go?
• What are some of the ways you have managed to balance home and family and your employment?

RECREATION

• What kind of activities has your family done for fun - camping out, picnics, boating, swimming or other sports, singing together, etc.  Write about some of the special times you have had.
• Tell about some of the family vacations you have taken.
• What were the funny or difficult things that have happened on vacation?
• Have you and your spouse continued to have dates or some time alone together often?
• How often have you been out with just your spouse, no children?
• What kind of activities do you enjoy doing together?
• Describe vacations that you and your husband have taken together without the children.
• Who took care of the family while you were gone?
• Do you feel time with your spouse alone has helped unify you as a couple?
• What was your most memorable trip and why?

ADULT FRIENDS

• Who were your friends?  How did you meet them?
• What did you do with them?
• Did you and your spouse have couple friends that you did things with?

FAMILY ACTIVITIES AND EXPERIENCES

• Describe and give location of the homes you have lived in through the years.

• When did you buy your first home?
• How much did it cost and how did you finance it?
• Have you maintained a vegetable garden as a family and done your own home canning and freezing?
• Have you redone your home with "do it yourself" projects?
• Did your home have homemade items like Afghans, pillows, quilts etc? -who made them?
• What have been some of your funny errors in remodeling or fixing?
• What are some of the accomplishments you have enjoyed as a family?

PETS

• Have you had family pets?
• Name and type of pet.
• Were your pets considered part of the family and showered with love?
• Tell about experiences with your pets. (Names, tricks you taught them, funny personalities they had)

HOLIDAYS WITH YOUR FAMILY

• Describe how your family celebrates Christmas.
• What are some of the family rituals and traditions?
• What traditions have you kept in your family that came from either yours and your spouse's childhood?
• What new traditions have you started?
• How do you celebrate birthdays and other holidays?

PRESENT HOBBIES AND TALENTS

• What talents have you pursued and tired to improve through your adult life?
• Have you tried to continue using the talents and skills you developed as a young person?
• Have you taken music or art lessons?  Describe.
• What kind of adult education classes have you enrolled in through the years?
• Have you gone back to college or high school to graduate or to pursue a graduate degree?
• What books and magazines have you enjoyed reading?
• Who are your favorite authors, musicians, and artists?
• Do you enjoy poetry, classical music, operas, ballets, plays, pop concerts, jazz, etc?
• Describe some of these events that you have particularly loved.
• Have you done community service through the years?  Describe.
• What are your hobbies - genealogy, music, writing, art work, cooking, sewing, gardening, etc?
• How have you found time to pursue your hobbies and interests?
• What advice would you give to your children and grandchildren about the importance of staying interested and involved in the world?

MOST DIFFICULT EXPERIENCES

• What is the most difficult experience or experiences you have had to deal with in life - death of your spouse or a child, divorce, severe health problems, severe financial problems, wrongful behavior of children, your own behavior, etc.
• What kind of strength did you find to help you cope with these problems - prayer, strong testimony, friends, and family?
• How have these experiences strengthened you?
• Describe the experiences you have had with grief caused by a loved ones death.
• What emotions did you feel - anger, frustration, relief, loneliness, etc.
• What are the things that helped you overcome your grief?
• What are the major health problems you have had to deal with in your life?
• Have you had the experience of caring for elderly parents?

• Did they live in your home?
• How has this experience increased your compassion and understanding for the elderly?
• Is there advice you would give your children about your own care as you get older?
• Have you had to care for an ill or handicapped child?
• What lessons have you learned from this experience?

DESCRIBE:
The Iimportant Events You Have Witnessed in the World

• Men landing on the moon
• World War I or II
• Other wars
• The Depression
• Death or assassination of presidents
• Fall of the east block countries
• Unification of Germany, etc.

DESCRIBE:
Some of the Inventions and Household
Conveniences You Have Seen Come Into Use

• Automobiles
• Airplanes
• Helicopters
• Rockets
• Satellites
• Frozen food
• Cake mixes
• Plastics
• Automatic washers
• TV - color TV - Satellite - VCR
• Compact discs
• Transistors
• Microwave ovens
  
• Message recorders
• Computers - Internet
• Video cameras - remote controls, DVD players

DESCRIBE:
Some of the Medical Marvels You Have Witnessed

• Antibiotics
• Polio and other vaccines
• Contact lens and hearing aids
• Heart and other organ transplants
• Ultra sounds
• Laser technology
• Saving the life of very premature babies
• Fetal surgery

DESCRIBE:
What events or trends have disturbed you most
in your lifetime?

• The sexual revolution
• Abortion
• Women's liberation
• AIDS
• Increased crime
• Shootings in schools
• Breakup of families
• Bombings
• Disregard for human life

DESCRIBE:
What trends do you fear most regarding your descendents?

Exercise:  Select at least one of the above categories of questions and open a document in Microsoft Word.  Write your answers and make an outline, listing every event in proper sequence.  Write interestingly and in detail, using your own writing style.
Be sure to save your file on your disk.  

During the week you may expand your history if you wish and we will be using the file for an exercise in the next class.

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