STEWART-L Archives

From: Lauren Boyd <>
Subject: [STEWART] Sharing Family History
Date: Mon, 06 Jan 2003 09:07:42 -0800

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"LESSONS LEARNED FROM MISS RUMPHIUS," by Juliana Smith
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My daughter's favorite book of all time is "Miss Rumphius," by
Barbara Cooney. The first copy got so worn, that we had to go buy a
second one. It's a wonderful story, narrated by a little girl named
Alice about her great-aunt, Miss Alice Rumphius. Alice grows up near
her grandfather who is a painter and lives by the sea. He regales her
with stories of faraway places and she helps him with his paintings
in his workshop. Eventually, she tells her grandfather that when she
grows up, she too wants to visit faraway places and come back to live
by the sea. Her grandfather tells her that's all fine and well, but
she must do one more thing. He tells her, "You must do something to
make the world more beautiful." Alice grows up and does indeed follow
in her grandfather's footsteps. She travels to far away places and
eventually comes home to live by the sea. She remembers her promise
to her grandfather and decides to plant lupines all around the area
in which she lives and becomes known as the "Lupine Lady." The
narrator goes on to say that she too wants to visit faraway places
and come back to live by the sea. Miss Rumphius reminds her of that
third thing that she must do, and the book closes with little Alice
pondering what she can do to make the world more beautiful.

Last year, my daughter and I planted our first lupines in pots, and
when the flowers died back, I harvested the seeds to bring to our new
house. This year, there will be a special section of the garden for
lupines. The book sends a number of good messages, and I am hoping
that our tradition of planting lupines will help remind Maddy of
those messages.

So what does this have to do with family history? Well, I also see
some "messages" that we might want to keep in mind as we begin
another year of researching our ancestry.


SHARING FAMILY STORIES

Alice is inspired by the stories her grandfather tells her, so much
so that she patterns her life around them. Are we sharing our
stories, and those of our ancestors, with the younger children in our
families? While they probably aren't going to show much interest in
our pedigree charts filled with names and dates, children love to
hear stories. Just as I loved to hear my parents and grandparents
tell me stories of their life and travels, my daughter is constantly
asking my husband and I to, "Tell me about when you were little."
I tell her stories of when I was growing up, stories my mother,
father and grandparents told me from their youth, and also share
stories I have learned about our ancestors.

Facts like birthplace and vital events, migrations, and occupations,
can be woven into the historical background of the times in which
they lived to create memorable stories that children can carry with
them always and pass on to their children. If I have pictures of
ancestors available, I incorporate them, too. The photographs give a
face to the people in the stories.

You may want to put the story down on paper first to get your
thoughts in order. Don't be afraid to overact a bit. Younger children
will especially love it and if you make the story exciting for them,
don't be surprised if you are asked to repeat the story often. This
will help keep the story fresh in their memory and create a lasting
bond between you and the child. Who knows what impact these stories
can have? They just might inspire children to new heights as they
grow up, just as little Alice was inspired.


SHARING YOUR HERITAGE

If storytelling isn't your thing, try sharing your heritage in other
ways. Miss Rumphius spent time working with her grandfather who was
an artist, where he would sometimes let her paint in the sky on his
paintings. Is there a certain talent that has been handed down to you
through the generations? Drawing or painting, cooking and baking,
woodworking, writing, knitting or crocheting, quilting, needlework,
etc.--anything you learned as a child (whether from family or friend)
can be shared with stories of how you learned that particular craft.
Both my grandmother and Aunt Chula showed me how to embroider and
Aunt Lynn showed me how to crochet. These are skills that I am
starting to teach my daughter.

It doesn't have to be a difficult task either. As I write this, it is
not yet Christmas and I spent last weekend making Styrofoam ornaments
using sequins, with my daughter and her friend. I can remember
countless Christmases with my sisters and I caught up in this same
endeavor. Tomorrow, we have a day of cookie baking planned where I
can share even more stories and traditions with her.


GOALS

Just as Miss Rumphius set goals for her life and followed through, we
should also be setting goals for ourselves, not only in research, but
in how we can share our research with others in our family--both
children and grown-ups alike. We have a brand new year ahead of us to
come up with some ways to share our family history and in the
tradition of making New Years resolutions, why not resolve to
undertake a project to share and preserve your family's heritage?

You could publish your family history in a bound volume or simply
arrange documents and stories in a binder or scrapbook to give to
family members. You can make a point to share some oral history with
younger generations. If it's not possible to do it in person, tape
your story and send it to them. You could even make it into a
children's book, complete with pictures of your family. Use your
talents and gifts to create something that not only tells the family
story, but is a reflection of you, and it will be cherished for
generations to come.

Whatever method you choose, you too will have accomplished that third
task. What better way to make the world more beautiful than to share
the gift of your heritage with your family?
..........................................................

Copyright 1998-2002, MyFamily.com Inc. and its subsidiaries.
Reprinted with permission from "Ancestry Daily News"

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• [STEWART] Sharing Family History by Lauren Boyd <>