The Church has always emphasized the importance of the family unit. And every member of each and every family has lived a life worth remembering, not just the family patriarch, whose story is often the only one written. Elder Dennis C. Brimhall said, “Every person who has ever lived has a right to be remembered and is a story waiting to be told,” As the main character in the Movie Australia observed, “After all is said and done, all we really are is our story.” One doesn’t have to think about that very long to realize what a truism that statement is. When we come to realize that our story is all that remains behind when we are gone, it causes us to realize the sadness of the following statement: “When a man dies, they bury a book!” Personal histories are the primary link that the living have to the past and to those who broke the trails and bridged the rivers of life that we cross over every day, usually, with very little thought to their hard work and bravery. It is important to write our own story and the stories of our kindred dead because that is the only way to keep those important memories alive. Let us exhume as many of those buried books as we possibly can.
My wife and I have often spoken at various ward and stake meetings where Family History was the topic. My wife, Joanne, always speaks first, usually surprising the congregation by telling a story about two families who had to move away from their family homes during the hard times in the mid 1920s. Things were not good, financially, in the whole country.
The White family moved from Basalt, Idaho, a small farming community, to the big city, Salt Lake, in Utah. At about the same time, the James family also moved to Salt Lake from the mining town (not the ski resort) of Park City. They moved within a few blocks of each other, but it would be at a dance at the Coconut Grove that William, known as Bill, James was smitten when he saw pretty Norma White. The feeling was mutual, and after some dating, they married in 1930, right in the midst of The Great Depression. They never moved into a new house; they never moved into an old house or even an apartment, but they became part of Charlie and Addie’s family. It would take both the wages of Charlie and Bill to support the family. After a few months, they found that the now Mrs. James was expecting a baby, the first grandchild for both sets of grandparents. So Addie and Norma began to make preparations. They did not rush off to Walmart or Babies-R-Us and definitely not Dillards nor Nordstroms (they did not exist at the time), but they began to sew, knit, crochet, embroider and quilt. This baby would have a personalized wardrobe: nightgowns, booties, sweaters, diapers (not Pampers), and even belly-bands (what’ a belly-band.?)…Then a wonderful, marvelous, exciting event occurred on March 18. I WAS BORN!!!!!!!
Joanne finishes the narration of her birth by saying, “Now you know more about how my parents met and how I was born into the world than you know about your own parents and probably more than your children know about how your own family started out.” By the reaction of the audience, it was always obviously true that most of them had never shared their stories with their own families. She concluded by challenging them to go home that very afternoon and write down those very important family events, not only for their immediate children, but for future generations.
President Spencer W. Kimball said in a talk titled The Angels May Quote from It: “What could you do better for your children and your children’s children than to record the story of your life, your triumphs over adversity, your recovery after a fall, your progress when all seemed black, your rejoicing when you had finally achieved? Some of what you write may be humdrum dates and places, but there will also be rich passages that will be quoted by your posterity. Get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies.”
Who do you believe could tell your story best, you or one of your descendants long after you are gone? If you believe you can write it best, then begin today, without delay, for that which is postponed, is apt to be neglected, until it is forgotten.
Many readers may have seen the September 2013 Reader’s Digest article titled “The Stories That Bind Us.” The article described research where the results indicated that children who knew more about their families’ histories had a stronger sense of control over their lives, had a higher self esteem, and they believed their families functioned more successfully. That seems to me to be reason enough to start sharing our family histories. The best time to do that may be Monday during Family Home Evening. Maybe the name of that time should be changed to Family Story Night.