A Sneak Peek at Something New I’m Working On


 I’m developing a new interactive presentation, Preserving Family Memories, which I’ll be presenting to the Bonita Springs Historical Society in January.

As I started thinking about the program, I realized that preserving family memories is about so much more than saving old photographs, letters and keepsakes. It’s about preserving the stories behind them.

When I was 19, my first love broke my heart. I called my mother from college and cried my heart out. A few days later, a letter arrived from home.

It was from my father.

That alone made it special because my dad usually left the letter writing to my mother. But this time, he sat down with a pencil and wrote to his heartbroken daughter.

He told me that everyone experiences heartbreak—he had, my mother had—and that life truly does go on. He reminded me that the world was my oyster, with so many places to explore and things to see. And he wrote a line I've never forgotten:

“The harder the hammering, the stronger the steel.”

More than 50 years later, I still have that pencil-written letter. It is one of my most treasured possessions.

But here's what I've been thinking about as I create this program:

The letter preserves my father's words. The story behind the letter preserves my father.

That's what Preserving Family Memories will explore.

We'll talk about how we can Remember, Capture, Preserve and Share the stories of the people who have shaped our lives—not simply their names and dates, but who they really were.

And because I can't imagine giving a presentation without an activity, participants will have an opportunity to begin preserving a memory of their own.

I'm just beginning to develop the program, and I'm already excited about where it's taking me.

What family memory, photograph, letter or keepsake do you have whose real value is in the story behind it?

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