write down my parents' stories

I started working on notes which will be used to create a rough draft for my dad’s stories. Of course, he has lived a lot more years than my mom so I have more years to cover. I think I will ask him some questions in addition to writing what I already know.

So far I’ve done some brainstorming where I’ve listed facts (birthdate, birthplace, parents names, etc), my memories, and reflections of others regarding my mother. Unfortunately, she died when I was a child so I’m having to do this from memory, but thankfully I do have a lot of really good memories of her.

I plan to expand on my brainstorming notes to write things in story format.

I originally thought this was a great idea…then a silly one…but now I realize its importance, in that while my parents have told me stories of their childhood, many many times, they don’t tell me other stories, or they tell them once and that’s it. I think they’d like it if I wrote a minibook filled with the stories they told me <3 . I'm keeping the journals I had from when I was younger...maybe one day, I'll give them to my kids to read <3 .

If anyone here wants a list of questions to begin with, email me at jmauldinheiner at verizon-dot-net. I’ve got some good lists, as I’ve been collecting questions for over a decade. Also, there is a LOT of good questions here:
www.mylifestory.org
and you can join as a guest and browse them.

1. write up a list of questions.
2. acquire one of those little tape recorders.

I think that a face-to-face interview will be the best. Though I don’t know how easy it will be to get to dad. Maybe I will email dad the questions instead? Or maybe a combination of both. Perhaps I should email the questions a week or two in advance so they have time to think about them and pick out the best stories, instead of just being put on the spot. Yeah!

everyone go give my mum cheers and comments! tee hee hee. she’s my favourite. i love net-savvy parents.

in an old photo album yesterday. She told me about her life in 1992. Now I need to write them down in story form.

Some years ago for Christmas I did a family book. It took months of pressure on my family, poor things, but I finally put together a book of family stories, including some of my Mom’s and Dad’s.

Another time, I set up a family listserv with the sole purpose of getting them to write stories. The idea was that I’d post a question or topic (from my ever-increasing collection) and everyone would write for ten minutes on it sometime that week. This was successful only for a short time, as my siblings are absurdly busy and my parents’ computer kept glitching.

Still…I have these questions and they seem to need to be put to good use. Right now I’m exploring two possibilities for workshops, and in the meantime, I’m posting them at irregular intervals here for anyone to use as they choose.

A friend of mine interviewed my mother for a high school assignment asking students to research those who had lived through WWII. My mother, being of Czech descent, experienced some of the most horrific events of our world’s history, and my friend Holly captured all her stories on a little tape. After my mother’s funeral a few years ago, I found the tape still in a drawer of mine. Too terrified to play it, it sat for years before I had the guts to hear the haunting recording of my deceased mother’s voice. My plan is to somehow record the tape onto CD and save her verbal memory for me when I’m old, for my nephews and their children, and maybe for my own children. I am afraid that the tape will be destroyed in the process, though, but it’s important enough to try!

In light of the fact that (A) I had no idea my parents did not have a church wedding and (B) I have a sneaking suspicion my parents are intentionally watering down their stories of their youth, I must get started on this immediately.