To Our Children's Children Journal

My mom is 89. She's in good health, but her memory is getting spotty. From discussions with my nieces and nephews, I'm well aware of how many "family stories" already have been lost. So on a recent visit to Mom, I packed along my  Flip Video  and a copy of this book. I was almost reluctant to suggest we do an Oral History, but to my great surprise we used up the storage on the video camera that first night -- and she wanted to keep going.I give most of the credit to this book. It's meant to be a sort-of-diary for an individual to fill out. At the top of every page is a set of questions, and the rest of the page is blank, so you can write out the answer. Rather than write in Mom's answers, I used them as queries as I videotaped her; now, thanks to iMovie, I'll turn it into a DVD that I can share with the rest of my family.What makes these questions so good is that they elicit sensory memories. For example, rather than asking, "Tell me about your grandparents," the book asks, "Did your grandparents have a food smell that you associated with visiting them?" My mom said no... but then she proceeded to tell me more about where and how they lived than I ever knew. A question about the view from her childhood window led to a long explanation of why her parents bought everything a teenager might want (Mom had a ping pong table and a pool table?) -- this way, she said, other kids came to THEIR house, so her folks never worried about where THEIR children were. I've known my mom for 51 years, and in an hour she told me at least four stories I hadn't heard before.Not every question grabbed her, of course -- but enough did that I quickly decided the book was absolutely worth the money. I would never have thought to ask her most of these questions. (Even though I'm a writer for a living, and I interview people professionally every day!)Don't wait until your relative is 89. After doing this exercise with my Mom, I'm very tempted to send copies of this book to my sisters and my brother. How many of their own stories have they forgotten, or never taken the time to share with children and grandchildren? I also recommend using this as a starting point for a video; Mom said that writing it out herself wouldn't have happened (I suspect it'd seem like a homework assignment, the sort you put off) but when I asked... well, that was something else entirely.

Can’t say enough about how thankful my family is for this incredible and insightful journal. Over the final three years of my dad’s life, I would come over and “interview” him with me writing down what he said. Dad wasn’t a writer at all. I’d sit down with Dad and read the two options. He could either pick one, both, or pass. Not only did I learn so much about his life, my mom was often surprised as well saying, “I didn’t know that about you dear!” Through those interview sessions, we learned so much that at dad’s wake, the Open journal was placed where the long line of friends could page through. My siblings each took the journal for a few weeks and reported back how the stories touched their hearts and made them roar with laughter. My dad and I got through about 75% of The journal before he passed. We pull out that journal from time to time. It’s now 17 years since dad’s been gone, and my mom just mentioned, “When’s my turn for the journal?”We are so grateful for “To Our Children’s Children” and have strongly recommended this resource to our friends and family!

I thought I was purchasing the original book instead of the journal. While the journal has a lot more space to write in it than the original book had, it left out over two-thirds of the questions to make space for writing. A good portion of the questions remaining didn't apply to me. I had seen the original book, and I preferred the questions in it even though there wasn't space to write. It may be more work to journal apart from the book, but the information gained is more what I was looking for. I gave this book away as a gift, and it was perfect for the one I gave it to, but I will be purchasing the original for myself.

This book came fast and was in excellent condition. Very pleased!

This is really perfect for any relative, not just grandparents! I was looking for something to give to my grandparents to fill out for my daughter (her great-grandparents), but I was having a hard time finding something that wasn't specifically for parents or grandparents. This is great! There are thought-provoking questions at the top of each page that are great at bringing back memories that might not have been recorded in a family history, otherwise. There is plenty of room to write and this is a nice hard-back book that I think makes a really nice gift! I am thinking of buying a couple more for my parents and maybe even myself.

Got this for my mom, but she has hardly touched it. Maybe she thinks it is too much work. Sad.

I'd recommend this to anyone who is working on their own family heritage to pass on to their children. KaitannP.S. I've been working on my own family history and also, as a high school teacher had assigned such projects to my classes. Many people shy away from such exploration because of single parenting, adoption and other exception making situations but it is thrilling when you get to the point where you can also find out the good and not so good aspects of your heritage. I believe everyone can be enriched by finding out "who they are". I have a nephew who has now traced our family history on one side back to Charlemagne and I've had the pleasure of finding all the houses in my home town that various members of the family lived in since the time of the Civil War. What fun that was to take pictures of them all. The more we find out about ourselves the more we can realize we're all children who began life in the same way.....somewhere.

I just didn't like the format. Too many questions in a paragraph at the top of a lined page. I bought it with the intention of giving it to my mother-in-law so she could share her story, but it just wasn't appropriate for a single person.

Great way to leave memories when you have time to sit and reflect...

Bought it for friends who became parents at 45 years of age and therefore may quite possibly not be around to share their life memories with their grand children!A lot of writing involved which filled them with dread as they're both school teachers!! However, for quite a few of the topics a photograph could suffice.It's from the US so be prepared for Americanisms!!