No "Silent Witnesses" - Telling Life Stories

Welcome to day one - post one - in my very first attempt at creating & writing a blog. Yes, I'm new to this! :)

What's NOT new is my love of heritage. So, I'll try very hard to work my way around the "magic" technology so that we can TALK. (And indeed – bear with me as I do that!)

I hope that as I write here of heritage and life stories, that you’ll find topics, themes, projects and ideas you can "connect with" – that resonate for you.

Maybe you've found boxes of 35 mm slides - albums of vintage b/w photos - your grandmother's wedding gown - your grandfather's military medals – your mother’s grade school report cards – your gr-aunt’s autograph book. Maybe you feel they have value and "mean something" to you and yours. (If so – you’re not alone!)

By themselves, they are "silent witnesses" moving into the hands of your children and grandchildren. Imagine your descendants - opening that old trunk - staring at "the things" – picking things out – one by one. They will wonder: who owned this – why is it here? Things saved – but silent? Ask yourself – how might you both preserve the items themselves "and" tell the LIFE STORIES they are begging to tell us?

Maybe you’ve stood at family gravesites – (maybe even those of a few or many generations back after hunting down where they were!) - reading tombstone inscriptions – wishing they could "talk with you" awhile – tell you what they saw, knew, felt in their lifetimes. More "silent witnesses" – all in rows.

An old cigar box full of personal treasures? A pocket watch? Some marbles? Some costume jewelry? Maybe there’s even a full to the brim trunk somewhere – full of "life mementos" – full of someone’s MEMORIES. Each a part of your heritage. Each with "a story to tell" – if you but knew what it was.

Ticket stubs. World’s fair memorabilia. Newspaper clippings. Wedding invitations. Matchbooks. Old scrapbooks. Fading photographs. Pressed flowers. Personal letters. Silent witnesses all – tantalizingly calling to us to find and know what they have to tell us.

Then too – for all we know – 100 years from now - someone will be looking at "us" and "our trunks". Will we have sent forward in time more "silent witnesses"? Will those in our futures be able to see what "our" mementos meant to us, who we were, what our hopes and dreams were, what we witnessed in our lives, what we believed in or who and what we loved?

Looking back. Looking ahead. Silent Witnesses? Or – Heritage and Life Stories.

They say to follow your passion and do what you love. I’m passionate about "heritage". I see "life stories" everywhere I look and potential "heritage projects" as numerous as jack rabbits – as varied and wonderful as we human beings are - for and about ourselves - our families – and even, our communities.

So – here’s yet another new place - another new shingle put up in cyberspace. Here, you’ll find talk of family history, journals, heritage scrapbooks, preserving vintage photos, interviewing older relatives, and more. You’ll find talk of the science, technology, art, craft and commerce that can help us discover our heritage & share our heritage. I’ll also likely share some of my own personal adventures as I work on my own heritage & life story adventures.

Why not say "no more" to the "silent witness" things of our past or present? Why not "give a voice" to family past and present – each unique in all the world – as we find, reclaim, organize & share – one life story at a time?

I’m happy to be here to talk about these things. I hope you’ll come along on the journey with me.