document.write("\ Stories add leaves and flowers to the branches of your family tree.\
—Gloria Nussbaum, Real to Reel\
Beaverton, Oregon\

\ A life story is a gift one generation bestows upon another, a legacy people have been giving from the beginning of time.\
—Denis Ledoux, Turning Memories Into Memoirs, 1993 Soleil Lifestory Network\
Lisbon Falls, Maine\

\ If we don't preserve people's stories, they will disappear after two generations. Every story we preserve is a piece of someone's family history that would otherwise be lost.\
—Bob Joyce, Hawthorne House\
Santa Ana, California\

\ There is no greater gift than finding the heart of the story in the journey of life.\
—Judy Wright, Artichoke Press\
Missoula, Montana\

\ What do you wish you knew about your grandfather or great-grandfather? Shouldn't you preserve that kind of information for your grandchildren and great-grandchildren?\
—Terry Mullins, Professor of Management\
Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, Florida\

\ There's something very special in even the most meager details about one's ancestors. This, I believe, is the ultimate purpose of family history, and it is not selfish or egotistical at all. It is a gift to future generations who happen to be connected by blood ties. I remind people that they have lived in a world that is entirely foreign to their grandchildren, and while their memories may seem mundane to them, their descendants will be fascinated by the differences in how they lived. These descendants will also thank them for conveying something about family members who would otherwise remain complete strangers to future generations of the family.\
—David Harding, Second Story\
Omaha, Nebraska\

\ Telling your stories is like collecting little gems to give to the next generation.\
—Leah Abrahams, Mixed Media Memoirs\
Green Bay, Wisconsin\

\ History is written by the winners. As personal historians, we make everyone the winners.\
—Susan Williams, Artful Word\
Durham, North Carolina\

\ Memories are the threads that bind the past to the present to form the fabric of life experience.\
—Libby Atwater, Choose Your Words\
Ventura, California\

\ TEN REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD RECORD YOUR STORIES:\

    \
  1. No one else will do it for you.\
  2. No one else knows the stories of your life quite like you do.\
  3. You owe it to yourself and to your family.\
  4. Let your descendants know that you were a real person and not just a name on a tree.\
  5. The stories you heard from your grandparents will not die out with you.\
  6. Many pieces of information nobody knows but you.\
  7. You are part of the history of your city, state and country.\
  8. The things you did when you were young are as remote from the children of today as the Earth is from Mars.\
  9. In telling how you survived painful times in your past, you teach useful coping skills to your descendants and come to a greater understanding and peace.\
  10. The world will be a richer place for your having written your stories.\
\
—Beryl O.Gorman, Wordweavers\
Victoria, Australia\

\ I consider life story writing as a roadmap for my grandchildren—leaving my morals, values, spiritual beliefs and family traditions—and some of the ugliness, too, so they don't fall into the same holes in the road that I did—they need to know how to avoid the potholes!\
—Thelma Reahm\
Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California\

\ As the population ages, increasing numbers of middle-aged and older adults are recognizing the significance of their life experience, history, recollections, and memories. There is a growing interest in the use of reminiscence, life review, guided autobiography, and similar processes to help older adults enjoy life. Studies indicate that these activities can increase self-esteem, raise satisfaction with life, improve cognitive functioning, and decrease levels of depression. The Association of Personal Historians was founded in 1995 to provide a professional alliance for individuals and businesses that assist people in preserving their life stories and memories. \
—John Kunz, M.S., executive director, \
International Institute for Reminiscence and Life Review\
Manager, Health & Human Issues Division\
University of Wisconsin-Superior\

\ WHY WRITE YOUR LIFE STORIES?\

    \
  1. Your stories are unique. They can only be told by you. No one else experienced it the way you did.\
  2. Telling your stories helps you appreciate your struggles and accomplishments. You examine the events of your life and the feelings you had, explore choices you made and roads you took, and honor those who helped you along the way. You begin to see the overall path and themes of your life, and realize that your life really has made a difference.\
  3. For your family, friends and loved ones, your life story is your most important legacy. Your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will get to know the real you, not just one of your roles, such as mother, father, sister, uncle, or friend. Besides entertaining your loved ones with amusing stories of pleasant times, you will describe how you overcame troubled times. Thus you teach survival skills by example and provide inspiration for someone facing similar challenges in the future.\
  4. At the end of the process, you will have gained a wider vision of your life and your place in the history of your family and your world. In the process of remembering and sharing your stories, you restore those parts of yourself that you may have forgotten, suppressed or denied, and integrate them into your understanding. Remembering and telling your story helps you in your journey into wholeness.\
\
—Pat Kuessner, Thistledown-Memory Keepers\
Ann Arbor, Michigan\

\ WHY SHOULD YOU RECORD YOUR MEMORIES?\

    \
  1. Only you can let your children and grandchildren know about the lives of your parents and grandparents, because you are the link in this chain of lives and the voice of the past.\
  2. Sharing your stories on tape and within the pages of a book gives your loved ones a precious part of you that they can treasure forever and pass on to their children and grandchildren.\
  3. Only you can accurately tell the story of your life and reflect upon the wisdom gained and lessons learned along the journey.\
  4. Your life gives young people a glimpse into a not-so-distant past that may seem foreign to them - a life before computers, email, televisions and VCRs.\
  5. The stories you share draw an accurate historical picture of what life was like for you and others of your generation.\
  6. The values you hold dear can live on in your descendants who will come to know you through the pages of a well-loved book or a video.\
  7. Looking back at your life can help you realize how much you've achieved and the important role you've played in the lives of others.\
  8. Recalling the early days and goals you set for yourself at that time can help you recognize your struggles and achievements and determine if you want to continue pursuing a dream you treasured long ago.\
  9. Stories you heard from parents and grandparents as a child can be passed along to future generations so they can come to know and honor their ancestors as more than just a name and date on a family tree.\
  10. Leaving your life story is a priceless legacy that your children and grandchildren will treasure forever.\
  11. Information about the health of your family and genetic predispositions to diseases can be conveyed through a memory book or tribute video.\
  12. Precious photos and memorabilia treasured for years can be scanned into a computer and placed into the book or video so that each child and grandchild has a copy of the photos along with caption information identifying the people, places and things depicted.\
  13. Your life, complete with sorrows and triumphs, can stand as a testimony to loved ones that adversity can be overcome, happiness will return after tragedy and anything is possible if you work for it.\
\
—Julie McDonald Zander, Chapters of Life \
Toledo, Washington\ ")