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2014, 240p, Non-Fiction
My Rating=5 Stars
Source: Received copy from publisher for an honest review
We all have stories to share with our children and grandchildren. Whether it’s a proud moment, memories of grandparents, or a lesson you’ve learned, Memories of Me: A Complete Guide to Telling and Sharing the Stories of Your Life helps you put the episodes of your past onto paper share them with loved ones.
Inside you'll find
- Simple, down-to-earth instructions to get you started
- Worksheets with in-depth brainstorming exercises
- Plenty of examples to spark your creativity
- Writing advice to make your memories shine
Preserve your stories and share them with the important people in your life using the tips and advice found in this comprehensive guide.
So, quite a few years ago, I was given a helpful guide which helped me get started on recording my personal history. I've taken it out from time to time and thought it was quite extensive. However, times have changed since I first got that guide and reading this book opened my eyes to how much better my personal history can be!
I started getting ideas just from reading the Introduction, so I knew that there were many more treasures to be uncovered in this book. There are five sections: (1) Getting Started, (2) Keeping Track of Ideas, (3) The Finer Points, (4) Deeper Reflections and (5) Final Considerations. Each section contains a wealth of ideas, along with worksheets to help you brainstorm (she also tells you where you can download them as a free pdf file--it's 84 pages and quite impressive!). Then, Ms. Hedgecock takes a turn sharing what she's written, which I enjoyed reading, and I loved that she included lots of pictures!
In the Introduction, Ms. Hedgecock talks about the importance of creating a legacy. She received a Treasure Chest of Memories from her grandmother which was valuable since her grandmother died when she was still quite young so she was able to connect with her through her writings. She discusses the importance of creating a personal treasure chest. "A Treasure Chest is simply a mechanism for collecting, preserving, and sharing the stories of our pasts, our personalities, and our affection for our loved ones." (p. 3)
One of the areas I've struggled with is writing about situations that weren't very pleasant. I've pretty much skipped that part but feel like something needs to be written so my posterity will have more insight into my life. I got some great ideas from "The Good and the Bad--What About the Ugly?" (pp. 163-170) I don't feel the need to rant but want to share those experiences and I feel like I now know how to go about doing that.
While writing your personal history can seem like an overwhelming task, I think Ms. Hedgecock does a great job of breaking it down into bite size bits which makes it very doable. This is the best resource book I have seen to help with recording memories and writing my personal history and I will definitely refer to it many times in the years to come! I highly recommend this to everyone!
When she’s not writing, Mrs. Hedgecock enjoys spending time with her husband and two teenage sons (and her Springer spaniel), playing soccer, nature photography, and finding her roots.
1 comments:
I need to get this for my mom. Maybe she would be able to do more if she had a guide :)
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