your story is important

Everyone seems interested in where they came from. We want to know our ancestors: who they were, what they liked, what they were like. We want to know them to help us know ourselves. All too often though, it seems that in our search for the past we tend to forget about the future. We want to know about who came before us, but tend to forget that those who come after might want to know a little about us.

Dear Grandchild, This Is Me: A Gift of Stories, Wisdom, and Off-the-Record Tales (Waterbrook, 2019) is an easy way for grandparents to leave a legacy for their grandchildren. The book is basically a fill in the blank template so that you can write your story. They are pages for letters about what it was like growing up, memories from different stages of life, envelopes for words of wisdom at certain milestones, places for pictures, all in all a portrait of a life that might otherwise be forgotten. And even the start of a family tree: a place to record names of your own parents and grandparents.

As I looked through the book, I realized how difficult it is to just sit down and recall and record so many memories. This is a gift that will be appreciated for years to come. And I know that many people will question why they should leave this ‘autobiography’. I imagine their thought process will go something along the lines of ‘I’m nobody important, nobody special, who cares what my childhood was like”. But we have to remember that in the eyes of our family members we’re important even if we weren’t making headlines every day. And of course we’re all created in the image of God, and in His eyes we’re special and worth remembering.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher as a part of their bloggers’ program

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