The American poet Louisa May Alcott once wrote the following lines:
Preserve your memories,
Keep them well,
What you forget you can never retell.
This cute, catchy little rhyme makes a serious point: if we don’t write down or otherwise record our precious and priceless life experiences, we run the risk of completely forgetting them. Even if we don’t completely forget our experiences, research has proved that our memories fade and lose their vibrancy over time.
For many, the most cherished memories are those of quality time spent with family. These can include momentous occasions such as the birth of a child or simple, everyday experiences like sharing a meal around the dining-room table. When recorded, memories such as these can provide happiness and joy for generations to come.
In this blog, we discuss practical tips and tricks for preserving your family’s history through journals, scrapbooks and video and audio recordings. To paraphrase Louisa May Alcott, when these experiences are kept well, they can be remembered and retold again and again.
Understanding the importance of recording family memories
Recording family memories is a way to preserve your family’s history – its traditions and stories and the anecdotes that make your family unique. You could, for example, record memories about your grandparents’ early lives or funny stories about the antics of your children.
By capturing these important recollections, either in writing or on recordings, you ensure that future generations will have access to them. You also give the members of your family a new reason to come together in the present, as you share, reflect and learn from these shared experiences.
Exploring different ways to preserve your family’s history
Perhaps the first idea that springs to mind, when you consider how to record experiences with your family, is to write them down in a diary or a journal. This is always a great method, but there are lots of other interesting and creative techniques you can employ to record and preserve these priceless memories. Here are just a few…
Make a memory box
A memory box can physically encapsulate and summarise the most important moments in the life of the family. Yours could include old photo albums, videos and old reels of cinefilm, birth certificates and other important documents and even clothes or important trinkets. Whatever items you place inside it, a memory box can be a tangible, tactile way to share your family story with future generations.
Hold a family storytelling session
What could be better than getting your nearest and dearest together in a room and inviting them to share stories, traditions and experiences in that group setting? Gathering people to collectively share their family history in this way adds dimension and depth to the narrative. You’ll often be surprised by the richness and diversity of the memories and stories they contribute, as well as the emotion that this exercise inevitably evokes.
Create photo books
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and this is especially true when it comes to recording your own family’s history. By preserving the faces you love and the stories you hold dear, you can bring those people and experiences to life in a powerful way and paint a fuller, more dynamic picture.
Companies such as Shutterfly, Mixbook and Artifact Uprising make it convenient and affordable to create these books that will, over time, become treasured keepsakes. Do your research and investigate these and other platforms that you might use to document your family history in a beautiful photobook.
Write letters to future generations
To make your family history more personal, don’t just record it; address it to future generations! Pen a personal letter to your posterity and tell all about the memories you shared, the traditions you established and the bonds you forged as a family.
It might feel a little strange at first to write a letter to people you’ll never meet, but that’s exactly what will make it so powerful. You’ll be giving future generations a direct window into your world, your heart and your hopes for them.
Just think of the impact that such messages might have.
Utilise a memory-recording app
Advances in technology are always opening up new opportunities for recording and preserving your family memories and making it easier than ever to do so.
Apps like Evernote and Notion make collaboratively preserving your family history with family members a breeze. No matter where your relatives live, you can all contribute in real-time – jotting down stories, uploading photos or even recording voice memos of family anecdotes and cherished recipes. You could co-create digital scrapbooks filled with old snapshots, scan handwritten letters and collect voicenotes from grandparents while you still have the chance. You can build living, breathing archives that grow with every contribution, turning simple memories into a shared family treasure.
Digitise old photos and videos
Let’s face it, the digital age has fully arrived, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon. In order to preserve priceless photos and videos for future generations, it’s essential that you create digital copies. Scanning old photographs, digitising home videos and even backing up family documents means that you’re safeguarding these memories against the wear and tear of time, accidents and natural decay. Once digitised, these precious artifacts will be far easier for your family to share, enjoy and preserve – no more digging through dusty boxes or worrying about fragile originals.
Practical tip: store your digital files in multiple places to play it safe – think cloud storage (like Google Drive, iCloud, or Dropbox), an external hard drive and maybe even a dedicated family history app like FindMyPast. Better yet, create organised folders by year, event or family branch to make it effortless for future generations to explore. You could even go the extra mile and add captions, dates and short stories to each image or video, turning your archive into a fully narrated family treasure trove.
Write a memoir or personal autobiography
One of the most timeless ways to record family memories is through writing a memoir or private autobiography, creating personal record of events, memories and thoughts. Memoirs can take various forms and formats, including handwritten journals, typed documents and audio or video recordings.
Writing a memoir can be a therapeutic and cathartic process that helps preserve memories, emotions and experiences that might otherwise be lost. Not only that but memoirs can be passed down through generations, providing insight and inspiration to loved ones about the lives of their ancestors.
If you’re not sure where to start, LifeBook Memoirs can help guide you through the process with expert support.
Conclusion
By recording your family memories, you can preserve the unique story of your loved ones, keep your family history alive, create shared experiences for your family members and provide a rich legacy for your posterity. Does it take time? Of course. But is it worth it? Absolutely!
If you’re interested in preserving your family history and life story in a memoir or personal autobiography, we would love to hear about your goals, vision and expectations. Our skilled interviewers and ghostwriters can help you write and ensure that your story is preserved, cherished and never forgotten. It’s easy to get started. Just click here or call +44 (0)330 818 2154. Our team is ready and waiting to answer all your questions. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Written by the LifeBook Memoirs editorial team
