Why is it important to write your history, or rather your story? Let me try to explain why. A few years ago I was asked to speak about family history to a group of boys. These are 14 and 15 year-olds for the most part and they had very little or no interest in family history. Before I was introduced, I had no clue as to what I would say to them. As I was introduced there was an obvious but unspoken, “Oh no!” that was displayed by their expressions. Following the introduction, out of my mouth but not connected to my brain came the words:
“Do you love your fathers and mothers?’ They all voiced a positive to that.
“Why do you love them?’ I asked. There were many reasons voiced.
I then asked them if they thought that their father and mother loved their father and mother? The answer was yes and for the same reasons. Then I asked them if they thought that same family love extended to each generation that came before them. They said, “probably”.Then I asked them if they knew their grandfather’s first name. Most of the boys knew their grandfather’s first name, but a few knew them only as grandfather or grandpa. (None of the boys knew anything about their great-grandparents or had even considered their parents’ grandparents.) Those great-grandparents represent their third generation back and they were already forgotten by this generation of boys; already forgotten or had never been known by this generation of youth.
– Emil O. Hanson