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GRANDMOTHER’S MEMORIES A MEMORY JOURNAL FOR A GRANDCHILD www.onefam.com
GRANDMOTHER’SMEMORIES
A MEMORY JOURNAL FOR A GRANDCHILD
www.onefam.com
Visit us at onefam.com
Founded in 2016, OneFam is the easy way to discover, preserve and relive your family history anywhere anytime. OneFam aims to make family history available to as many families as possible. Our suite of products include Journals, Family Tree Software (web, mobile and desktop), Ancestry DNA Testing and Family History Research. Connect, share and protect your family history for generations to come.
Your Family Story
Copyright © 2017 by OneFam Company Ltd.
Athlone, Westmeath Ireland
All Rights ReservedISBN: 123123123123
Cover: Biljana Mihajlovic Printed: United States
These are my memories which I would like to share with
you, my grandchild.
To: ___________
With Love
From: __________ Your Grandmother
Date Journal Starts:
_________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: BiRTH & BACkgRound ........................ 9
CHAPTER 2: THE EARly yEARs ............................ 27
CHAPTER 3: THE sTudEnT yEARs ........................ 59
CHAPTER 4: lovE & MARRiAgE ........................... 73
CHAPTER 5: WoRk & soCiAl lifE ....................... 91
CHAPTER 6: lifE As A MoTHER .........................105
CHAPTER 7: lifE As A gRAndMoTHER ................117
CHAPTER 8: fAMily TRAdiTions .........................125
CHAPTER 9: lifE’s lEssons................................133
A Grandmother’s Perspective
As I said goodbye to my own grandmother at her memorial service, the magnitude of what we were losing finally struck me. I watched the hundreds of people express their condolences to my family and to share their experiences of my grandmother. This quiet woman was the rock of her family and she did not even know it. Without her life, none of us would be in that room celebrating it. In fact, none of us would be there at all had she not been the wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother that she was.
Looking back, I wish I had shared a journal with her. I should have captured her funny stories of growing up as a small-town farm girl; her jokes about my mom and her siblings as young children; the hilarious words that she had learned and associated with things as she taught herself to speak English.
Had I realized that someday “Vovo” as we called her would not be a part of my life, I would have written how much I loved our Saturday night game nights filled with Monopoly and chocolates. I would have thanked her for those “ice cream for dinner” evenings that we kept secret from mom.
I should have asked her what she dreamed of doing with her life? Who her favorite grandchild is (me, of course)? I could have asked her in our journal if she loved being a grandmother? I should have told her all of the secrets a little girl holds that I couldn’t tell my mom.
But, I missed out on having those memories forever engraved in a journal with my grandmother. I am certain she would have loved to share with me.
So, now there is a new grandma in town….
This grandmother is of a new generation; a new, “cooler” generation using a smartphone and going to concerts. I want to share with my granddaughter how she made me feel when I first laid eyes on her at the hospital. I hope she remembers that I was the one who taught her to ride her bike.
I call my grandson if I need help when my “smart” phone is not being so ‘smart’…does he enjoy helping me? Will he remember how much I appreciated him? Maybe I will write my heartfelt thank you in our journal!
I want to share with my grandchildren the funny stories of their parents when they were small; to tell them about my home when I was their age. Will they remember me when I am gone? Will they understand how much they mean to me?
This journal is more than just a way of appeasing this silly, aging woman. It will be the link, the connection between the past and the future. It will keep the conversations between generations alive and hopefully teach us both something new.
I hope to share with my grandchildren the unending, immeasurable feelings of unbiased love that I have for them as their grandmother. I hope they will pass on and share this inherited love with their own children and grandchildren. Sharing through our journal will inevitably leave a mark on this world and carry our legacy on for generations.
“Young people need something stable to hang on to — a
culture connection, a sense of their own past, a hope for
their own future. Most of all, they need what grandparents
can give them.” ~ Jay Kesler
“If nothing is going well, callyour grandmother.”
- Italian Proverb
GRANDMOTHER MEMORIES
CHAPTER 1: BIRTH & BACKGROUND
10 - CHAPTER ONE
What is your full name?
Where were you born?
What is your date of birth?
What was your weight?
What is your height?
Do you resemble any other member(s) of your family?
GRANDMOTHER DETAILS
Do you know how or where your parents met?
Where did your parents live?
What occupations did your parents choose?
Father:
Mother:
16 - CHAPTER ONE
Father:
Mother:
What is my heritage, where did my ancestors come from?
Did your parents have a good relationship?
What was the most important lesson they taught you?
BIRTH AND BACKGROUND - 17
Did your parents tell you any stories about your birth?
18 - CHAPTER ONE
What was your first job and how did it come to be?
What responsibilities did you have in the job?
What were your career wishes when you were young?
What is/was your occupation or career?
92 - CHAPTER FIVE
WORK LIFE
Do you think you made the right career choice?
Do you think you were paid enough money in your career?
What other jobs have you worked? (companies, state,
self-employment etc.)
WORK & SOCIAL LIFE - 93
What has been your favorite job and why?
Was there any risks you took or should have taken?
What is your fondest work memory and why?
94 - CHAPTER FIVE
Do you have any further work memories that you would
like to share about your time in employment?
WORK & SOCIAL LIFE - 95
What exciting places have you traveled to during your life?
Time Period and Age:
Time Period and Age:
Time Period and Age:
Time Period and Age:
Time Period and Age:
Location:
Location:
Location:
Location:
Location:
96 - CHAPTER FIVE
SOCIAL LIFE
Time Period and Age:
Time Period and Age:
Time Period and Age:
Time Period and Age:
Time Period and Age:
Time Period and Age:
Location:
Location:
Location:
Location:
Location:
Location:
WORK & SOCIAL LIFE - 97
What is your favorite place in the world and why?
Tell me about your first trip on a plane?
Tell me a story about something funny that happened on a trip?
98 - CHAPTER FIVE
Places I would still love to visit:
What clubs, organizations or groups have/do you belong(ed) to?
Have you ever won any special awards or prizes as an adult?
WORK & SOCIAL LIFE - 99
NotesNotes
100 - CHAPTER FIVE
Notes
WORK & SOCIAL LIFE - 101
Insert a photo(s) from your work or social life.
Insert Photo
102 - CHAPTER FIVE
