Time Is a Gift - Record Your Life's Legacy Now

The second stroke happened while I was overseas. Before I left for Australia in January, I had wanted to visit Great Grandma Benton. 

A couple of different times since losing Grandpa, I had sat down with Grandma and recorded her stories.  I told my husband that if anything happened to her while I was gone, I would be heartbroken.  I got the call that when I was visiting family, she'd had another stroke.  

Oh, the regret of not making a plan to visit her again before I left!

Fortunately, I had sat down with her a couple of years ago.  She recalled making butter by shaking a jar of cream; how there was a hole in the ground where a stream ran below it and that is where they stored their milk and butter. 

She was full blooded Cherokee.  She grew up speaking the language fluently.  She told me about the government boarding schools she was raised in and how she and Grandpa had met in high school.  She got a kick out of telling me about how he chased her.

There were several short stories that I was able to have a front row seat to.  When I decided to start asking life story questions spur of the moment, I pulled out my phone and opened video recording.  My intention was to have these for future generations, but Grandma saw my camera aimed her direction and asked me not to take video.  She agreed to having me record her voice though.  Rather than push the issue and risk her not opening up, I set the phone on the coffee table closer to her.

About a year later, she had her first stoke.  Thankfully she was able to recover pretty well with rehab.  I was able to record some more stories then.  She knew I was going to record and I have video of that set of life stories.

But, after my return from Australia, she "couldn't remember nothin'!"

It frustrated her.  It saddened me.

My very opinionated Grandma had memories trapped in her mind that were no longer going to be saved.  She celebrated her 95th Birthday in August of last year. 

I married into the family almost 30 years ago.  I lived in the same area for over 10 years, but it wasn't until the last few years that I decided to record her.  I completely missed the opportunity to capture Grandpa's life stories before he went to Heaven.

"Hindsight is 20/20."  I'll never get to hear how her family walked the Trail of Tears, what she did while Grandpa was in Korea during the war, or ask her for life advice.

Time is a gift.

Too often, we take it for granted.  We think there will be tomorrow, but in reality, we don't know if we'll get another day on this earth.

I implore you to think about the people who matter most in your life.  Whether they're near or far away, make time to hear their stories and record them.  

Conversations I recorded with Grandma flowed.  If you're conversational, then it may be nice for you to have that type of life story video.  Or you may prefer to have a list of questions to go off of.  Looking back through my blogs I see that I haven't made a list of questions for you, so I'll get that rolling for another post.

The Important Thing is to Do It.

Years ago someone told me that we "make" time for what's important.  I know that's right.  We do.  If you knew your expiration date or that of the people you love, you'd make it a priority to record yours and their life stories, wouldn't you?  

It's with all sincerity that I encourage you to do this.  You'll never regret it.