Late each June, my Keating family holds a family reunion.
Over the years, I’ve put together staple—bound family histories created by my primary genealogy program. The resulting histories are distributed at the reunions and corrected or added—to on the spot and brought home as keepsakes (and sometimes ignored).
This year, I’m considering asking each of my family members to write a page (either individually or as a family group) about what they’ve done over the last year and send them back to me in time to include them in the family history. Each year, we’ll repeat the process, adding new chapters to the family’s ongoing history.
I expect sending a sample blank page (and possibly my own as an example) in mid January, and then resending or reminding every two months would get a sufficient response. That would give me one month to put everything together.
I also think it is time to start binding the family histories into something a bit more keepsake—worthy (or at least something more durable than staples…). I’ll need to look into what Kinko’s has to offer, and the costs involved.
hey my last name is keating…….
hmmm i wonder
Natasha,
Where is your family from? Have you done any research on your family tree yet?
Sláinte Mhath,
John
I think you should check out these Between Me And You journals. They sound like what you’re looking for. Especially the Family Reunion journal. You pass it around at your reunion and get handwritten memories and thoughts as a keepsake.
http://www.sanddunebooks.com
Wanda,
Thanks for the link to the website. It looks like an interesting idea, although I’m considering something a bit more free—form that I can bind in with the rest of my already written family history.
I’m currently thinking about one or more simple sample forms that family members can use, or they can create one or more pages of their own. They could then send them back to me in a stamped self—addressed envelope.
Sláinte Mhath,
John
somewhat
but not enough to get any REAL information
Hi there,
My name is Natasha Keating. I live in Ireland and can trace my roots back to Jeffrey Keating. He is buried near my homeplace.