This is a quirky little book about a rather dysfunctional family and town, but I think I like it. There is a short paragraph about each person along with a rustic illustration drawn by the last surviving member of the Pataw family. The stories were compiled and edited by Lindsey Marie Fenderson. I especially like the way it tells the story of this family in a very approachable and interesting way. How could this book be an inspiration in telling one of your family’s stories? I’m filing this idea away for future reference.
Category Archives: Ideas & Inspiration
In my search today for good content on how to tell family stories I came across this great post by Allison of Go Girls. She gives five things that she did to get over her fears of moving forward with a self publishing project. I think her strategies are perfect for helping us with our family story projects and helping them progress to a finished project. Thanks Allison for the inspiration!
Here’s how I did it:
1. A Sentence a Day
Walking in the redwoods with my wife, Lynn, I complained that I didn’t really know how to write a whole book. I mean, how could I make the 9 year old voice authentic? What did I know about publishing? What was the point of writing the whole thing if only a few people (my mom and her book club friends, for example) would be the only ones who read it? Lynn smiled. She waited calmly for me to finish my tirade of self-doubt. Then she said, “What if you just write a sentence a day no matter what?” Yes. I was willing to do this. Lots of research shows that taking tiny little steps is the best way to reach a larger goal. SARK calls them micro-movements. Christine Carter says they are turtle steps. For me, sentence…
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Book of the Week – “Waiting to Go Home”
I was touched by the drawings and the story of this book. “Waiting to Go Home” by Thomas Payne Miller, III features portraits of his father as he looses his battle with Alzheimer’s.
I have been building fires for my father this winter. I have also been doing portraits of my dad as he sits and watches the fires. He is living and leaving this life with Alzheimer’s disease. The painting sessions last about two hours a day. He sits with his feet up under a cozy blanket in his den of thirty-three years but does not recognize it as his house. Every once in a while he asks my mom, “When are we gonna go home?”
–Tom III
I love the portraits and how they show so much of his end of life journey. I like the way Tom weave so much of the story of who his father was into his text. I was intrigued by the depth of their relationship. It isn’t a long book and I hope you appreciate it as much as I did.
Charm Necklace – Yakira
my Yakira charm necklace
In Gift Idea #35 I mentioned the charm necklaces I’ve made for each of my puppies in training. With Yakira’s graduation this weekend I thought it would be a good time for a post focusing on her charm necklace. Each charm is symbolic of something about Yakira.
The main charm on her necklace is a tiny treasure box. This was inspired by her name has Hebrew origins and means precious, dear or costly. We keep precious things in treasure boxes so I thought it was a good representation of her name.
I also have a letter “Y” charm to go along with her name and because I’m hoping to have just one puppy in training for each letter of the alphabet. Each of my puppy’s charm necklaces has something for their first initial.
Each necklace also has a heart because of course we love each puppy dearly.
Another common feature of all the puppy charm necklaces is a spot to put an additional charm while they are in training. Yakira’s now has a star representing that she is in class with her new partner. During the training stage, I have a charm with a number on it to represent the phase of training they are in.
I also put a charm on each necklace to represent their birthstone. Yakira was born in August so I have a green bead for Peridot.
Yakira has two more charms. One is a hand mirror to represent her beauty and the other is a horse. When she was still quite young we took her with us to the mountains to cut down our Christmas tree. Compared to her size the snow was rather deep. But Yakira was determined to make her own way. She got cold once and after warmer her on my lap she was ready to go again. From that early experience I knew that she was a hard worker. The horse charm reminds me of what a little work horse she is.
I have found that these necklaces really help me when it is time to send each puppy back to Guide Dogs for the Blind for their formal training. I think the same would be true for family members who are far away for school or work etc. or they have passed on from this life. I enjoy the process of finding the charms and assembling the necklace and then wearing it until their graduation. Saturday after graduation I will take off this necklace. Then the cluster of charms will be added to a larger necklace with the charm clusters from all the previous puppies. This necklace I where when we go to pick-up a new puppy from the puppy truck or the airport. I hang this necklace by my desk so I can see it any time I want to during the day.
all my other puppy charm clusters
Do you have someone you want to make a charm necklace for? Or do you have a similar tradition that helps you when loved ones are no longer near?
Book of the Week – “Take Paws”
When I found this book while looking for this week’s choice, I couldn’t resist it. It combines great photos with a simple but powerful words. It is a pattern that could inspire a great book about one of your family stories. The preview only shows the first 15 pages but it is enough to get a feel for the book.
What do you get when two dog-loving ladies put their minds together? A heart-warming tale of course! (Pun completely intended!)
Liz Bradley of Elizabeth & Jane Photography and Laura L. Benn of Pawsh Magazine have brought their love of storytelling and dogs together in a gorgeous 56-page photography book, entitled Take Paws: Whiskered Wisdom About Life & Love. Specially designed to give back to the dog community, this book promises that for each copy sold until March 31st, 2013, $4 will be donated to Humane Society International in an effort to make a difference in the lives of pets in need.
Take Paws is a narrative interpreted through canine expression about slowing down and appreciating the fleeting moments that make life a wonderful, ridiculous and unexpected adventure. The tone of the book, although powerful enough to inspire adults, is also simple enough to be enjoyed by children, especially little ones who have a best friend with four legs and a waggy tail.
Come face to face with a moving collection of photographs that showcase genuine canine personalities and portray a fresh whiskered wisdom about life and love.
Book of the Week – “Grandmum”
As I was looking for this weeks book and trying to decide which one I wanted to share, I came across this book, “Grandmum.” And new that it was the right book. This is what the author, Jennifer Glantz said about her book:
The book came to life from the fact of my love for my grandma. She’s really very important to me. She’s my best friend, my mentor and the one I can talk to about absolutely everything.She has been my neighbour for the past 22 years, my entire life. I moved away from home for studies about 2 years ago. Since then I have missed being able to walk over to her house and talk with her everyday.
One weekend when I came home for a short visit the two of us sat down together and looked at some old photos of her and the people that have been important to her in her life. It was a wonderful feeling to see these photos while she told me the history behind them. There and then I realised and saw the real life she had lived. The people, circumstances and surroundings that have formed her into the wonderful woman she is today. I saw the people that once had lived with here, the people that she had loved, they who not live anymore. So there I sat, realising that this is what life is about. Memories. Her memories and those pictures is as close I can come to being there with her, when the photos was taken, some of them almost 80 years old.
So here it is, my book about my best friend, my mentor, my great Grandma.
What a labor of love. What a very doable project. She did a great job of sharing the story of her grandmother your her choice of photos and the order she put them in. The simple format works great. Do you have someone who you could do a book like this for?
Book of the Week – “fam-i-ly”
I’ve decided that each week I will pick a book to highlight here on my blog. This weeks pick is called “fam-i-ly” by Michelle Andrews. What I like about it is how the many photos of the book placed. They picked a black background for the entire book and the photos are handled in a very consistent way that keeps things from getting too busy and lends continuity to the book. The way this book is laid out would work for many family projects.
The end of the book has a sweet poem written by a member of their family.
Family
It’s all about family because, sometimes bad things happen and someones hurt or someone does not stop hurting themselves. But your family’s there for you.
It’s all about family because, when your sick they care for you, they don’t ignore you, they pay attention. But your family’s there for you.
It’s all about family because, they cheer you up when your glum, they help you. They laugh, they have fun, they play, they spend time with others, they care and best of all they lover you.
That’s what family’s all about.
by Sidney Bookman
age 9 (unedited) 2006
Shutterfly Booked – Arrived
There was a bright orange box sitting by my front door today. It was from Shutterfly. It is always fun to have a book arrive and get to see the hard copy of what I created on the computer. I’m happy with the results. Since it is 8″ x 8″ inches it is bigger than Blurb‘s 7″ x 7″ book that is a favorite of mine. Another difference is the cover is glosses while the Blurb cover has a matte finish. I tend to lean to the matte but there isn’t anything wrong with the glossy. Overall the Shutterfly book seems to be of a good quality. So if having complete control of you design isn’t something you care about Shutterfly seems to be a good choice. But I’ll be sticking with Blurb and their PDF to book workflow because I didn’t like not having the control that I’m use to having when doing a Shutterfly book. I will keep them in mind for other projects though.
20 Questions – Favorite Things Book
http://www.blurb.com/books/3310398?ce=blurb_ew&utm_source=widget
I found this simple little book today. I so love this idea. It is so simple but gives such an interesting snap shot of growing up. It is just a list of questions about a child’s favorite things to be answered each year from age three to eighteen. Here is how the author, Nicole Reaves, describes her book.
Capture memories from your little ones childhood with this birthday interview book. Here is how it works :
Every year, on or around your child’s birthday, you ask the same 20 questions listed within the pages of the book and fill in their answers. Questions like : What is your favorite color? What is your favorite song? Then, add a photo of the child on the opposite page. Easy, right? Repeat next year and for the next 14 years. 16 years in all.
Think of how fun it will be to look through this memory book in your child’s teenage and young adult years! See how much they changed from year to year. When it’s full, keep it for yourself, or give it to the interviewee.
This book was designed to be a fun way to record and remember simple memories from the childhood of your kids, grand kids, nieces, nephews, godchildren, or any little one in your life.
2012 in Review – Blog Stats
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for my blog. Having been blogging here for a good chunk of the year I found all this stuff interesting. My favorite stat is that people from 99 different countries came to my blog last year. Wow! The power of the internet to connect people from all over the world is way cool. 99 different countries to my tiny little blog. I’m looking forward to growing in 2013 and lots of new blogging adventures.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 6,700 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 11 years to get that many views.
Click here to see the complete report.
telling family tales 