Back in 2018, I wrote a post, 4 Things to Do for Black History Month. In that post, I shared four things that you can do as a family including playing My First Matching Game, A Memory Game About African Americans, choosing a person of interest and learning about them, visiting somewhere that you could enjoy and learn, and most importantly, learning more about your own family’s history.
Start with Your Own Family History
With this in mind, I want to share our Sunday morning family outing. Sunday morning, instead of going to learn about the accomplishments of other people’s families during Black History Month, I took my children to visit my father’s grave at the VA and his family lineage.
After visiting my father, we headed to his mother’s plot which sits beside her brother. And from there, their parents – who are located at the same cemetery.
We went to each headstone and I explained who everyone was, we said a prayer, took pictures and placed mini balloons and flowers. The entire activity was under an hour.
Doing this was extremely important because I could explain the family that we come from and the contributions that they have made to society. I feel like it is important that we do not forget the people and the names of the people that are in our family.
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What is Your Family Known For?
As an example, my grandmother’s family was a family of entrepreneurs. They owned taverns and gas stations and were really popular during their times in our hometown. My children should know this. I even have some old mementos from their taverns in a family jewelry box where I keep some family things safe.
From this, we had a conversation about what it means to have a family legacy and how can we get started on our own. As an example, we can research our own family history using websites such as Ancestry.com and also talking to the elders in our family. Other families have heirlooms that they pass on from one generation to another. Some families also have collections of things they love to collect. An example can be a family of comic book enthusiasts getting and reading comics together.
Family Legacy Planning: Research, Discuss, Collect, and Compile
From the research and discussion, we can create a family tree if one has not already been made. For example, last summer I worked on our own family history.
I took everything that I knew as a foundation for the research that needed to be performed. I then called people in our family and used Ancestry and the newspaper archives for important information such as dates, full names, and obituaries.
After I gathered the information, I made PDFs of the information and printed, as much as possible. Later, I purchased two Savor | Family Heritage Keepsake Boxes from Amazon. They Are Really Nice! I repeat… THEY ARE REALLY NICE!
This summer, I plan to take my time and add all of the information into binders and add the photos and mementos to the keepsake boxes. I listed some of these in My Personal 100 Life Goals. Feel free to give the post a read.
Final Thoughts
With all of this said, instead of looking around you for what others have contributed to society. What has your own family contributed? Work together and research your family’s history and complete your own family tree.
What can you learn from that? Would you like to take it a step further? How about brainstorming your legacy? What do you want to leave behind besides material things?
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