The Importance of Family Stories
- Sue Leonard
- Aug 16
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 17
When we visit with friends, the conversation often turns to family stories—childhood adventures, family escapades, little episodes that have stuck in our memories. I’ve come to treasure those stories. They’re the real gems that bring family history alive for the next generation. After all, a photo may capture how we looked, but a story shows who we really were—the quirks, the humor, the character behind the smile.
I sometimes wish our parents and grandparents had kept scrapbooks the way people do now—with a picture and a short story. But that fad didn’t really catch on until the 1990s. Before then, I was lucky if a photo had a name scribbled on the back, and even luckier if it had a date.
These days, there are books and websites—like Storyworth—that encourage people to record their memories one week at a time. I’ve tried them, but the questions are often too generic. (“Tell me about your friends at school…” Yawn.) The fun, quirky stories usually bubble up in casual conversation, not in response to a form.
When my husband turned 60, I made him a scrapbook of his life. I asked friends and family to send me one memory about him, and oh, the stories I got! Some were hilarious, others sweet, all of them priceless. It made me realize that sometimes all you need to do is ask. And maybe have your phone handy to capture the gems as they spill out.
Here are a few favorites I’ve collected over the years:
The European Adventure. A friend recalled her pre-marriage trip with girlfriends through Europe. On the very last day, they had to get back to Belgium to catch their flight home to the U.S.—only to discover their Eurail passes had expired. With no money for new ones and no time to miss the train, she “adjusted” the date. The conductor studied the pass, then looked hard at their terrified young faces, and with one final stare, handed it back and moved on. Thanks to his mercy (or mischief), they made their flight and avoided what could have been a real disaster.
Plastic-Bag Snow Boots. My friend Leslie tells how her Florida-born husband encountered snow for the first time at age 32 while visiting her family in St. Louis. Lacking boots, he slipped plastic bags over his shoes and tromped outside. He was enchanted, sliding and stomping around in his makeshift “snow gear.” Not exactly L.L. Bean—but he was having too much fun to care.
Baby’s First Snow. In my family, when my little sister Amy first began to walk, Mom bundled her into one of those astronaut-style snowsuits. After twenty minutes of zipping, tugging, and booting, Amy waddled out, threw one tiny snowball, and promptly burst into tears. She didn’t demand to go back inside—she was a sweet little girl who wanted to please—but her tears said it all. Cozy house: 1. Snow adventure: 0.
Cut Day, Caught on Camera. My husband’s brother Ralph once joined his high school buddies on “senior cut day” in Indianapolis. They piled into an old Chevy with running boards, circled Monument Circle, whooping and hollering—only to land front-page on the Indianapolis Star. His mother greeted him at home with, “So, Ralph… how was school today?”
The Christmas Escape Artist. One Christmas, the whole family was in the basement playroom watching the older son play with his new train—except for three-year-old Nick, who had decided to stay upstairs. We suddenly heard a chair scraping across the floor. Thankfully, his mom realized just in time that Nick was about to jam the chair under the basement doorknob to lock us all in. Two more steps and we’d have been stuck there indefinitely. This was before cell phones, so who knows how long it might’ve been before anyone came to rescue us.
Not all stories are funny—some remind us what life was really like for families in earlier generations.
Cherries in Hard Times. During the Depression, a young couple I came across in my genealogy work traveled to northern Michigan in the summer to pick cherries for extra income. It was backbreaking work, but it helped them hold things together during lean times.
The Boarder in the Dormer. Years later, the couple’s son and his wife had twin boys. To make ends meet, the parents also rented out the dormer room to a college student in exchange for babysitting. She became part of the family, and they kept in touch with her for the rest of their lives.
The Surprise Birthday. Those twin boys celebrated their birthdays every June 29th. It wasn’t until one of them registered for the draft that he learned he was actually born half an hour after midnight on June 30th. Imagine discovering your birthday had been “wrong” all along!
So next time you think of a family story that would let future generations know about your calamities, humor, or struggles, write it down or grab your cell phone and record it. Stories are what help to make family history come alive.
Recording Family Stories
Familysearch.org, a free genealogy website, has a free tools for with prompts for collecting family stories. Such as #52Stories, the memories section of their website. Google “does familysearch.org have prompts for gathering family stories” for all the ways familysearch.org can help you collect stories.
So does Ancestry.com, but you pay a subscription fee.
Several books offer prompts and guidance for gathering family stories. Guided books usually don’t uncover many of the interesting family stories like the above, but they are a good resource for leaving future generations with a better understanding of their ancestors.
The Family Story Workbook: This book by Kris Spisak provides a structured approach to gathering family stories, with prompts divided into sections on family history, individual reflections, and world events. It's designed to be a tool for individuals, families, and even for creating unique gifts.
My Family Story: Memories of the Past, Present, and Thoughts for the Future: This book offers guided prompts to help tell your family's story, covering past, present, and future reflections.
Memories for My Family: Mom's Book to Fill Out: Specifically designed for mothers, this book provides prompts for sharing their life stories and creating a personal legacy according to the product description on Amazon.
To Our Children's Children: This book is a classic guide for preserving family histories, offering step-by-step instructions and memory joggers.
Remento: This service provides a way to collect spoken stories and turn them into a keepsake book or ebook. It involves weekly prompts, recordings, and then a professionally produced book.
Storyworth: Similar to Remento, Storyworth offers a subscription service where individuals receive weekly prompts, record their answers, and receive a bound book at the end of the year.
From Sue M: My grandson wants me to spend a day with him just telling some of the stories I have told him in the past. He wants to record them so they don't get lost. Some are so hilarious that no one would believe them though. Once we caught a huge catfish with a garden rake. What led up to that was a long story, but it is one for the books.