Reading in the Sept 2013 Readers Digest, there was an article titled "The Stories That Bind Us." Quoting from the article: "Researches have recently revealed stunning insights into how to make families work more effectively...." The article was developed from studies done with children who had lived through some harrowing experiences (like 9-11) and the results showed that "the single most important thing you can do for your family is to develop a strong family narrative. Why does knowing where her grandmother went to school help a child overcome something as minor as a skinned knee or as major as a terrorist attach? Children who have the most self-confidence have what (the researchers) called a strong intergenerational self. They know they belong to something bigger than themselves.......... the ones who knew more about their families proved to be more resilient."
If you see the wisdom presented in that Readers Digest article, then let it encourage you to write your story.... and save a copy for your children and grandchildren.
Dani Lee is a descendant of five ancestors who crossed the continent between 1846-1851 to settle in the Williamette Valley of Oregon. Dani Lee was born in Portland and came to Spokane in 1973. She's had much to learn and to share with her family about their pioneer ancestors' experiences on the Oregon Trail.
Patricia smiled as she told me she came to Spokane on a Greyhound bus from Wenatchee in 1965 to take a government job. She originally was from New Orleans by way of California.
Another Patricia said she was the first of her family to come to the Northwest and she came in the year 2000. She worked for the Border Patrol in El Paso, Texas, and longed to serve her remaining years to retirement in a place with water, trees and grass.
Three stories. All so different. And all so interesting. What about YOUR story?
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