That's what I did with my mom. I put a large manilla envelope on the kitchen table and told her when she remembered something, to write it down and put it in the envelope. Well, needless to say, several envelopes later, I bought a computer and sent her to school. She loved it! I bought a genealogy program and she put all her information in the files, as well as the word processor. This was terrific and we were going to print the book out. This all went great until she was diagnosed with brain cancer. Unknowingly, she deleted one whole line of the family so the book wasn't written. But we have a lot of answers to a lot of questions!! Pat ----- Original Message ----- From: "Linda & Mike Mounce" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, February 16, 2001 4:05 PM Subject: [MOPULASK] Memory Box > I ran across an idea recently I wish I had known about when my mother was > alive. Type up all > the family questions you would like to have answered, cut into strips so > that each strip of > paper has one question. Place all the strips into a memory box (or jar), and > give it along with > a bound notebook and a pen to the oldest member of your family. Ask them to > write the answer to > the questions in the notebook over a period of time. It is not such an > overwhelming task when > it is taken one question at a time, and when all the questions are answered, > you will have a > notebook full of family memories, handwritten by a family member. The person > who does the > answering will have a wonderful time remembering all the events written down > in the book. > > L Allen wrote: > > > For the family history. > > Several years ago, my brother suggested that our Mother write a few > things down on paper. > > > > l. Where she had lived during her life. > > 2. What events she remembered happening. > > 3. Anything she thought she would like her children to know. > > > > This kept her busy for sometime. > > Of course a recording would be of great help. > > Some of the Grandchildren took her hand written notes and typed them. > > > > As she relived her past it brought her pleasure. > > As the Grandchildren read and typed her notes they began to respect the > elders a bit more. > > How the hardships and joys had shaped the life of their Grandmother. > > We still have her hand written pages. > > She has been gone four years now and we all thank our brother for his > suggestion. > > > > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the #1 > Source for Family History Online. Go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribetrial1y.asp?sourcecode=F11HB