5 Ways to Preserve Your Family History

While I absolutely love books—from the smell of the ink to the feel of the paper between my fingers as I flip through the pages—a book isn't the only way to document your family's history. 

Here are a few unique ways to preserve your family's stories and memories, some of which you're probably already doing:

Quilts - Quilting is a beautiful way to preserve special memories. The small fabric squares that make up a quilt could be pieces cut from your kids' favourite childhood clothing, old blankets and bed linens, and even dress-up costumes—each square holds a story. 

My mother-in-law, our daughter's Nana, is exceptionally talented with a sewing machine. Nana makes clothing and dresses for all of her granddaughters and their dolls. As you can imagine, she has countless fabric scraps in her basement. A few years ago, she made a lovely childhood memory quilt for her daughter using many of those scraps.

Of course, another option is to make a quilt after a family member passes away—as a way to remember them. A quilt is a very personal way to keep them close, even after they've gone.

Family Recipes - Collect your family recipes, the ones you remember from childhood and those that only came out for special occasions. For example, every New Year's Eve, we made Berliner (jam-filled doughnuts) with my dad. That was always his thing. Dad didn't spend much time in the kitchen otherwise, but those doughnuts became our Silvester tradition.

Recipes are a great way to preserve your family's history. A few years ago, my mother-in-law, Nana, typed out all of her mother's handwritten recipes (before they had faded completely) and put together a family recipe book for all three of her kids. The books were filled with the recipes her mother made when she was a girl—the same recipes Nana makes for her granddaughters today. 

Scrapbooks - I used to make detailed travel diaries from my early adventures. I would cut out journal entries, glue in photos and ticket stubs, tourist brochures, and sometimes even drink coasters. Quite often, I would draw little sketches of where I had been and what I had seen. I'm not sure why I stopped making these books, but now that my daughter is old enough to help me, I might make this our new family tradition. 

Music Compilations - Do you remember making and sharing mixed tapes with your friends? I would spend hours putting together the perfect selection of music for a long road trip or my best friend's birthday party. 

Mixed tapes are a way of sharing music that is meaningful to you. My older brother still does this. He created an entire compilation of music from the 1980s, broken down into sub-categories, including Synth Pop, Soft Rock, and Funk & Soul. Of course, everything is digital nowadays, so it's even easier to share his music with our whole family. His compilations are a way for us to feel more connected to him. 

Heirlooms - Heirlooms can be anything passed down from generation to generation. Jewelry, fine china, paintings, musical instruments and religious objects are everyday family heirlooms. What makes an object an heirloom is not based on its resale value but rather its significance as a reminder of the past. 

My mom gave me her grandmother's engagement ring a few years ago. My great-grandmother, Anna, was not a blood relative or even married into our family. After her betrothed (my great-grandfather) passed away, she raised his six children alone (his first wife, their birth mother, had already died many years before). One of those six children was my grandfather. Anna was never married, and she never had any kids of her own. However, if she had not taken them in, those children (including my grandfather) would have been orphaned and left to fend for themselves. 

My mother always cherished Anna's engagement ring, and now it's incredibly meaningful to me. It's not just a ring—it's a story of a young woman and her courage to raise six children that weren't her own after the man she loved passed away. 

Our stories comprise our past, where we came from, and who we are today. How are you preserving your family's stories?