Just about every society in the world, at any time, has had its own historians. Whether the tribal elder who held closely the verbal history of a tribe or the stately scholar who kept the records, those who held the ties to the past were honored, revered and held in high-esteem.

So it is for many families where one person generally acts as the record keeper, the one who hangs tightly to documents, dates and scraps from the past that help define the family as a whole. Whether this person is simply the owner of the “family Bible” or a meticulous researcher with reams and reams of information on the family’s past this person too is an important “historian.”

Making the decision to take on this role for you family is a big one that shouldn’t be taken lightly, but it’s also one that’s loaded with fun and adventure.

Getting started can be a little overwhelming, so here are some ideas of things to include in a family history:

1 - Dates – Of births, marriages, divorces and deaths.

2 - Medical history – The importance of this is becoming more and more known as medical science realizes the genetic links to so many common illnesses. Morbid, maybe, but recording major illnesses and causes of death might just save a life at some point in the future.

3 - Accomplishments – If your great aunt was a world-class skater, write that down! Your own generation and the ones beyond will love to know this. No matter how insignificant on the surface, the accomplishments of your ancestors you uncover should be included.

4 - Professions, talents, likes, dislikes – As it is with accomplishments, so it is and perhaps more so for these things. The little details transform your ancestors from just a name into a person and keep their memories alive for generations and generations to come.

5 - Photographs – There’s more to a family than names and dates. A family is about people and photos allow people years down the road to make a real connection to the past.

6 - Report cards, travel documents and so on – Any major documentation about an ancestor’s past is worth keeping whether in its entirety or paraphrased in a “journal” about the family’s history.

The more information you can include in a family history, the better. Each scrap of the past preserved help keeps more of the family history alive.

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