We’re living through a global pandemic – a situation which almost no one still living has experienced before. Many people are keeping “COVID Journals” to record their thoughts, feelings, challenges, and small triumphs as we carry on, day by day. (Have you seen these coloring pages? Or consider contributing a story of your experience to Easton’s local history collection.) Whether they’ve been written down or not, our children will have memories of living through this unique period of history, with plenty of stories to share with their children and grandchildren about the year no one went to school, or had any birthday parties, or even got to play with their friends.
They might not be COVID memories, but chances are YOU have some stories from your own childhood that your children have never heard! Spend an evening reliving your own family history. Your stories don’t have to be wild adventures or extenuating circumstances. It might be about the time your brother (age 3) wandered off with the puppy and was lost in the woods across the street for an hour (true story!). Or the one about your grandmother getting the cross-country train to stop (and wait!) so she could find a doctor for her son with a fever and kidney infection – who then saw the size of the antibiotic needle and passed out! (Yep, another true story! And guess what? He became a doctor!).
Over dinner, or in place of your usual bedtime story, or during any quiet moment, tell a story from your own past – a fond memory, a scary event, or just one particular day you remember. Pull out a family album and pick one photo to talk about. Who was there? Was it a special event, or just a regular day? When was it? Can you remember other details about that day?
You know what they say… truth is stranger than fiction, and you just can’t make this stuff up! Your own stories are the best stories to share with your family.