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Monday, November 25, 2019

We’re Losing Generations of Family History Because We Don’t Share Our Stories But here's how to get your kids, siblings, and parents talking.

Here is a quote from an article by Rachael Rifkin in the Good Housekeeping web site:

“Most people don’t know much about their family history. This is because people usually don’t become interested in genealogy until they’re in their 50s and 60s, when they have more time to reflect on their family identity. The problem is that by that time, their grandparents and parents have often already passed away or are unable to recount their stories.

“Because of this, we’re losing generations of stories, and all of the benefits that come with them. ‘Because our families are among the most important social groups we belong to and identify with, stories about our family tell us who we are in the world, and who we should be,’ says Robyn Fivush, Ph.D., one of the researchers behind the study The Power of Family History in Adolescent Identity and Well-Being. ‘Stories about our parents and grandparents provide models of both good and bad times, as well as models of overcoming challenges and sticking together.’


“The solution to this problem is to get people interested in their family histories when they’re still adolescents or young adults, when they can still hear directly from relatives. But how do we cultivate an interest in each other to begin with?”

You can find a number of answers in Rachael Rifkin’s article, hit here