Getting Close to the Holidays
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I guess most of us think about family around the holidays. Whether it’s the childhood memories or the new memories we create as we get older. It’s not too late to think about a genealogy related holiday gift for your wife or family. (Not that the microwave oven or duvet cover wouldn’t be appreciated. I’ve probably mentioned lulu.com before. They are a self publishing site. In fact, it’s almost scary how easy it really is to get your writings in print there.
Now, I’m assuming that you’ve already got your family history at least fairly well written or a pretty easy to compile amount ready. They accept pdf format (in fact that’s the preferred method mainly because it will keep it’s formatting better than most others.) They do accept other file formats as well though including doc, rtf, wps, ps, jpg, gif, png. Don’t limit yourself just to the idea of a written manuscript on the history of your family. Think about the idea of producing a photo book or calendar. Maybe you have a great collection of photos of your families ancestors along with their homesteads.
If you’re a more seasoned citizen with quite a few stories from your youth about your family, or if you can get the permission of one of the elders of the family try recording some of those great stories and putting them on cds so that everybody in the family can enjoy them long after the storyteller has gone. Many times I’ve thought about putting together “letters to my children/grandchildren” in this kind of a format and there’s no time like the present to start something like this.
Another idea is a real family portrait. I think I recall last Christmas that I had found several sites online that would do a painting based on a photo. That would be a truly memorable heirloom of a gift. Not that the bathroom scale is a bad idea in practical use, but…..
Too often Genealogy is dry and lifeless, it’s so much more vibrant when we are able to put pictures and stories and figure out other ways to relate to it. That can be the basis for a great gift.
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