That means you. While you might have the same background, similar likes and dislikes or went to the same school and knew the same people as others, no one’s life is exactly like yours. 

Readers, I wish you would all collect your memories and share them with your loved ones.

If you’re intimidated about writing your autobiography in perfect chronological order from birth, just jot down random recollections or those related to themes like school, family life, first jobs, marriage. 

Or record your memories. This can be as simple as pressing record on a smartphone or choosing a local videographer, like Why Wait Stories with Founder and “Chief Storyteller” (I love that) Lauren Ferrara, who is experienced at drawing peoples’ stories out. 

When I read in my spare time, it is nearly always a memoir. You can’t read all the books—so you might as well read what you love, right?

I cherish a book I didn’t purchase at Barnes & Noble or off Amazon. It’s titled, simply, “Memories of My Life.” It’s the tale of the main character’s hardscrabble upbringing in the harsh climate of North Dakota with other Norwegian immigrant families. 

He left home at 19, selling Hawaiian guitars door to door. He intended to go to California but only made it to Colorado before funds ran out. He had an appendectomy and fell in love with a charming nurse at the hospital. They married and had four children. He was truly “working on the railroad, all the live-long day,” and many nights, too, attempting to sleep during the day while his rambunctious kids didn’t always make it easy. 

His bride was in her early sixties when she died of pancreatic cancer. Unthinkably, nine months after that, his 30-year-old youngest died in a boating accident. He grieved deeply, yet remarried and lived to 89. That’s the CliffsNotes of my grandfather’s well-lived life. 

Uri Hasson, a neuroscientist at Princeton University, researches how storytelling affects neurology. He’s given a TED Talk titled “This Is Your Brain on Communication.” Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) indicates people’s brains become “aligned,” or show similar activity when hearing the same story. He’s tried this experiment with nonsense words and scrambled sentences, but it’s not until listeners hear a real-life story that high-order areas like the frontal cortex align.

Why Wait Stories keeps loved ones' legacies alive

Discover how professional video storytelling company Why Wait Stories preserves family memories and keeps legacies alive. Read More » 

Stories impact us in a profound way.

I’m the “asker” for The BEACON’s Question of the Month (page 29). I’ve queried nearly 200 Springs-area seniors over the span of four years—family, friends, casual acquaintances, friends of friends—and many total strangers. What a gift that has been! 

It’s a memoir in a moment. What was one of your childhood toys? What was your prom like? What was your last Google search? I’ve had a few deferrals. That’s to be expected—and respected. But overwhelmingly you humor me, answer me, allow me to snap your photo and are gracious about it all. 

For May’s Question of the Month, I was warmly welcomed by the Golden Agers group, a ministry for seniors out of Zeal Church.

Bob Wilburn

I was so caught up in one gentleman’s story that I misheard his last name. (It’s now corrected in our online issue). Bob Wilburn, I am sorry about that. But I’m not sorry you shared your four sentences about the perils of racism in the South and the attitudes you overcame—triumph forged from hardship. 

Thank you, Bob Wilburn, and others who have so generously shared the unique, heartwarming, funny, mundane, nostalgic aspects of your lives with our readers.

Now, start preserving your memories. Your descendants will thank you.