Having names as well as relationship names (Mother, Daddy, Grandma, Great-grandpa, etc.) helps the reader keep track of the cast of characters.Ģ. This way, readers can flip back to the chart if they get confused about which person was my father’s mother or my mother’s father. I decided to place a family tree at the beginning of the book (p.This alone will be a great gift to the next generation, especially if you are the first to do it. Find birth, death, wedding, and other essential facts. Make a family tree that extends to at least three generations on both sides of your family. Here are a few tips to get you started and a few stories from my own experience to inspire you.ġ. And it is within the power of every human being to create such a testament.

This message was called a “testament,” and its purpose was to keep a torch alive that had been passed from one generation to another over many centuries of time.Ī memoir is a testament. You may remember hearing the term “last will and testament.” In years gone by, a will contained a set of values, a message penned by the parent to the children or other inheritors of the estate. Wise and generous distribution of property is very important, and it behooves us all to do thoughtful estate planning. One of my strongest beliefs, and the reason I wrote this memoir, is that each of us has an opportunity, and obligation, to leave gifts to the next generation.

The most precious gift we can bestow is a true record of who we were, told in our stories, and lived out in our lives. And we leave more than these behind when we die. Being fair to all the children and at the same time passing along their most precious asset, the farm, often proved difficult for parents to structure and for siblings to accept peacefully.īut we inherit more than money, land, heirlooms, or any material thing from our ancestors. What is a legacy? Now that you’ve read my story, you know that the word “inheritance” sometimes caused problems for Mennonite farm families such as mine.

Blush by Shirley Hershey Showalter