Project Ideas

If you’re reading this, you’ve made a decision to record your family stories. Woohoo! That’s awesome! I’m so excited you’re doing this. Recording family stories and [...]

A family time capsule captures what nothing else can: the quirky, funny characteristics of your family as they are right now. When I look back at 2021, memories that currently come to mind are my [...]

Can emotional health be connected to a story about your grandma’s difficult childhood? It turns out family stories are more than entertainment. They’re one of the best ways to teach [...]

One Christmas, my mom made a family cookbook for each of her kids — featuring old family photos and favorite family recipes.  It was a really cool gift idea.  In the image below, [...]

School scrapbooks are on display at most high school graduation parties.  Whether the student, a parent or grandparent made them, you’re likely to find a stack of lovingly-constructed [...]

Ever since I was a kid, I’d take a vacation journal on every trip.  I liked capturing the day’s activities and little details.  It was always fun to look back and remember exactly [...]

An Alzheimer’s diagnosis.  Where do you go?  How do you cope?  Who can help you?  Everyday families have to face the tough reality of Alzheimer’s and the long, difficult journey [...]

How would you react to a dementia diagnosis? In the fall of 2019, one Iowa family heard the awful news no one wants to get. Their patriarch, Paul, was diagnosed with dementia. Paul is an [...]

Do you want to write a biography about someone else? I have a notebook where I write down project ideas, including the names of people I’d like to interview about their life experiences. [...]

High school student chronicles her connection to extraordinary Native American women It’s so much fun to hear about other people’s family history books and be inspired by their work! I recently [...]