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A Research Project —
Creating a family history means leaving a legacy for future generations.
By Chrystle Fiedler
 For a long time,
there was a rumor circulating in Doris Hubbard's mother's family that their
ancestors had come over on the Mayflower, which landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620.
But little did 78-year-old Thrivent Financial for Lutherans member Hubbard of
Lakeville, Massachusetts, know that when she began to research her family history,
she would discover that she was related to two of the most famous pilgrims,
John and Priscilla Alden. "They were known as the sweethearts of the Mayflower.
They married once they reached America," says Hubbard.
Like Hubbard, other Thrivent Financial members in their golden years are seizing
the opportunity to both find out where they came from and leave a legacy about
their own lives for future generations.
"More and more people are becoming interested in family history,"
says Mike Ransom, 57, of Rochester, Minnesota, a retired technical writer who
now specializes in creating family memoirs. "With families getting scattered,
you don't always have reunions to share these stories," the Thrivent Financial
member explains. "A family history is something to hold on to when family
members are gone. It's invaluable."
Getting Started
When she began her family history project, Hubbard wrote down the known facts,
some of which she'd gleaned from relatives who had gathered information on the
family, in addition to newspaper clippings that had been saved by her mother's
family. Hubbard also had a family Bible with information from the late 1700s—births,
deaths and wedding dates-that turned out to be an excellent resource.
Next, Hubbard tapped local organizations for information, such as historical
societies and the library, and began to develop "a rapport with it after
awhile," she says. "When you find something, you'll know whether it's
worth it to research it intensely. Then, all of a sudden, you may hit pay dirt."
 Ransom, who considers his projects with clients "sacred work," sets
up a family-events timeline when he begins a project to track what happened
in a family year by year, and asks clients to think about whom they are writing
to, what their purpose is in writing, and what they want to write about. The
last question helps them narrow the scope of their project so they don't get
overwhelmed.
"A memoir doesn't have to be about every day of your life. It can be a
slice of your life," Ransom explains. "Think, for example, if you
had one year of your life to live over again, what would it be and why? Write
about that to start."
Find
a Focus
Hubbard, with the help of her writing group at the senior center, for example,
chose to write about growing up in three lighthouses on the wind-swept New England
coast. "My father was a lighthouse keeper, and I lived my first ten years
in a lighthouse," she says.
To give your story focus, advises Thrivent Financial member and freelance writer
Sanda Gibson, 50, of Hilliard, Ohio, look for the themes that run throughout
your family's history. "For example, our family really values education,"
says Gibson, who's writing a memoir about her 93-year-old Korean-born grandmother.
Creating a family history can seem like a daunting prospect, and it can therefore
be easy to postpone getting started. According to Gibson, persistence is key.
"Just do it," she says. "You don't know how much time you have.
It doesn't have to be perfect to mean a lot to the people who read it. It's
a labor of love."
Chrystle Fiedler is a previous contributor to Thrivent magazine whose work
also has appeared in Woman's Day and Better Homes & Gardens.
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