the identity of each of us . Some stories increase the understanding and compassion of those who learn the tale . In the novel When God Was a Rabbit , Sarah Winman writes , “ ‘ Memories ,’ she said to me , ‘ no matter how small or inconsequential , are the pages that define us .’ ”
Despite this , personal stories are often casually disregarded . However , authors seem to be aware . In The Golden Spruce , John Vaillant quotes Leslie Marmon Silko who says ,
I will tell you something about stories
[ he said ] They aren ’ t just entertainment .
Don ’ t be fooled . They are all we have , you see , all we have to fight off illness and death .
There have been some unusual ways of preserving memories , as we learn in Lisa See ’ s novel , Snow Flower and the Secret Fan . A fan bearing secret writing , used only by women , is exchanged . In this way , the two women tell the stories of their existence .
More common was the use of poetry to preserve memories . In The Witch of Babylon , D . J . McIntosh writes , “ Before the advent of writing , information could only be passed down orally , and the raw information that was vital for future generations had to be expressed in the most dramatic way possible — through poetry . The rhymes and tempo of poetry made the stories easier to recall .”
I tried this . I wrote a poem about my mother and her days with Alzheimer ’ s disease .
My father once tried to preserve a bit of family history by writing names right on photographs . He was right to try . We now have two boxes full of pictures from two families . We rarely know who or what is involved .
There are many ways to preserve memories . I treasure an enlarged photograph from an exchange program that took us to a couple ’ s home in Corfe Castle , England . Our daughter , Wendy , used art to preserve family history in a mixed media series she called Roots . I made a PowerPoint presentation based on our trip to China . Some people use scrapbooking .
My preferred method of preserving memories is through stories . I worked with “ Starting Anew ” which was an Alberta Regional Museums network centennial project to build a collection of stories of immigrants to Central Alberta . Some stories were taped and transcribed . Some individuals wrote their own stories , sometimes with coaching .
I also worked with residents of Piper Creek Lodge who created a book of stories to mark the 50 th anniversary of the Lodge . The goal for each story was not to produce a biography , but to tell some incident that was meaningful to the resident . Again , some individuals wrote their own stories , sometimes with coaching . Rather than taping others , two of us conducted interviews and wrote the stories from notes . The book is called Golden Hours : Stories from Piper Creek
Lodge .
These were worthwhile , satisfying projects . Everyone has at least one favourite personal story : a happy event , a problem faced , an interesting person met , an occurrence that taught something , or a moment that created excitement . It is worthwhile to record these events for the sake of family , for history , or to preserve one ’ s identity .
The article above is based on a talk and PowerPoint presentation I gave in Red Deer on August 23 , 2011 .
ARTA Contest 14
Congratulations to Ardith Trudzik of Edmonton , AB , who correctly answered the two questions in Contest No . 14 . Ardith ’ s prize is a two-night stay at the Executive Royal Inn and Conference Centre in Calgary , AB .
Answers :
Question No . 1 : ARTA will be celebrating its 50 th Anniversary in 2013 .
Question No . 2 : News &
View ’ s editor ’ s legal first name is Robert . ( Ed . note : It ’ s actually Harry , but Robert is close enough .)
ARTA thanks the Executive Royal Inn for the prize . Thanks as well to all who entered our contest .
Watch for Contest No . 15 in the spring edition of News & Views .
ALBERTA RETIRED TEACHERS ’ ASSOCIATION News & Views Volume 19 21 , No . 32
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