MEMORY lane
TAKE THE TIME TO RECORD ELDERLY FAMILY MEMBERS’ STORIES
Remember those stories your nana used to tell you about “the olden days”? How you loved hearing about the mischief she got up to when she was little, how she met your granddad and what your dad was like as a child?
Don’t you wish you had taken the time to write down her recollections?
Recording the life story of a loved one is not just a way of preserving family history for future generations but it can be a rewarding experience for both you and the person involved.
Having someone listening to their stories can make your family member feel valued, and it can also be a cathartic exercise. It can also strengthen your bond with them, as well as helping you to appreciate some of the struggles they have faced and understand how they overcame them. You may even find out family secrets that you had no clue about.
Today technology has made it so much easier to record someone’s life story. Rather than having to scrawl down what they say, it is easy to film them reminiscing with a smartphone or device. To make sure your recording session goes as well as possible, and you get good footage, here are some tips to remember:
• Do the filming in a place where they feel comfortable and where you are not going to be disturbed by noise or people coming and going.
• Do a quick test run to check the light and sound. Don’t put them in front of a window or a lamp – they’ll be back-lit and appear as a silhouette.
• Prepare your questions beforehand. Ask open-ended questions like, “Tell me about…” or, “Describe what it was like…” Don’t ask questions that can only be answered yes or no.
• It is usually best to go through their life in chronological order, but if you know there are subjects that are tricky – like a marriage break-up – try to leave those until the end.
• Don’t badger them to talk about something they are not comfortable with. Just go on to the next question.
• If their memories need jogging, have some old photographs on hand and get them to talk about who is in the pictures and what was happening.
• Listen carefully to what they say. Don’t interrupt but if they start to go off on tangents, you may want to gently nudge them back to what they had been talking about. However, if what they’re talking about is particularly interesting, ask some follow-up questions and let the conversation flow.
• Don’t go on too long. They won’t be at their best if they get tired. Make a note of what you were talking about and come back to it another time.
• Once you’ve finished, make sure you download the file and store it safely. Make a copy just in case there are any issues.