You’ve spent a lot of years putting together the knowledge, experience, and wisdom you’ve managed to collect so far. Shouldn’t you share some of this with the younger generations in your family?
I’m not talking about spouting your opinions, likes, dislikes and such. Those are probably best kept to yourself.
However, you should share things like scientific facts you’ve learned, experiences you’ve encountered with the natural world, and bits of wisdom, philosophy, or family history that have been handed down to you along the way.
Most families have at least one senior member who takes on this role of sharing wisdom and experience with others. Maybe your family needs YOU to volunteer for this important position.
The job doesn’t pay well, but the side benefits can be amazing. Your family members will probably feel closer to each other than ever before, they will better understand their past and present, and… who knows? They may even admire you a bit.
Like many things that come with growing older, this one, too, may require growing bolder.
You might need to take the initiative and send out occasional letters and emails, or decide to start a family blog or newsletter. Maybe you could just send out a lengthy Christmas greeting each year reminiscing about the old days. You could even produce a periodic video chat and post it online (some young techies in the family could probably help you do that).
You might want to start by digging up bits of family history that not everyone may be familiar with. This is the sort of treasure that’s very likely to be lost unless an older family member passes it along.
For example, I’d give a lot to know the history of my ancestors who came to this country more than a century ago from England, Scotland, Germany, and Holland. Their adventures in starting brave new lives in this land so far away from their original homes would be exciting and inspiring if the stories were still available. I wish my predecessors had passed them along.
Make sure your family stories (or as many of them as you can recall) don’t become lost. And it’s not only old family history you need to share, but a lot of your own personal history as well. Your family wants it and needs it. So give it to them.
You don’t need to be some all-knowing oracle
with tons of little-known facts you’ve been savin’,
to put together enough historical
stuff to be your family’s history maven.
