Thursday, February 23, 2012

My Mom's Life

I've started a new project that I am fairly excited about. For years, I have wanted my Mom to record her life somehow. After several attempts, I've finally hit on a solution that works for both of us. Awhile back, my kids and I came up with several questions for my Mom to answer and I sent them to her. Now that she's had time to come up with answers, my plan is to call her on my land line and take dictation, typing her answers on my computer as she speaks. This is not new to me, as I was a transcriber in a medical office before my first baby was born. I don't know why I didn't think of it before!

I assured my Mom that we didn't have to spend a long time on the phone, just take a few questions at a time. We started last Tuesday and in just 20 minutes, I got a page and a third. Tonight, I went over what she said and edited it. I'm writing it from her point of view which can be confusing but I think it will sound best that way. If we can do this once a week, it won't take too long. It was fun and interesting to hear her talk about her family and my Dad. Some things I knew about and others I didn't.

Mom turned 82 today, bless her heart. She was a farm girl in Arkansas until her family moved to California when she was 11. If she had stayed in Arkansas, she never would have met my Dad and, therefore, I wouldn't be here. Interesting.

I'm looking forward to our phone interviews.

4 comments:

jugglingpaynes said...

What a wonderful idea! I wish I had thought to do something like that with my late father-in-law. He had an interesting life, but he never even got around to talking about it on the tape recorder we got him one year. I have some of his notes, but that's all. I wonder if it would have been easier had I given him questions to answer, or requests for particular stories, like hiding a bout with malaria because he was supposed to return home during WWII. (One? No, I think it was the second)

Good for you for recording your mom's stories!

Peace and Laughter!

Paula Vince said...

Wow, what a legacy! Great idea.
I'd typed out my dad's genealogy for him a few years ago and it was really interesting. Mostly his ancestors' stories, as when he got to his own, he got shy and quit.

jugglingpaynes said...

Always wonderful to hear from you! I think if you do a little research, you may find there are some comic collections of Bible quotes for kids. If not, what a great project for one of your children! Alec can add it to the pile behind his chair! :o)

Peace and Laughter!

Cat said...

What a great idea! Makes me think about my in-laws in particular - if the hubby doesn't get any of their history now, it will all die with them.