Every Life has a Story!

Perhaps more than any other video I've seen, this one captures the WHY behind my passion for family history and storytelling. Please watch it and when you're almost at the end, you'll hear these words ...

“We don’t just need the names and the dates.
Every life has a story.
It’s up to us to find it.”

That's it. That is what I believe and that is why I continue to search for, compile and make family stories more accessible to my children. This is WHY I continue to document my own life and story through scrapbooking. 

Family members that came before me were real people. They are a part of me and I am a part of them. I know from experience that when you find and read a short paragraph—or a few sentences even—describing someone's personality or an aspect of everyday life you FEEL this instant connection and interest and an exhilarating sense of belonging. There's nothing quite like it! 

I recently visited with Tracie Claiborne on her ScrapGals podcast about The Skill of Storytelling and why I'm excited to be back working in the scrapbooking industry and what I hope the products I create with Close To My Heart can do for you and others that desire simplified ways to document important people, places and things. I invite you to LISTEN by clicking HERE. 

I also invite you to write down just ONE question you would ask one of your great grandmothers (or another ancestor) if you could. THEN ... write your answer to that question. You can write that answer in your journal, on a blog, on a scrapbook page, or on a Facebook or Instagram post. It all counts. Please don't worry that you don't have a master plan for collecting or sharing stories, or give into any other resistance that your brain will submit to you. Just sit down and write or record your answer and then figure out how to share it. 

AND, one more thing. If you haven't yet created an account at FamilySearch, Ancestry or My Heritage, do it ... today!