November is Family Stories Month for a reason! We’ve been looking forward to this week of traditional family gathering. Even while we may not yet have “normal” gatherings, we can still count our blessings and share our love (and hopefully not sickness). This is the time to ask for stories of when our parents and grandparents were young. That was a different world then, sometimes even a different culture whether that be a different country, a different region, or even a different environment such as city or countryside. What are your youthful stories? Do your siblings agree on the details of your childhood stories? Everyone has their own perspective, their own remembering, but don’t fight about it as it’s YOUR OWN memories that have shaped you.

November is also National Novel Writing Month – NANOWRIMO – but I like to call it NA-ME-WRI-MO for National Memoir Writing Month. While you are sharing stories together, jot down notes or even record the sharing by video or audio. Don’t lose your lived family history!

Happy Thanksgiving! May you realize the many blessings you have, large and small. Counting our blessings reminds us to be grateful. And a grateful heart is a joyful heart.