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For some people, spending time with family during the holidays does not warm the cockles of their hearts. There are arguments, disputes, old resentments resurface, lives are judged and criticized, etc. There is a way, however, to ease the emotional pain of the holiday season.
Who, in your family, is sincerely cherished by all; someone who is truly respected and held in high regard? Consider giving a tribute to him or her this holiday season. A tribute is something the entire family can be involved in, both separately and together.
When I am hired to put together a personal history, every single person in the family – even the ones who aren’t speaking to anyone – happily donate their time for an interview, because they want to preserve that relative’s memory. They actually move beyond their issues with the family, and focus on the much loved relative. When the book is complete, relatives read about the special memories others have – some unique, some shared – about the same individual, and the fondness they once had for each other rises up above the old grudges and disputes. A healing begins to grow, working its way through each branch and leaf on the family tree.
You have the ability to create a powerful gifted family legacy for future generations.
It begins with one.
Whose life story could you preserve that would reconnect your family?
I answered the phone at my desk.
“Hello?”
“This is the last time I’m going to read this to you.” I immediately recognized my father’s voice, who offered no salutation.
“I had to read this to you over and over and over again,” he continued. “’I will not eat it in a box, I will not eat it with a fox. I will not eat green eggs and ham. I will not eat it, Sam I Am.’”
“Oka-a-y,” I responded, somewhat hesitantly, wondering where this was going. I glanced around the busy law office, processing this surreal moment of having my father read a childhood book to me.
“Dr. Seuss recently died,” he said, “and I’m reading a column in today’s San Francisco Chronicle paying tribute to him. I was thinking about how many times I had to read his books to you over and over again. So, I’m just letting you know, that this is the last time I’m reading this to you.”
Laughing, I thought, “That’s my dad.” Read the rest of this entry »
“Indiana Jones.”
Hear the soundtrack?
Imagine the movie without the soundtrack.
Doesn’t have the same impact, does it?
What types of music best apply to your life soundtrack? That is, which categories would amplify and best express events that have occurred throughout your life?
A story about my great-uncle, Bill Weybright, a glider pilot during WWII:
“He was shot down over Germany, close to the French border. He ‘slipped wind’: he took the strings of a parachute (which was made of pure silk) and managed to float down into French territory.
