I have been watching “In Treatment”, an HBO drama about a psychotherapist, Paul Weston (with award winning performance by Gabriel Byrne). Each episode is a session with one of his patients, including one session with his own therapist, Gina, at the end of the week.
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One of my clients recently gave me a cookbook as a gift, “Eat Like There’s No Tomorrow” written by Hans Rueffert, a friend of hers who is suffering from gastric cancer.
Since 1995, Ira Glass, one of the greatest storytellers of our time, has been the host of the radio show “This American Life,”a weekly hour-long show that is primarily journalistic non-fiction but also features essays, short fiction and occasionally memoirs.
When my own children were young, my father suggested taking a photograph of them every month, in the same location and pose. These photographs, he explained, could later be assembled into a type of time-line of their growth and development.
My grandmother almost carried the recipe for her famous cookies to her grave. She was a marvelous cook and had several recipes that were family favorites. She loved getting the praise and glory for producing these specialties for us and could never be coaxed to share the recipes.
I recently got back from a 10 day trip to China where I visited the main cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. I had a really great time although I haven’t finished organizing and tagging all my photos and hope to get that done soon before I forget all the finer details of where each photo was taken.
Years ago, at a presentation by James Walsh, a history professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, he shared a powerful African proverb.
The proverb recognizes two spirits. “Sasha are spirits known by someone still alive, while Zamani are spirits not known by someone currently alive.”
While doing a personal history has so many wonderful benefits beyond leaving something behind for future generations, it has some heightened benefits for people that are suffering from memory loss. The primary benefit is immediate, interacting with other family members while gathering and documenting the information.
I am constantly amazed by the Internet. It’s not like it’s something new but I regularly find myself wowed when I’m able to find something so easily, when only a few years ago it may have required days of research and possibly a cross-continent trip.
In talking about my business to families and individuals, I often come across the perception that you have to be “almost famous” to have a video made about you or your family. People will say, “well there’s nothing really that interesting about us. We’re just a regular family doing regular things.
