Passing It On

"...we took the bonus, bought a yacht and sailed to Tierra del Fuego"

Have you written your holiday newsletter yet? Me neither.

For some reason, annual family holiday newsletters have gotten a bad rap. Some might say it’s for good reason. Many are sappy, poorly written, badly spelled and are nothing more than brag sheets. Even if that’s all true, they’re still excellent sources of information for a family history. I wish I would have saved every one I’ve received over the years.

But holiday newsletters don’t have to be bad, even if you’re not a professional writer. To make your newsletter memorable, keep it simple, to the point and balanced. Make it newsy instead of an endless string of overstated success stories. Your life wasn’t like that, so don’t try to pass it off that way.

Include some tidbits of true family history in your newsletter to broaden its appeal. Why not include a prized family recipe or a photo of a Christmas past? Share a family story that reflects your true values along with your hopes and wishes for the years ahead.

If you want some specific tips on how to create a newsletter that will be cherished, check out Ted Pack’s web site. It’s full of suggestions, including some actual examples submitted by his readers and some parodies that are sure to give you a chuckle or two. The people at Hewlett-Packard have a site with tips, including links to free templates and clip art that will give your newsletters some extra visual appeal.

Take advantage, too, of holiday gatherings to collect family stories and snap lots of pictures. If you have a parent or grandparent who’s especially hard to shop for, consider giving them the gift of family history. You can learn how by contacting me, or another of the nearly 700 members of the Association of Personal Historians that are located in just about every part of the United States and Canada. It’s a priceless gift that will be appreciated by family members for generations to come.

Have you seen the credit card ad about family history that’s been running on national television lately? You can view the one-minute Citi spot about a father-son team exploring their Scandinavian roots here.

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. To learn more, visit his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of The Bimz.

Goodbye Thanksgiving; hello Black Friday

Does anyone else see the irony in how the day after Thanksgiving has come to be known as “Black Friday?” The juxtaposition of these two days gives us an opportunity to celebrate the best and worst that American culture has to offer in the span of 48 hours.

Thanksgiving is a time for reflection, an opportunity to catch our breath, share stories and enjoy a hearty meal with loved ones as we express gratitude for the bountiful opportunities afforded to most of us who are privileged to live in the United States of America.

Then, sometimes even before that last piece of pumpkin pie has been digested, we head to the mall, credit card in hand, ready to fuel what has become an insatiable Christmas machine.

The day after Thanksgiving has long been a huge Christmas shopping day, but every year it gets a bit more surreal. In our area this year, a mall opened at midnight on Thanksgiving night, enticing shoppers with live music, free coffee and the tease of a free car (actually, a two-year lease). Other stores just opened early, as soon as 4 a.m. It’s probably the same where you live.

Unless real news happens today, I can count on Christmas shopping being the lead story on tonight’s local TV news. Shoppers will comment on the crowds and the great buys they found. Merchants will say how great business was. Within three weeks, the same stations will be reporting on shortages of certain toys and how sales are below expectations.

Stan Freberg, that clever satirist who gently jabbed contemporary society during a lengthy career that began in 1950, used a sharper stick when he took on the commercial aspects of the holiday in his classic “Green Christmas.” What Freberg saw as satire in 1958 has come to pass in reality, and then some. I’m sure even Freberg was stunned when the Leader of the Free World told Americans to help combat terrorism by going shopping in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

My grandmother often told the story of how thrilled she was as a young girl in Denmark when she received an orange at Christmas. One orange. Imagine that. That sort of gratitude is the true spirit of Thanksgiving.

Listen to the stories of how your own family functioned before we became a consumer society. They contain valuable lessons for us all.

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. If you’d like to know more, visit his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of  corey_coffman.