Pass the Torch: How to Keep Your Family Stories Going for Generations
BY PAM MOLNAR
next youngest is seven, go back around the room with seven-year-old stories and continue until all ages are covered and only one person can share their story. PLAY “WHAT’S YOUR TALENT?” Find out who you get your talents and traits from. Ask who can wiggle their ears, curl their tongue, and who has a second toe longer than the others. Compare eye color, skin tone, hair texture, and height. It’s interesting to see a family’s similarities and differences. TAKE TIME FOR SHOW AND TELL. Search the attics and closets to find old report cards, military awards, high school jackets, and wedding or baptismal gowns. The kids will be intrigued by the special items that have been saved all those years. Pulling them out
electronic devices, check out some of these ideas. GET OUT THE OLD FAMILY PHOTOS AND MOVIES. It’s time to introduce all the characters. Show them Grandma’s prom pictures and Grandpa in his army uniform. Open the wedding photos and watch the grainy movies that don’t have any sound. Talk about the people who have passed on, the changes in fashion, and the family resemblances. TELL A STORY FROM WHEN YOU WERE THEIR AGE. Go around the room, starting with the youngest person, and tell a story from that age. For example, if the youngest is five, share your own stories of something that happened when you were five. If the
24 SEPTEMBER 2025 | NOLAFAMILY.COM younger people who did the same sort of things we were doing as kids. On some occasions, my grandmother would bring out her old family photos for us to look through, and that made their stories come to life. If you are looking for a way to keep the family stories alive, but not lose the younger generation to the glow of their Some of the best memories of my childhood were when we were gathered around the table after dinner with my parents and grandparents. While most of the time their conversations revolved around politics or current events, occasionally they would share stories about their childhood. Those thoughts brought out another side of my parents and grandparents. It was strange to imagine them as
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