Memories Passed Down...
By twoey68
@twoey68 (13627)
United States
May 13, 2008 12:21pm CST
Yesterday I went to my Mom’s and had a great visit with her and my Grandma. My Grandma is 77 years young, she’s had around 5 strokes, is wheelchair bound and yet still has all her mental capabilities, thankfully. She grew up in a tough time, she had children before marriage (a big no-no), she had to leave a husband to care for her mom who was sick with cancer and she struggled raising 5 kids. She’s outlived several of her husbands and yet to hear her talk is like walking through history. She tells me about the restaurant her and her mother owned, the time my Mom almost drowned, the times she danced including at the Fox Theater in Detroit. She tells me about the time my Mom found a drawer full of glass eyeballs and about all my Mom’s siblings. It’s great listening to her and what’s even better is we’ve started recording all of these things on cassettes. She loves to talk about all of her memories and thankfully her memory is still sharp enough to do it.
Her and my Mom are so close…just like my Mom and myself…and I know that when Grandma’s time is through these tapes are going to help Mom to cope a lot and will be treasured and passed down.
Do you like listening to your elderly relatives and their lives? Have you ever recorded any of there memories? Does it amaze you to hear how things have changed over the years?
**AT PEACE WITHIN**
~~STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS~~
8 people like this
23 responses
@KrisNY (7590)
• United States
15 May 08
You gave me a great idea :) My moms parents are both gone and I miss there stories so much- more so my gramps! He was always so full of stories and memories- he was a brilliant man and a charming man as well. I try to remember all of his stories and I tell them to my daughter- but it isn't the same.
My dads mom is still alive- and when she gets talking it's amazing- She doesn't remember everything -- but a lot of things- She is 86... I should start taping her so we always have her thoughts and stories.
1 person likes this
@sudiptacallingu (10879)
• India
14 May 08
Yes, it does amaze me and fills me with a kind of wonder when I listen to days long gone by. Its like I am being connected live to a part of history…but sadly my grandparents are no more. But where they were here, I loved listening to them. Specially since my family is basically refugees from Bangladesh (aftermath of India’s bloody independence) and I would listed starry-eyed about places and homes they had left behind, about roads and lanes, markets and food. It was as if an enchanted world altogether.
Equally amazing is your granny…at her age to have such a strong memory is no mean feat. I think it runs in your family, so start remembering your own days…you may have to tell them to your grandchildren some day. 
1 person likes this
@lovespecialangel (3632)
• United States
15 May 08
I use to love listening and talking with my grandmothers before they passed. I never thought to record them though. I wish I had of. That's a great idea. And you are right, they will be cherrished!
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
17 May 08
You are such an amazing lady. Lots of people say they will do these things but you're the only person I ever met who does it.
You might want to think of copying the tapes on to cd because it will last longer. Tapes deteriorate pretty quickly and have to be stored according to weather conditions etc.
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
17 May 08
That is wonderful, if only I can go back in time to record my elders stories. Some people like me, don't know how precious these people are and what they know until it is too late..Good for you for recording this special time in history..
@GardenGerty (160665)
• United States
15 May 08
I recorded grandma once, wish I had more. I loved to hear history firsthand. My first husband's grandma remembered being in the Oklahoma land run, in a covered wagon, and she also took trips in jets to visit grandkids. Imagine all those changes in a lifetime.
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
13 May 08
I used to love hearing my Grandma tell stories of her life and my dad's life when she was alive. Sadly, I never thought to record them. Now I wish I had so I could listen to her voice again. Sure miss her. 
@drknlvly6781 (6246)
• United States
14 May 08
That is a wonderful idea to tape all of your grandmother's stories about the old days. I wish that we had done this when my Great-Great-Grandmother was still around. I loved to hear her stories about what she did as a child, and it was a very rare experience, because most people don't get to see their great-great-grandparents, whereas I lived with her for the first fourteen years of my life. It would have been wonderful to have tapes of her to go along with the pictures we have. I could play it for my kids so they would be acquainted with their heritage in some sort of way. But I will keep this in mind, for when my grandmother gets older, so we will have at least her heritage marked, to go along with all the pictures.
@elemental69 (1561)
• Ireland
14 May 08
My mother in law comes to visit every Sunday for dinner. She is 81 years of age. My hubby and I live in the house that he and his siblings were raised. It is a very old house. I love hearing about the old days at this house, from the time my hubby shot his brother in the leg with a bow and arrow to the christmas's that his mother would hang christmas puddings from the living room ceiling. I love listening to my hubby recall the old days, it was so different to the town life that I grew up in. :-)
@newtondak (3946)
• United States
14 May 08
I have written down all that I can remember, and wish that I had listened more and written down more when some of the older relatives were still alive.
Some people will take small handheld tape recorders with them and record what people say and later transcribe it, but I think the presence of the recorder tends to hamper them speaking freely.
@DonnaLawson (4032)
• United States
13 May 08
I have not recorded any memories but I wish that I had thought of it.. My mom was so very sharp on up until about 2 months before she passed away, she was 90 when she passed.. One of my nieces recorded my mom saying, "I love you girl" and she put it on a key chain for her mom, (my sister), but it just about killed me to hear it, I do miss my mom so very much.. My mom was great at remembering and she remembered things that happened a very long time ago, she remembered and talked about her childhood and the history of downtown Knoxville.. She has a rough time growing up and lost her mother when she was just a young girl, then after awhile her dad married again and she had a step mother, she also had to care for her step brothers while she was just a child herself, but she loved them like they were her own.. She told stories of having to live with a sister-in-law and how she wet the bed and got whipped so viciously for it, (I never knew the sister-in-law but hated her just the same).. She also remembered going to bed with just a sip of black coffee and a crust of bread to dip in it, during the depression..
Take care of your mom and grandmother, because until they are gone you can never even come close to realizing how much you can miss them..
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
13 May 08
Yes I do! and they have such interesting stories and even wisdom to impart.. but so many rush by and never bother to talk to any of our elderly citizens.. I think recording your grandma is a great idea! Everyone should do that!
@Polly1 (12645)
• United States
13 May 08
I envy you having recordings of your grandma telling her memories. That is something to cherish forever. Make several copies that way if something should happen to the original you would still have the recordings. How I wish I would have done something like this. I wish I would have had my grandma tell us more stories. I used to love to listen to her stories, I miss that so much. Cherish the time you have with her, its so precious and you never know when it will end. I thought we had all the time in the world with my grandma, sadly we didn't.
@Mirita (2668)
• United States
13 May 08
Wow! is nice that your grandmother is still alive and is able to transport you to the past. My parents and my grandparents are deceased ,so I don't know much about my family history.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
13 May 08
twoey I am now a senior citizen and looking back to
how things have changed over my own life is just
amazing. Like the old crank up telephones we had
when I was alittle girl , and we shared a community
line and had so many short and so many long rings
for each household.I was eleven before we had electricity
and indoor bath room.Prices were dirt cheap on
everything and a dollar would buy you ten pounds of
sirloin steak lol yes indeed so many changes. I never saw a
t v until I was out of high school and computers
were still something yet to come. I love living
now in an age of communications and I love my computer
to pieces.I have done a lot of genealogy in the pastten years and found that my dad's people came from Ireland and
'my moms branch started out in Scotland.
@dragonfly242 (1060)
• Bahamas
13 May 08
I just love to hear my grammy talk about her life.
My grammy on my mothers side is 82 years old and she can remember things clearly, she tells us about the times when people of her color could not go certain places that our generation take for granted.We have never thought to record these conversations but i think thats a great idea.
I'm always fasinated to hear about life back when, and it's something i'd like to preserve for my kids and their kids.Thanks for such a great idea.
