http://www.alzheimers-illinois.org/enewsletter/december2012/captured_memories.asp
Grandmothers, grandfathers, great aunts and uncles – more often than not these are the people who keep their family’s history. They are the ones who know where they came from and how life has changed for the generations that have followed.
This past is precious, and yet so vulnerable. Alzheimer’s disease can rob people of their identities and their memories. A diagnosis can be devastating, but it can also act as an opportunity for family members to gather and record their past so it can never be lost.
Ray Johnson is the representative for the Association of Professional Genealogists Chicago Area Chapter and has conducted genealogical research for nearly 30 years. In addition to investigating his own family history, Johnson takes on clients and teaches a continuing education class for adults at Lyons Township High School in La Grange.
“I got started early at 18,” said Johnson of Brookfield. “In classes I teach, people are always saying ‘I wish I was interested in this at 16. I wish I had done this when my great grandparents were alive.’”
Indeed, Johnson does recommend that anyone interested in learning about and preserving their personal history start right away by speaking with their oldest family member. This initial step is sometimes met with resistance as people feel their older relatives would rather not “dredge stuff up” but Johnson’s own experiences have shown him that most people enjoy the chance to recall the past.
“My grandmother wasn’t a big talker, but one time, I was speaking to her about her past and she told me she didn’t think our last name was originally Johnson. She remembered being a little girl and someone telling her to never forget her name,” Johnson said. “Her own daughter was like ‘You never told me that.’ She responded, ‘You never asked.’”
Johnson has created a list of open-ended questions to ask family members, but the best interviews just flow naturally.
“It should be a conversation,” said Johnson, adding that it’s up to the individual whether or not they videotape or use an audio recording device during the interview.
Danielle Dodson, a clinical supervisor of Care Navigation, a service offered by the Alzheimer’s Association Greater, Illinois Chapter that provides counseling appointments with a licensed social worker, sees the benefit in chronicling a personal history not just for generations to come, but for a person with memory loss.
“It can be empowering for the person with dementia that, even though they may not be able to talk about or remember things at a later date, they can pass down that personal history now,” Dodson said.
A recording of the person can also help to inform the approach of a care provider once the disease progresses to a state at which a person may require at-home care or relocation to a nursing home.
“Maybe someone was a homemaker, so they can be involved in helping set the table,” Dodson suggested.
In working with people who have Alzheimer’s, Dodson has become familiar with StoryCorps, an independent nonprofit that allows people to share their stories. These stories are then recorded on a free CD to share and preserved at the Library of Congress. For the last six years, the organization’s Memory Loss Initiative has encouraged those with cognitive impairment to talk about their past.
While a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s can present a very real timeline when it comes to recording a personal history, the budding genealogist should not neglect to write down his or her own story, Johnson said. Even seemingly mundane details of everyday life have merit and could be exciting for future generations to uncover.
To delve into a family’s history even further, Johnson suggests looking into the websites ancestry.com and heritagequest.com. Chicago Tribune’s website, chicagotribune.com, is also a wealth of information as archives date back to the mid-1800s, though Johnson is quick to point out that “not everything is on the Internet.” Other sources for information include local libraries and historical societies.
Click here for a full list of historical and genealogical online sources provided by Johnson.
Once files and documents start to accumulate, Johnston suggests installing a computer program, like the one available at legacyfamilytree.com, to keep track of everything.
To get the whole family involved, check out the website generationsbiz.com, which has a series of genealogy books geared toward children.
For more information about Johnson, go to historycop.com.
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