In the coming days before Christmas and throughout the festive period, it is an occasion for spending time with loved ones for many people.
The traditions of the Christmas festivities is a timely opportunity, with friends and family of varying ages present, to dig deeper into your family tree and preserve first hand memories of elderly family members.
The thrill of unearthing family memories, history and lineages, known as Genealogy, has become a popular hobby since digital archives became accessible in recent years, especially since the 1921 census was made available to the public for the first time last year, showing details of day to day life for the 38 million people after World War l ended and World War II began.
Fact finding through family documents, public records, local libraries, genealogy websites and archives, can include detail on birth and death dates, birth and death places, marriage certificates, ethnic background, education and occupation. Alongside this research, a good starting point in the hunt to learn more about your family begins with conversations at home.
Talking to family members can help provide colour to your research and speaking to multiple relatives helps confirm family stories, often helping to fill in the blanks without pressing a sole individual.
Questions to learn more about your ancestors starts in conversations with relatives and asking simple questions such as, where have they lived throughout their life? Favourite childhood memories? Occupations held throughout their life? And what are their memories of other people?
Recalling memories, reminiscing about past experiences and talking through sentimental moments can have many positive effects on an elderly person. It can improve psychological wellbeing through increasing conversation with others, reducing boredom and stress and increasing their sense of connection and self-esteem. This mental stimulation from memory recall has been founded to help postpone the decline in thinking skills and the onset of symptoms in people with dementia.
Elderly people may need some encouragement sharing their stories and can be prompted by looking through old photographs, playing memorable music, using objects to reminisce and reliving holiday traditions. However, elderly people and in particular people with dementia, tend to actually have fewer barriers when remembering memories from long ago!
The historical importance of preserving the memories and lives of elderly people in our community is becoming more pressing as the years pass, as highlighted by many in this years’ remembrance services. A 16 year old at the start of WWII in 1939 is now 99 years of age and the living history and testimonials that these people hold is of significant importance - no one can tell their stories better.
