Senior Care Sandy Springs GA – Learning More About Your Family History
Have you ever wanted to learn more about where your family came from and what their lives were like before you were born? National Roots Day on December 23rd, might just be the perfect day to gather the family together with your aging parent to ask questions and discover a bit more about what life was like and what your family was like when your parent was younger. And while you might not be able to physically gather everyone around this year, setting up a zoom meeting or a conference call where grandkids and extended family can join, might make for a wonderful pre-holiday celebration.
Holidays especially can be a great time to host this type of “roots” gathering since many people’s schedules open up with time off of school and work. And with the pandemic shutting down many holiday travel plans, it might also mean more of your family is available to participate.
To begin, have your parent set up to be able to participate in some type of virtual gathering. Your senior care provider or someone else that is already physically assisting your parent in daily life may be able to help set up a laptop or phone, so your parent simply needs to log on (or answer) to participate. If your parent has photo albums available, ask her to bring them to the table where she’ll be online so that she can use them for reference. Also, remind her to have something to drink nearby and a comfortable seat so she can enjoy this family “get-together” for as long as she can. You want this to be an enjoyable time!
For the rest of the family members, ask them to be ready to log on at the start time and talk with your parent. Let them know, this is the time to ask the questions they’ve always wanted to ask. Depending on your family, you may want to set up limits on what topics can be approached or you may want to open it up to whatever each person is curious about. It’s also good to set up some “rules,” such as each person gets to ask one question to start before anyone can ask a second question. It might also be good to remind everyone to be quiet and respectful while the speaker is speaking. Finally, if possible, record the stories your parent is going to share. National Roots day is all about recording your family history, not only for those present but for those to come.
If someone is home with your parent during this gathering, (such as a caregiver like yourself or the senior care provider), another fun option is to have that person pick random photos and ask your parent to describe what she was like at that age, what did she do for fun, what was happening in history and how did it affect her and her family. Answers can be recorded on the back of the photo or in a journal that will be shared with everyone at a later date. Family members can then come up with follow up questions based on the stories your senior is sharing with them.
Spend this National Roots Day celebrating your family history the ones who came before you!
Resource: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-roots-day-december-23/