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April 19th, 2010
Autumn is such a glorious season in south western Australia, with warm sunny days and crisp evenings. Gardens everywhere put on a magnificent display of roses and the golden, russet and crimson blaze of colour in the European trees planted by our early settlers. April, the middle month of autumn, also has our national day of remembrance.
In Australia and New Zealand, Anzac Day, 25th April 2010, is the 95th anniversary of the landing of troops from both countries on the beaches of Gallipoli, Turkey. Many families have fare-welled brave young men and women to face foreign enemies in wars and arenas of conflict world wide and have collected various items of associated memorabilia.
My grandfather, J.B.Spells was a mounted trooper in ‘A’ Squadron of the Third Light Horse Regiment and sailed from Adelaide, South Australia on the s.s.”Pt Lincoln” on 21st November, 1914 and they disembarked in Cairo, Egypt for manoeuvres before moving on to Gallipoli.
One of my most treasured war-time memorabilia items from WWI is a concert program, printed on ‘jap’ silk. The concert was a fundraiser for the St John of Jerusalem Fund for sick and injured soldiers and was held on Wednesday 3rd February 1915 under the patronage of His Highness, the Sultan.
 Pre Gallipoli Concert - 3 Feb 1915 Grandpa Spells attended the concert and kept the program until he died. I found it amongst some old papers of his and had it mounted and framed, with all of the relevant details printed on to the reverse side. All of the remaining photographs, letters and other war-time souvenirs from WWI are now safely stored in acid proof envelopes and stored in an archival quality box to pass on to my grandchildren as a heritage legacy.
Anzac Day2010 provides an opportunity to involve many family members to interview the senior family members about their memories of those days, to gather, collate and preserve possibly fragile articles and memorabilia for future family generations.
To help you and your family with this project, I have put together a DIY ANZAC Day Kit which you can download here.
You could also show your support for our troops who are serving overseas at present. To text a message on Anzac Day dial:- 044Support (0447 877 678) or type your message at www.telstra.com/ideasforgood from 6am onwards.
What war-time mementos do you have? Did any of your close family serve overseas? Do you have some letters they wrote? Was he/she awarded any medals and do you know what they were for?
“Lest we forget. Their name liveth forever more.”
Rudyard Kipling
Tags: Anzac Day, DIY Kit, easy steps, heritage, heroes, legacy, mementos, memorabilia, veterans, war-time
Posted in Annie's Heart to Heart | 4 Comments »
April 19th, 2010
“Motherhood has a very humanising effect.
Everything gets reduced to sleep.”
Meryl Streep
Do you resist the commercialism of Mother’s Day? Does Mum really want a new electrical appliance or a hugely expensive meal, or would she prefer a sleep in? Would you prefer to give Mum a personal gift, the effects of which will resonate with your children’s children?
This year, why not give Mum a unique gift which will be treasured both now and in the future? Make a Memory Jar for her this year. The Memory Jar is a ‘more dash than cash’ concept in that the cost is very moderate but it has that ‘Wow’ impact.
This easy idea is: a) suitable for either children or adults, b) can be become an annual event, c) suits Mums of any age.
The steps are simple:
1. Select a suitable jar with a lid (it can be a simple jam jar or a ‘treasure’ found at the op shop). Make sure that the jar is clean and dry and that the lid fits.
2. Using a sheet of pretty writing paper, number down the left hand side of the page and either write or type your list of questions you’d like Mum to answer. Some examples could be:
Who was your first boyfriend?
What was your favourite TV show?
What did you think about Dad the first time you saw him?
What world event made the biggest impact on you?
Who was your childhood hero?
3. Carefully cut between each question, to collect a pile of narrow paper strips. You can now fold each question and pop it into the jar. I like to stick each question to a teabag or a wrapped sweet, which gives Mum more incentive to sit down as she reads your question.
4. Here’s a little poem you might like to decorate the jar with:
Preserve your memories – seal them up well.
What you forget, you can never retell.
But a journal that’s kept fresh on the shelf
Will help someone through rough times…Maybe even yourself.
5. Buy a small notebook and instruct Mum, each time she stops for morning tea, if she’d select a question, and answer it. Instruct her to stick the question to the top of each page and to write her answers below in the notebook.
6. Wrap the jar and notebook together and give your personal gift to Mum on Mother’s Day. At a later stage, you could type all of Mum’s Memory Jar answers on to acid proof paper to preserve them.
This simple idea could be used by all members within a family (I’d suggest each person uses a different coloured paper) and can be used year after year.
Another great idea for Mother’s Day to join her on the Mother’s Day Classic to raise vital funds for the prevention and cure for Breast Cancer. Register online at www.mothersdayclassic.org
Tags: family, great for kids, low cost, Memory Jar, Mother's Day, simple steps
Posted in Aunt Ruby Remembers | 3 Comments »
April 2nd, 2010
Jack and I were having coffee in a local cafe and I glanced over to the table next to us. Four teenage girls were seated, drinking Cokes and talking on their mobile phones to other people, and I cast my mind back to when I was their age. No mobile phones in those days.
In my childhood home, in Brisbane, there was a phone on the wall, in the hallway. It was made of shiny black Bakelite with the listening part up one end of the receiver and the part we spoke into at the other end. For some reason, I observed that everyone who spoke on the telephone raised their voices and shouted down the receiver and I gained the impression that the person receiving the call was deaf.
 Old Fashioned Phone When we moved to Adelaide, we didn’t have a phone of our own. Mum made all of her calls at work or we could walk down to the corner to use the public telephone. The scarlet phone boxes needed a combination of coins, which had to be inserted before you made your call and pressed button A. If your call was not answered, you pushed button B and your coins were refunded, and tumbled down a metallic chute.
At Grandma’s rural property, her phone was connected to a party line, and calls had to be made through the telephonist at the local phone exchange. Two sisters ran the exchange and both loved nothing more than to ‘listen in’ to people’s phone calls. Gran became tired of Mavis and Melba’s eavesdropping and gossip mongering and always commenced her phone call with a sharp blow into a shiny Boy Scout whistle which hung by the phone on an old piece of string.
The ‘Two M’s” as the telephonists were nicknamed soon learned not to listen in on Gran’s phone calls and also seemed able to get her a line very promptly. Gran acknowledged this improved service by a box of home-made shortbread and a bottle of sweet sherry every Christmas.
What memories do you have about telephones? Did you carry the correct coins for a public phone box emergency call? What news do you remember receiving by phone? Do you remember your old phone number? I’d love to hear some of your telephone stories.
Tags: 'party' lines, communication, conversations, mobile phones, telephones
Posted in Aunt Ruby Remembers | No Comments »
March 15th, 2010
Have you reached the end of your written manuscript and are unsure of the next steps? Here are some suggestions to think about before you start the editing process.
- First, a list of some vital inclusions to add breadth and depth to your manuscript:Have you considered adding a genealogy chart (or family tree) of the family generations mentioned in your story? While all of the persons mentioned are very clear in your head, sometimes readers can become confused about whether great, great aunt Matilda was related on the maternal or paternal side of the family. You don’t need to go back more than three or four generations and there are many blank charts available via the Internet these days to make the task both clear and simple.
- Photos and digitised memorabilia will also enhance your story. These need to be scanned and added to your manuscript at the relevant page/s and could include birth, marriage or death certificates, drawings or sketches, wills, newspaper articles, diary pages and letters. Think about whether to include some then (if you have them) and now photos of the family home or business.
- Some writers like to add a small list of specifics about each person, perhaps at the end of a chapter about each person such as Grandma Wallace (list might include – mother of 11 children, breeder of Poll Hereford beef cattle, learned to drive a car when she was 14 years old, was an expert horsewoman and rode until she was 86 years old, was known to have a ‘light touch’ as a cook and famous for her sponge cakes and scones etc). These items could be added, in a box type format along with such things as favourite song, recipe, prayer, exclamation, perfume, colour etc.
Once you feel that your manuscript is completed, give it to a trusted friend and ask them to read it with a critical eye. Accept the suggestions made by your friend before having your story professionally edited.
Tags: editing, family tree, genealogy, photos
Posted in Annie's Heart to Heart | 2 Comments »
March 15th, 2010
Before you commit yourself to writing your personal or family stories, try reading the autobiographies of some well known people. Keep a small notebook handy to jot down any ideas or phrases that ring a bell in your mind. Here are some of my suggestions.
Reading Suggestions:-
Angelou, Maya. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Bantam, 1993
Carter, Jimmy. An Hour Before Daylight. Simon & Schuster, 2001
Conway, Jill. The Road from Corain. Vintage, 1989
Didion, Joan. The Year of Magical Thinking. Harper Collins, 2006
Facey, Albert. A Fortunate Life. Penguin Book, 1981
Hill, David. The Forgotten Children. Random Hill, 2007
James, PD. A Time To Be In Ernest: A Fragment of Autobiography. Knopf, 1999
McCourt, Frank. Angela’s Ashes. Scribner, 1996
Taylor, Roberta. Too Many Mothers. Atlantic Books, 2002
Reading the autobiographies of other writers should not be a passive activity – try keeping a notebook handy, if you can’t bear the idea of scribbling notes in the margins as you read.
Writers are endlessly eager to learn more about writing. They think, talk, and read about writing because, to them, it’s the most fascinating topic in the world. The endless struggle to coax everyday words to convey their experience of being, keeps them occupied all day, every day.
Writing, to be effective, needs to be done daily, as you have done during the March Memories Marathon. Most writers have a strict writing discipline to write for a minimum of 4 hours daily. As you start to write your life story, try to develop a pattern which includes writing daily.
I hope that by the time you reach this page you have discovered the fun and pleasure associated with writing about either your own or your family’s memories and stories and preserving them for future generations. You should have 31 short stories on which to base a more ‘in depth’ manuscript.
Your story will remain a ‘top seller’ within your family as it resonates with them, because they know and love each of the characters! This is the greatest legacy you can leave your children and grandchildren, and you did it by yourself. Go on, congratulate yourself.
Tags: autobiographies, family stories, notes, reading, writing ideas
Posted in Annie's Heart to Heart | 4 Comments »
March 9th, 2010
We are into the second week of the March Memories Marathon and, judging from the feedback, all participants are having fun getting started with their own stories. The daily tips and experiences make it easy.
Tags: easy, feedback, fun, getting started, memories
Posted in Annie's Heart to Heart | 1 Comment »
March 3rd, 2010
I was flicking through a women’s magazine in my dentist’s waiting room the other day and the editor had asked this question to a group of celebrities and it got me thinking about the things I couldn’t live without.
Unlike most of the celebrities, whose ideas sounded rather outlandish to me (an endless supply of chocolate, very popular with celebrities, made me smile a bit) my needs are somewhat simpler and more realistic, given that desert islands don’t have electricity, let alone broadband internet.
- My husband, Jack, is my first selection as I’m sure that between the two of us, we’d make the best of the situation. We’ve weathered quite a few storms together over the years and have complementary skills, which means that we’d soon have a hut in which to live plus a huge beacon fire pile to signal for help. Our ability to laugh with each other would also be essential.
- A box of matches or some other way of creating a fire, which means that we could cook food, keep warm and alert passing ships or aircraft of our situation.
- A supply of pencils and paper for us to write down our memories of life before arriving on the desert island and to record our daily life while living on the island. I know that our family would treasure such a written legacy. This exercise would also keep us sane as we remembered different aspects of our lives.
- A sharp knife would have many uses – scaling and gutting fish, opening shellfish found on the rocks, cutting palm leaves to thatch a roof on our shelter to name but a few.
- Some books to read. I can’t imagine life without reading and would be bereft without at least one book. If limited to just one book between us, which one would we choose? At a guess, I’d say “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen, which seems as fresh today as it did when it was written. The characters still retain their charm, despite many readings, and I love the double wedding at the end!
Posted in Aunt Ruby Remembers | 2 Comments »
February 16th, 2010
Have you been watching the Winter Olympics in Vancouver?
Australia has some superbly trained athletes who have had to make a daily commitment to train for sports which are not common in our country. Little by little, week by week, they trained to reach their Olympic dream.
Inspired by these athletes I am offering a free family history course to help you start collecting your family stories and save them for the future. The March Memories Marathon gives you an idea a day for the whole month – 31 ideas and hints to inspire and encourage you.
Taking less than 30 minutes a day, you can focus on your own family and their life stories. Family stories -everyone has them. They tell where you come from. They hold the secrets to who you are. They are how your family came to be the family it is today.
Have you wanted to save some of your family’s special stories for the future but just haven’t got around to it? Now is your chance to do something about it.
Register for the March Memories Marathon and learn from the comfort of your own computer – it’s free, it’s fun and it’s rewarding.
How does it work?
Each day during March, you will be emailed a daily tip/idea on collecting and/or writing family stories along with a brief (15/20 minute) skill session related to the tip.
By the end of March, you will have thirty one family history tips, plus a collection of personal and family stories which will have got you well on your way to saving your stories for future family generations.
Register by clicking on the link below to send me a quick email. If you have any special questions then I’ll be pleased to help where I can.
Contact Annie here and don’t forget to leave your name, email and your address.
Look for the first email to arrive on Monday 1st March.
Posted in Annie's Heart to Heart | 2 Comments »
February 4th, 2010
During the past 6 months I have had several hospital admissions, which made me cast my mind back to hospitals from the past 50 years or so. Healthcare has changed dramatically over my lifetime and these are some of my observations.
 Aunt Ruby as a trainee nurse Hospital food had a dreadful reputation and many patients refused to eat the meals which were overcooked, watery and often congealed on the plate. Today’s patients are given a menu list of selections to suit all tastes and heath requirements and can even order a glass of wine or beer.
Syringes were made of glass, and both the syringe and the needles were cleaned, sharpened and autoclaved for sterility by nurses. Today’s syringes are made of plastic and both the syringe and the needles are made to be used once and then thrown out. There are even special syringes for taking blood that contain a vacuum, which greatly assists in this procedure.
Bedpans were made of stainless steel, flushed after patient use and then placed in a machine which hygienically washed out the pan and steamed it, ready to be placed on the pan rack for the next patient. Today’s bed pans are made of papier mache and are designed for one use before being thrown out.
Dressing trays were made of stainless steel, draped with sterile cotton drapes and set with steel gallipots, kidney dishes and instruments such as forceps, scalpel handles and scissors. Today’s dressing trays are made of plastic, with paper drapes and plastic instruments and are designed to be used once and then thrown out.
Hospital beds were made out of cast iron, with a back rest which was pulled out and then screwed into place by the nurse. To elevate the head or foot of the bed involved propping the bed legs on a wooden block and the beds were high to prevent backache for the nursing staff. Today’s electronic beds contain 3 segments which can individually move up or down at the press of a button, and lowered to suit each patient’s needs.
Have you ever been in hospital? How old were you and what do you remember about your hospital stay?
Perhaps you were a nurse and have some wonderful stories of your nursing days – I know I have and my family are urging me to write down these stories of a different era in medical care, which they now find difficult to imagine.
When you are writing your stories, don’t forget to add how you received any surgical scars – perhaps you fell out of a tree or maybe you had a sporting injury or war wound? Behind every scar lies a story!
I have shared some of my ‘then and now’ hospital observations with you and I’d love to hear about your hospital experiences.
Posted in Aunt Ruby Remembers | 3 Comments »
February 4th, 2010
“LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED”
Paul McCartney summed up Valentine’s Day with the lyrics of his song “Love is All You Need”. The universal day of lovers need not be an expensive, commercial time but rather one of expressing your love for those people you love and cherish.
Why not write each other a love letter? A letter is a precious thing, a first-hand account of another person’s innermost thoughts at a given moment of time; a tangible record of direct, open communication between the writer and the reader.
A letter travels some distance from the author to the recipient, the envelope plastered with stamps, perhaps franked with the names of faraway places. Your letter is able to pass through time zones, across borders, sometimes via air or sea……..travelling from distant places you have only heard about! Words travel well, tucked safely inside their snug envelope, and often the receiver will take a few moments to sit down in a quiet place, perhaps with a cup of tea, before slitting open the envelope to read the precious contents.
Do you have a sense of excitement and anticipation when you hold the envelope in your hand? Does it contain good, much anticipated news, or maybe bad, or sad, news? Perhaps you sniff the envelope to gain a quick scent of the origin of the writer, or maybe the envelope has a lipstick-stained kiss on it or the initials S.W.A.L.K. (Sealed with a loving kiss)
Writers of love letters carefully select the words used in a handwritten letter as they seem to carry more weight that an impersonal typed letter. Reading words that have been scratched into the page or perhaps blurred when tears made the ink run really has a different kind of emotional impact on the reader. Consider also, the difference between letters handwritten with a fountain pen (perhaps in violet or sepia ink) to those printed via a computer printer.
One of the greatest writers of love letters was the late US President, Ronald Reagan, who was prolific in declaring his love for his wife, Nancy. Printed below is a letter her wrote to her while he was in office.
Aboard Air Force One
4th March 1983
Dear First Lady,
I know tradition has it that on this day I place cards, Happy Anniversary cards, on your breakfast tray. But things are somewhat mixed up. I substituted a gift and delivered it a few weeks ago.
Still this is the day, the day that marks 31 years of such happiness as comes to few men. I told you once that it was like an adolescent’s dream of what marriage should be like. That hasn’t changed.
You know I love the ranch but these two days made it plain I only love it when you are there. Come to think of it, that’s true of every place and every time. When you aren’t there, I’m no place; just lost in space and time.
I more than love you. I’m not whole without you. You are life itself to me. When you are gone, I’m waiting for you to return so I can start living again.
Happy Anniversary and thank you for 31 wonderful years. I love you.
Your grateful husband, Ronnie
After the late President’s death, Mrs Reagan collected all of the shopping bags (she’d stored Ronnie’s letters in these) which she had printed into a book, “I Love You, Ronnie”, with the proceeds of sale to be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association of America.
Are your letters gathered together in different sized bundles and tied together with various coloured ribbons? Many families do not realise what a treasure trove is tucked away in assorted shoe and glove boxes. They should ensure that each letter is protected by being placed in a special (Mylar) sheet and stored in archival boxes – it is part of your family heritage.
Have you considered writing a love story for your lover, with the two of you as the leading characters? Print it off on some special paper and tie it with a red ribbon. Perhaps it could be the story of how you both met and fell in love – amazingly you will both have different recollections of this event! Imagine how delighted your grandchildren will be to discover how strong the bond of love was when you were younger, as they see you with grey hair and glasses!
Scanning your love letters and posting them into your family vault in the Treasury of Heritage is an ideal way to store your love letters, photos, memorabilia (such as heart shaped Valentine’s cards) and any other family love tokens you have discovered. Make a start by sorting through your letters and saving them as a part of your family heritage in your personal Treasury of Heritage vault. Your family will be enthralled to read of their parents or grandparents love for each other in years to come.
“Love is a promise, Love is a souvenir,
Once given, never forgotten, Never let it disappear”
John Lennon, singer/songwriter.
Posted in Annie's Heart to Heart | 14 Comments »
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