Hey there friends!

What memories do you want to curate for your family about your time in a particular place?

It’s not unusual for me to say to a friend or family member “Remember when....?” or “Do you remember that time…?” But this week, I’ve found myself saying that quite a few times.

And each time, that question has been because we were talking about shared experiences in a place. Not the place we are currently living in, but one that we shared in the past.

I’ve realized this week the power of place when it comes to curating memories.

What memories do you want to curate for your family about your time in a particular town where you or a family memory lived or somewhere you visited often?

On Wednesday, I drove my daughter to Missouri for her quarterly check up with a retina specialist. I’m her necessary “driver” because her eyes are dilated for the exam. She would never be able to drive the 2.5 hours back home to NW Arkansas on her own.

As we often do on these trips when it’s a pretty day, we forgo driving home on the interstate and instead take the backroads through southwest Missouri. This includes a drive-by in front of her grandmother Brinkman’s 2-story farmhouse just south of Springfield.

Of course, someone else has owned the house since she passed away in late 2021. But, man oh man, just seeing that house and the surrounding farmland opens up a flood of memories in both of us.

When we visited back in 1980s to early 2000s, my former husband’s siblings and their kids also hung out there a lot and the house was packed with people. For that reason, my kids and I have lots of memories of the area surrounding the house, too.

We went on long walks down the country road and hiked through the pastures. It was so much fun to drive through there again this week and see how the landscape has changed as well as stayed the same.

Read on below about the power of place in triggering family memories.

Happy almost weekend,

BEHIND THE SCENES THIS WEEK​
​Curating family stories connected to the places we’ve experienced

I’ve talked with you before about adding your memories of the homes where you’ve lived to a digital archive or a digital or print memory book.

But beyond the houses or apartments where you lived, there are memories connected to the places you lived or visited as well.

I grew up in a pretty small town. Once I was independently mobile on my new bicycle at 9 years old, I did quite a bit of exploring - not only my neighborhood, but also the downtown area one day. 😳

Even though I’ve always been a committed rule-follower, a friend (whose identity I can’t recall now) somehow convinced me that our parents wouldn’t mind a bit if we rode our bikes the mile or so it would take us to get into the downtown area. And we were also sure for some reason that we didn’t need to ask permission (our biggest blunder).

Once we made it downtown, I thought it would be fun to ride through the alley behind the drugstore where my dad worked. I was pretty confident he wouldn’t come out the back door because he would be busy filling prescriptions.

Sure enough, we made it safely through there. But what I hadn’t counted on was some man who recognized me and told me dad that he saw me riding my bike downtown that day.

Needless to say, I got in big trouble. And now that’s become a wonderful memory I want my grandsons to know about me! I was adventurous, but I also made a bad decision and got in trouble for it.

Take some time this week to reflect on the places you’ve visited and lived and the people you shared them with. What memories do you want to preserve for your family?

INTENTIONAL HOME - Decluttering & Curating Memories
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RESOURCES & SUPPORT

​My choice for a NOK box​

​Affordable thumb drives​

​theNOKbox.com​

​Help for using phone notes apps​

FREE DOWNLOADS

• ​Download Free Scanned Photo Log Spreadsheet (available in both Google Sheet and Excel)
• ​Download Free Ebook - “The Big 5: Family Stories You Need To Preserve For Future Generations”
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