13 Ways to Share Your Family Love Story

  1. Create a photo book about marriage in your family. Collect and share the stories behind how couples met, why they married, why some married in the church, and how they love each other today.
  2. Pray with photos of family members. Picture Jesus with one of your loved ones. Watch for signs of God’s love. Thank God for one thing about this person. Then pray with a photo of an important couple in your family. Ask yourself how God has been present to each one and to them as a couple. Thank God for their relationship.
  3. Review your spiritual diary or start one. Choose a few entries to share in a Christmas or birthday letter, or on the anniversary of a loved one’s death. Choose entries about a family marriage to include in an anniversary or Valentine greeting.
  4. All generations share a love of story. It is only the preferred format for stories that differs. Ask a grandchild, niece or nephew to help you record the stories behind your oldest photos; either in audio, video, written, or in a photo tribute format. If you are a young adult, share old photos with distant relatives online.
  5. Use a voice recorder to interview older family members. Be sure to ask silly, serious and spiritual questions about family life. Transcribe what they share, or use audio files (with permission) during a family reunion.
  6. Gather mini-bios of several loved ones into a booklet. Share the highlights of their lives and also what inspires you about your parents, grandparents, great grandparents. Include both what you admire about them as individuals and as couples or families.
  7. Design a booklet about your family’s (former) parish, including as many generations as possible. Share what was it like to worship there? What meaningful memories do you have of Masses, Weddings, Christmas morning, Easter celebrations, or parish gatherings and neighborhood friendships?
  8. LABEL old family photos with a friend or family member. Keep a diary of what it is like for you to look at the photos. Scan the most important ones to give as holiday gifts. Print the most important digital photos too.
  9. Try a “Dads Used to Be Kids” or a “Moms Used to Be Girls” book for a grandchild, with childhood photos of a grown child. Include what you liked about this child. Share an experience of God’s love for him or her.
  10. Gather a group of friends for a workshop on creating a family spiritual history. Ask a personal historian (like Therese) to help you create a plan for your group.
  11. Compile a family cookbook with traditional recipes & a few “spiritual” recipes, like one for forgiveness, one for falling in love, and another for marriage.
  12. Combine an obituary and a brief biography for deceased family members on www.findagrave.com or write a prayerful eulogy. (Enter the name “Lillian R. Howard” to see a sample at findagrave.com).
  13. Create a timeline of important moments in your life, your parents and grandparents’ lives. Share family responses to important events like World War II, Viet Nam or 9/11. Share how these events changed your family’s outlook, their marriages and the meaning of everyday life. Share how God helped you cope.