You know how during family get-togethers your mom and dad and grandparents and aunts and uncles all start talking and laughing and sharing stories of the “olden days”? The next time that happens, stick around for a while. Not only will you learn important family history, but you will find out a lot about your family members and very possibly will be entertained AND have stories to pass on to your family.

If my kids didn’t listen to our stories, they would have missed out on the story of how they challenged their grandfather to a slingshot contest and he beat the pants off them (I’m sure they remember the event, but not from the adult perspective), they would have missed out on all the stories of our family camping trips, they would have forgotten how Grandpa S. used to draw cows with triangle heads. Indeed, we wouldn’t have the stockpile of our family quotes if we hadn’t listened to the stories (and just where would we be without “Cast you want, cast you’re gonna get”?). There is just so much history in stories.

Listening to family stories can also give them hope that they are in charge of their own situations and those situations can change, if you want it bad enough and work hard enough, just like your great-grandma did.

Sharing events leads to some of the greatest family stories ever. We have in the past rented a couple of cabins on a lake and gone with siblings, kids, grandkids, parents, whoever wanted to go, and spent a few days with no TV or cell phone reception (and some of this was long before computers) and spent some truly quality time playing games, reading, and learning about each other. We not only have some of my favorite photographs of all time, but we have great stories. And we have grandchildren who keep asking if we are going to do it again, so I really need to make time to do that.

I didn’t spend nearly enough time listening to my grandparents, and I regret that now. I should have had conversations just with them about their life. Now, I should sit down with my mom and dad and their photo albums and listen to their versions of the stories about their parents’ lives and their lives as young people. For one thing, it makes you appreciate the life you have now and, for another, it gives you YOUR history. Not the history you get graded on, but the history that really matters to YOU. It is what makes you who you are.

So the next time you hear your grandpa say “You know, back in my day . . .” pull up a chair and listen, ask questions, and be interested. You might be surprised what doors that will open for you.