Books make the most excellent gifts, don’t they? Receiving a book is always special to me and there is never a shortage of options when finding and sharing the perfect read that you believe someone else will appreciate as well.
This time of year, having several books at the ready that are written with a Christmas theme is a must for me. The choices are endless.
Recently, ads promoting a unique gift idea popped up on my social media. It works this way: the vendor will send the recipient a weekly question for fifty-two weeks. The recipient answers the questions and returns them to the vendor. At the end of a year, the stories and information provided are bound into a keepsake book for the recipient.
Anyone could adapt this idea to create a book that will retain and share family histories. Sample questions and inspiring prompts are readily available to help get started.
This got me thinking about the ways we encourage each other to document our lives. Diaries, journals and scrapbooks to capture the every-day and the extraordinary. Memory books for parents to document the wonder of welcoming new babies to the family. Preparing time capsules to re-discover in the future.
I was given a Letters to My Grandchild kit to Write Now, Read Later, Treasure Forever. We can also gift personal letters and stories to friends and family.
Christmas is the perfect time to remind loved ones of favourite memories, family traditions or just how important the individual is to us. Birthdays provide great opportunities as well. Enhance your tales and anecdotes with pencil drawings, graphics or photos and you will have created some cherished mementos.
Engaging young folks in similar ideas may encourage their creativity and start them on the path to a life-long practice of writing or becoming the family historian.
Part of my Christmas gift to an adult niece this year is a three-page story of The Big Day. The two of us had an especially fun adventure when she was about five years old. We were caught in a rain storm, rescuing turtles. At the time I thought it could be a children’s book so a friend created some small watercolour paintings to use with the story. It is not a book but I know she will smile at the memory and the painting of the two of us and our dog driving on the road in an old pick up truck.
May we all find ways to keep storytelling alive with family and friends.
I hope you have a few great books to crack open and that you find lots of time for reading over the holiday. My plans for the coming couple of weeks include curling up with a blanket and books in front of the fire in the evenings and watching the snow fall outside during the day.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good write.
Your niece will love the 3 page story of her and the paintings – what a lovely idea! A friend of mine told me that in their family, they do “bottles and books” for Christmas presents ie. a bottle of a favourite drink and book to read.
Happy New Year to you and Kim, Seana.
Thanks very much for your comment. I just found it today as I was catching up on reading the blogs. I love the idea of ‘bottles and books’ and when folks are thoughtful about gifting. A friend’s very large family set the practice many years ago that gifts had to be wearable or edible.
Hope you had a fun break at Christmas and that being snow-stayed for a few days wasn’t a hardship. I really loved hunkering down and watching the storm from indoors.
Take care.
Bernice