Month: March 2010

The Basic Family Narrative

You and I meet for two hours to gather a small family tree, gather and scan pictures and capture vignettes about the family members.

After our meeting, I create your individual secure family website, and then load and edit the information we gathered.

In our next meeting, You review the website, it’s tree, pictures and narratives and give your corrections and approval. After any final updates, you can give your unique password to family members so that they may view and comment.

All content is posted on your secure website so that your family, where ever they live, can access the narratives when they are ready.

Fee: one time $500, annual maintenance $50.

Future updates and additions follow the same pattern so that the website can be updated quickly when you are ready.

At Last…The Beginning

In 1996, my son asked me about his father’s family, about which, he had little historical information.

As a result of that question, I began to gather and compile a family tree. That tree grew to include all of his ancestors. Eventually I realized the value of linking pictures to the individuals on the trees for add interest.

Still, though, I found that the trees did not come to life and capture the interest for a person embroiled in the throes of a busy life.

As a result, I began to gather and sort through the stories I could gather about individuals and in 1999 I began linking those stories to the trees. What I have found is that vignettes attached to the pictures and trees provide just the right amount of interest to allow an individual to come to life in the eyes of a descendant.

The significance of knowing that real people cared and struggled and worked to make our lives possible, however successful or flawed we might find them, anchors us to and engages us in life.

In 2007, following ten years of development, I launched 1family.info to provide a secure and private place for families to gather and post Family Narratives for themselves and their families.

This forum provides an opportunity for individuals to share that information and for it to be available ‘on demand’.

Enjoy these pages. Contribute to them. Contact me to start a family page…