How to Engage In (and Remember) Family Storytelling at Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to celebrate family coming together and spending quality time together.

Many of us have travelled from home to gather with family or dear friends, prepare and eat turkey and other meal favorites (the only day of the year that I serve green bean casserole!), and be together, watching TV and sharing stories, some of which are certainly embellished for the occasion.

Here are some ideas for how to celebrate, enjoy, and cherish family time, and remember it for later.

Record the sounds of family togetherness

• Sit around the dinner table or in the den together. Record the conversation. Those voices will be precious to hear at some point in the future.

Look at family photos

• After the table is cleared, bring out the old family snapshots and record not only the “who is that?” conversation of the photos, but also the inevitable stories around the time and place the photo was taken. Get other family members to participate in this by asking them to bring some of their favorite images.

Conduct interviews

• Take advantage of the opportunity to interview a family elder about an event in his or her life. If you record it, you’ll preserve those stories, told in his or her own voice, as only he or she could. Make this into an activity by pairing a member of the younger generation with a member of the older generation. Most people have a cellphone with a voice recorder on it, so the young generation can each use their phone to preserve the conversations. Bring the pairs back together by asking the younger members to share something they learned about their older family member.

Use the 20 questions scale

• Researchers developed a scale of twenty questions to determine how well you knew your family. Of course, you could give it like a quiz to everyone at the table, or you could read the questions aloud to inspire conversation. Find the 20 questions here.

Consider participating in the National Day of Listening effort and archive the interview. (Find helpful information on how to conduct an interview and how to share it here.)

Any effort you make will be worth it—I promise. By merely asking and listening, you’re giving thanks.

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!