July 22, 2007 8:19 pm
It's nice to find a
kindred spirit. I
have for the last 4
years been working
with professionals
in the elder care
and health care
industry to convince
them of the benefits
accorded to their
clients / patients
by engaging in an
activity that allows
them to tell their
stories and have
them preserved. In
the last 18 months I
have provided
StoryKeeper training
to over 1000 Hospice
volunteers in over
200 hospices around
the country. Their
volunteers following
the training and
guide book interview
their patients on
audio tape
preserving not only
the stories, the
lore and their
experiences, but
their voice as well.
I have found that
not only are you
able to preserve the
stories, which can
be transcribed
later, but there is
a tremendous
emotional and
spiritual benefit
derived from the
process.
Recently I have
convinced a national
home care franchise
agency, Visiting
Angels, to
incorporate this
process and service
to their repertoire.
We now have more
than 60 Storykeepers
in 28 states
providing this
service to their
clients. Visiting
Angels has also
volunteered along
with my own efforts
to help build the
archive at the
Veteran's History
Project. To do this
we are actively
going out into all
our communities and
locating veterans of
WWII and encouraging
them to add their
voices and their
experience to the
national archive in
the Library of
Congress. We just
last week turned
over the first batch
of interviews.
Ironically, one of
those interviews was
that of an air force
veteran, shot down
over Hungary and
rescued by the
resistance and
ultimately, safely
returned to England.
He was tremendously
honored to be able
to tell his story
and to have it in
the archive. The day
we turned over his
testimony, he was
being buried with a
full Air Force color
guard. There are
thousands more just
like him, anxious to
share their
experiences, to have
them preserved that
others may one day
still hear and
understand, there
are just not nearly
enough people asking
the questions, and
more improtantly,
listening to the
stories. Current we
are losing this
noble group of both
men and women at a
rate greater than
1500 per week. I
hope to have more
than 300
storykeepers trained
and in the field,
capturing the
stories, saving them
for the families and
for generations to
come. But no matter
what I do or how
fast we work, there
just are not enough
doing it. It is not
that there are not
other ways to
preserve a legacy.
Many website and
books on the subject
exist. Many as you
have noted charge
for the process that
could be done for
free. In the
argument whether to
do it for free or to
charge a fee, at
times even a very
high fee for some
professional
biographers, the
point that is being
missed is that far
too many do nothing
at all. StoryKeepers
function as the
catalyst, the
facilitator, the
town crier making
the public aware, in
short, they see that
it gets done.
It is my hope and
dream that I can get
thousands of people
engaged in this
incredibly rewarding
activity, wheter
through their work,
their volunteering,
their church groups,
or even through a
home based business.
With over 50 million
members of the
'silent generation'
we will never have
enough storykeepers,
because everyone has
a story to tell, a
story they need and
want to tell, there
are just not enough
asking,,, and
listening. Please
take a look at my
web sites and blog.
I would love your
opinion and
suggestions. www.
americanstorykeepers
. com or the
Elder care
professional site www.
capturinglifestories
. com
By the way, this may
be of interest too.
I have just launched
a new social network
dedicated to
writers, readers and
Families. I am
creating there a
platform for
families to build
their own family
archive online, to
upload photos,
stories, family data
and family events,
to share and
collaborate in the
recording of family
history regardless
of their location.
We are building to
enable those sites
to host video and
audio files as well
and keep them as
open or restircted
as they like, for
free. Mind you I
have only launched
the site 2 months
ago so I do have a
way to go to
complete the vision.
Being that the site
is also for readers,
content like that
which you so
marvelously provide
would be greatly
appreciated by our
members. Please
check it out also.
www.
youcouldwrite.
com
Thanks,
Dennis
