From e-book: Preserve Your Family History (A Step-by-Step Guide for Writing Oral Histories) (66 pages; April 2004; $7.95) available at — http://www.booklocker.com/books/1545.html To see table of contents and several sets of sample questions visit — http://www.ruralroute2.com/family_history.html

© LeAnn R. Ralph 2004

Although phrase, "everybody has a story to tell" may sound like a cliche, it's true.

And after working as a newspaper reporter for nine years, I know that everyone does, indeed, have a story to tell, including your family members.

Think about it.

Do your grandmother and grandfather — mother and father — aunts and uncles — tell stories about "good old days?"

Do they talk about going to school? The fun they had with friends? Family celebrations and holidays? Picnics on Fourth of July? Snow that was so deep it covered fences? Pets that were so smart they belonged in Guinness Book of World Records? Making ice cream? Their parents? Their grandparents?

Have you wanted to write down those stories to share them with other family members and to preserve them for generations to come but don't how to go about it?

Guess what? You don't need "literary talent," special training or special equipment. All you need to preserve those stories is a list of people to interview, a willingness to listen, a set of questions to ask, a tape recorder and a computer (or even a typewriter would work!).

Here are steps for gathering and writing your family stories:

My Children The Chefs By Alyice Edrich