Gutsy Grandma? Stories to Make Kids Roll Their Eyes (But They'll Remember)

Preserving Family Stories: From the Distant Past to the Not-So-Distant

Some family stories are passed down through generations like treasured heirlooms.

Others are more recent, rooted in memories that still feel fresh. But if we record these stories properly, they’ll be preserved for the future, and who knows. They may become treasured heirlooms as well.

Grace Sophia McGuffin Olson, est. 1910, with her granddaughter and 2nd great granddaughter. Photos manipulated with tools at Canva.com. Modern likenesses used with permission.

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This is something I’ve been thinking about while working on a special project for my granddaughter’s 21st birthday. I decided to create a card that connects three generations of women in our family—my grandmother Grace, my granddaughter, and me—when we were all in our early 20s. The card itself is special, but the stories tied to it are what make it truly meaningful.

I captured these stories on video, which felt like the best way to bring them to life. But now I’m thinking ahead. How will this video live on in our family library? Will it be stored on a hard drive? Online somewhere? I’m still figuring that part out. I’ll probably make a written version to ensure the stories don’t fade, and I’m not sure what other ways I’ll preserve it—but that’s part of the fun and challenge.

It’s always a joy when you can get the younger generation involved in these projects. My granddaughter is a senior computer science major with a part-time job. Still, she took the time to participate in my little project. She didn’t complain once, because she’s sweet that way. Here’s the video.

Some of these stories, like how I took a bold leap of faith to get my first job, are more recent. But in the future, they’ll become part of our family’s past, part of the stories my granddaughter might share with her own children one day. I hope that the advice and memories we’ve shared, both big and small, will continue to resonate across generations, long after I’ve stopped hovering like a “helicopter grandma.”

The truth is, family stories aren’t just about the events themselves. They’re about the bonds we form by sharing them, and the sense of connection that lasts far beyond the stories themselves.

We also created a couple of smaller Facebook and Instagram silly posts along with these, to text to the other grandkids and generally play around with. Here is an example.

This is easy to do in Canva (and in many other photo manipulation packages. I mention Canva here because it is a tool I’m familiar with.) Silly and fun but a quick way to catch kids’ attention. Once you have their attention, they may start asking more questions. When was this? What were you doing? Is this her birth story? What is her birth story? Etc.

If you’re like me and want to capture your family’s stories for the future, I recommend trying different formats—whether through video, written stories, or even little projects like birthday cards. What’s important is that the stories are recorded, preserved, and passed on—because one day, they’ll be someone else’s history.