My husband and I are lucky enough to each have a grandparent still living. Just last year, my children’s “Super Pop-Pop” (my grandfather) passed away. They were able to get to know him, hear his stories, see him laugh, and for that, we are all grateful.
When I was little and now that I am big, I tried to soak in the time that I have with my grandparents. There is so much that I learn by talking to them, about their lives and about life in general. There may not be anything I enjoy more than sipping a cup of tea and learning more about them and our family history. I try to make sure that I pass this desire to learn and embrace our older family members on to my children.
Last Christmas, my husband Ben’s grandmother asked us what she could get the children for Christmas. We replied back with “something handmade by you.” She supplied us with one of the most cherished gifts that our children have ever received. On Christmas morning, they unwrapped a binder titled “Our Stories.” It was filled with page protectors and inside of the first two sleeves was a letter from Great-Grandma and a story titled, “A Great Grandpa G Story.”
The letter said:
“There are many stories that we tell about our family. I want you to hear some of them. But, I can’t be there to tell you. So, I am going to write them to you in letters! Sometimes the letters will come to C, sometimes to G, and sometimes to H. They are for you all to share and enjoy together. These stories will be about when your daddy was little, when your grandpa was little and even when your great grandma and great grandpa were little. Read them over and over as many times as you would like. I hope you enjoy them”!
And there it was, one of the most cherished gifts we have ever received.
Each time one of the kids gets a letter from Great Grandma in Iowa with another family memory and illustration to add to the book, it’s a chance to reconnect with our history. To pass along those things that make our family unique and tie each generation together. Truly priceless.
So, this year when a loved one that lives far away (or even nearby) asks what to get your children for Christmas, instead of a toy that will just pile up on top of the rest, ask them to write their stories as the gift. It is certainly a gift that will be loved and read over and over again and one that will “last a lifetime”.
P.S. My favorite so far is “Another Prickly Story” in which my husband as a little boy sits on a cactus and has to have the needles removed from his rear end by his grandmother! 
I love it! How wonderful to include an illustration, too!
Fantastic gift! We taped my grandparents telling stories years ago and it’s one of my favorite things that I have.
This is a great idea! I love it. I may solicit Dante’s grandparents to do the same thing. For now I am doing something similar myself for him by writing letters as we could throughout his childhood for him to read when he becomes an adult. I wrote about it on my blog: http://couponing4adifference.blogspot.com/2012/11/dear-future-dante.html
Nice! Can’t wait to check it out!