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Mothers Day didn't end up quite as bad as I'd made it out to be in my mind. Turns out a corporate collusion holiday in itself isn't enough to mess with an otherwise lovely Sunday. John didn't get me anything, which I really appreciated but his parents got me a nice gift certificate for a fancy dinner out, which, oddly enough, I also really appreciated!
John offered to help me accomplish this giant project I've wanted to do for about a month now. He was a huge help! First he took the kids to the park and rode the lightrail while I zoomed around to stores. Then he helped me assemble and send out the packages.
I want to set up an oral history project for my mom and her siblings. They're a very colorful bunch, and every holiday or get-together is filled with great stories. Even the lesser told sad or bad stories are memorable to me! I'm terrified of losing this rich heritage of oral tradition, and I think this might save them. Between my backgrounds in non-profit development and anthropology, I certainly have enough experience to do this. It's just a matter of money and time. I footed the bill for everything so far, but I really hope they'll be so pleased that the family helps out.
Yesterday I mailed each of the five siblings a very nice looking wooden keep-sake box. Inside was the proposal package described in about seven pages of introductions and instructions, a handheld voice recorder with extra tapes, self-addressed stamped envelopes on pretty stationary for sending the filled tapes back, and two books to inspire them to get talking: Bless Me, Ultima and My Invented Country. I tried to make opening the box sensually pleasurable with pretty paper wrapped carefully around the items, and lavender oil sprinkled over it all. I fantasized throughout the assembly about each family member going to the mail and getting their box.
Depending on the amount of money they want to donate, the resulting captured family history in stories can be posted on a family oral library website and anyone with MP3-playing software can share in the bounty. Whether or not the project is a success really depends on how comfortable my family members feel talking into their recorders, and whether they can believe in the value of their memories enough to participate.
(I don't think any of them read my blogs, so I'm not spoiling anything here)
I really hope it all works, but right now I'm just flying high on the feeling of accomplishing a goal I've had for a while now.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
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2 comments:
I don't know how I stumbled upon your blog except that apparently we have a commonality in a favorite book (The Power of One). All this to say, I loved the idea of sending the memories box to your family... I'm hardly an anthropologist, but I'd love to do, someday, what you did today. Good luck.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by, Whitney! Power of One was an amazing book that I first read when I was 16 (the year after I read another favorite, Cry, the Beloved Country). It was a powerful story, and I was at an impressionable age so much of my life's decisions and directions can be traced to it. The soundtrack that came out of the movie was a masterpiece, but the movie itself was slimmed down to little more than a love story.
Anyway, putting together the boxes was really fun. I took a lot of care to get pretty or nice stuff for it. One of the hardest decisions was whether to send tape recorders or digital ones. After playing around in three stores, John and I decided the digital ones were too technical for most people (my relatives would have had to upload a driver and then find the files) even though they would have made transfering the stories easier. I was careful throughout the process to stay away from any possible pitfall that would interfere with the success of the project, as installing software appeared to be.
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