I found this a unique gift

My daughter brought me one for Xmas, its so lovely, we did have a bit of a laugh though (and I no my lovely mum would have laughed too) as my mum passed in November, and my daughter was there when we had the celebrant around to chat about what was to happen at the funeral , the celebrant started to ask my sisters and myself all about my mums younger day schools friends etc, my sisters an myself were 'err, hmmm, was it this, or was it that' a bit of a rabbit in the headlights moment, so my daughter said she'd brought me this book, so when my time came she'd have the answers 😂

BlueBelle

Its www.fromyoutome.com

It’s a lovely book with such a nice thoughtful reason to it

How lovely, thank you, BlueBelle.

I always wince when I see variations of the frequent comment on GN - it went straight in the bin. For goodness’ sake, something that’s useable if not to your taste might be just what someone else would snap up in a charity shop. Why would you even consider adding it to landfill?

kwest

What a shame you binned this book, unused and not filled in.

If you didn’t want to complete it yourself, fair enough, but judging by this thread, many others would like one of these books and would have thought they had found a real bargain at a charity shop, if you had just thought to donate it, instead of throwing it away.

i have just written my one in a notebook. I put My Story on the front and have two different parts to it. One is an ordered from birth part which I add to whenever I think of something that hasnt been added in a chronological order, so have made it with 6 month chapters and a few pages for each part and add to the correct page as I remember something else. Then at the back 1/3rd I simply write whatever comes to mind as I am reminded of occasions and happenings. I have very good memories of many things. The smell and taste of something particularly special. The smell of lavender bags reminds me of my great grannies lavender patch in the garden, of collecting and drying it to make bags to go in the underwear drawers , so that everything smelt lovely. That would lead on to the herb garden. And being seen as old enough and sensible enough to be asked to chop up fresh mint to make mint sauce. Oh the lovely smell of it and the thought of my grannies great cooking.The recipe that I invented for a by now family cake often made. How I came to make it , as was short of an ingredient for another recipe. . My version of crumble for rhubarb or apple, So instead of 6oz flour to 3 oz margarine and sugar or anything I usually use 3 oz flour 3 oz porridge oats, and a dash of cinnamon to the mix, and what a lovely smell that greets you with as you arrive freezing cold from the rugby match etc. We were allowed to chose from the normal run of things for our birthday meal, so I have only to look at fish and chips - from the fish shop in paper - to remember as my brothers absolute favourite etc., Very crafty and also learning social skills. No moaning about someone elses choice, and if you didnt like it much, you could ask for a small portion. if there was any spare as the birthday girl you got the first chance. My enduring love of coffee in all its forms, so my birthday cake was always a coffee sponge with yes coffee icing. My sister Denise was the marzipan queen, so she always wanted batternburg cake. When she was very young, probably4 my gifted cook mum made her a lovely marzipan cottage, so the batternbur was made, the marzipan covering it all , and she could have a second slice if she wanted (which she always did!) The smell of strawberry or raspberry jam being made, and when you opened a jar in the middle ofwinter on a cold and horrible day, you were taken back to that sunny day picking the fruit and getting sunburned . Writing it all down is a pleasure to suit myself and should I end up with alzheimers or something similar, all those locked in memories are their to be loooked at

How lovely and very unique.

I wish I'd got one for my Mum before her memory started to go.

I've already "done" mine and DH's family trees so all the facts are there but one of these books seems to be more personal. I shall ask for one for my birthday later this month.

Wow, kwest...talk about taking the shine off somebodies lovely gift!!
As stated, you could just put yours in the bin or choose not to write in it, Bluebelle was obviously delighted with her gift.

I was given one a few years ago and totally forgot about it, I did a few pages, must get back to it. Thanks for reminding me 👏

How lovely that your granddaughter bought you this, and to know that she’s interested in your answers. I bought three copies of a book called The Grandparents’ Journal years ago, one for each of our adult children. I’ve spent hours filling them in so far (typing up the answers and printing them out in triplicate to paste in), but there’s still a long way to go. The journal’s American (there wasn’t much choice back then), so I’ve had to adapt a few questions about education, etc, but it’s good to have the guidance of what to talk about. I certainly won’t be putting in anything traumatic or upsetting! But like others, there are a lot of questions I wish I could ask my parents now.

I think I shall source one for myself. I always thought I'd remember the things my mum told me about the family but after she died I regretted not writing things down as I remember things vaguely but not the details. My brother in law researched his family tree so there's plenty info on my ex's side and my brother has a family bible which I guess has info on my father's family which I don't know. Another project to keep me busy.

kwest

I received one of these books as a present from a friend. It was one of the most upsetting things I have ever received. Many of us carry tragic memories that we may never be ready to share and for a family member to discover something so personal would be catastrophic especially if it involved them and could resurrect deeply painful experiences for them.
For instance what was your unhappiest experience? what was the saddest day of your life? there were many other more light-hearted questions but trust me, the deeply emotional losses throw out any way of engaging with the happy questions. No family gets through life without pain, this can be a very dangerous and traumatizing reminder, with no warning. It would feel wrong and unauthentic to lie about some things that have happened and would be disrespectful to the person or people who were involved. Frankly I was horrified to be given such an insensitive item as a present. The person who gave me the present was an elderly retired headmistress who had never been married or had children. She meant no harm. I didn't show the book to anyone except my husband and we both agreed that it would go into the dustbin without anyone seeing it and without anyone filling it in.

Why would you write down anything you found traumatic? Surely you would only writ things that you wouldn't mind others reading? I'm sure most people have things in their lives they wouldn't want to write about - or want others to read about, but you'd just pick and choose those memories you do want to write about.

I’ve never come across these books before and think they’re a wonderful idea. However, I don’t think my family would be interested in my life. My daughter has done a family tree of her father’s family going back hundreds of years. She started doing one of my family but hit a wall quite soon, gave up on it and doesn’t seem interested in pursuing it.I guess I wasn’t interested in m parents lives until it was too late and there are so many unanswered questions now. I’d be really touched if someone in my family gave me one ofthose books.

What a lovely idea, never heard of this before. I imagine it takes a lot of thinking to complete but very worthwhile.

Interesting. I may buy one.

I've recently made a photo book 'My life so far ......' to inform future generations about my life, which includes details such as where I've lived, countries I've visited, arrival of children, grandchildren etc. Mostly photos, but with some text too. Enjoyed doing it - and it solved the problem of what to do with all those old photos! I also made a photobook about my parents' early lives and had copies made for siblings as a solution to what to do with all the information I had about them after they both died in their mid 90s. Quite therapeutic and rewarding too.

How, what an lovely idea.

My son has muted about filling one in, but my early life was unhappy and with both parents dying before I was 16 I ended up in care which is something I’d prefer to sweeten under the carpet

My daughter bought one for me about when her 15 years ago when her first baby had just been born. It was for a grandparent to complete. I have filled in bits of it but find some of it difficult.
There are lots around. Or there were.

That's such a lovely and thoughtful gift, lovely granddaughter will never forget you🫠

I received one of these books as a present from a friend. It was one of the most upsetting things I have ever received. Many of us carry tragic memories that we may never be ready to share and for a family member to discover something so personal would be catastrophic especially if it involved them and could resurrect deeply painful experiences for them.
For instance what was your unhappiest experience? what was the saddest day of your life? there were many other more light-hearted questions but trust me, the deeply emotional losses throw out any way of engaging with the happy questions. No family gets through life without pain, this can be a very dangerous and traumatizing reminder, with no warning. It would feel wrong and unauthentic to lie about some things that have happened and would be disrespectful to the person or people who were involved. Frankly I was horrified to be given such an insensitive item as a present. The person who gave me the present was an elderly retired headmistress who had never been married or had children. She meant no harm. I didn't show the book to anyone except my husband and we both agreed that it would go into the dustbin without anyone seeing it and without anyone filling it in.

Indigo8

My DD gave me 'Letters to my Grandchild' by Lea Redmond.
It is book of envelopes which open up to reveal lined paper to write on. Each envelope is titled with a topic about you and your family. You fill in the date when you wrote it and when it should be opened.

I have a problem getting started and can't think what to write, the first topic is "Here is a special story about our family".

You could start by explaining why you are writing the book - the special story about your family could be that people don't have to be rich and famous to be interesting (not saying you aren't rich and famous!) and that the most precious people to you are your family, so you want them to know about you and other family members before they were born.

Or you could skip that one, and go straight to an envelope with a title that grabs you to get your pencil moving. It gets easier after the creative juices start flowing, and it won't matter in which order you fill them in.

Thanks Aldom

I’ve seen these all over Tik Tok it’s for them to get to know about your past. Very popular at the moment.