National Day of Listening - November 28, 2008

This invitation appears on the website, http://www.nationaldayoflistening.org/.

"November 28th has been designated the National Day of Listening by StoryCorps, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving oral history. This Thanksgiving, StoryCorps asks you to start a new holiday tradition—set aside one hour on Friday, November 28th, to record a conversation with someone important to you. You can interview anyone you choose: an older relative, a friend, a teacher, or a familiar face from the neighborhood."

Oral history has long been a useful and valuable tool in genealogy circles, and recording formal oral histories has become more widely-used in recent years because of the ease in using hand-held recorders and video cameras to document the spoken memories of our families' patriarchs and matriarchs.

Let me invite you to take advantage of this Thanksgiving holiday, when an estimated 40 million people will travel "home" to spend the day with their loved ones, young and old, to spend at least one hour interviewing someone who is older than you about life as they experienced it, "way back then."

I have so many things to be thankful for, not only on Thanksgiving Day, but every day. But one of my true blessings in life has been that I have had grandparents and parents who were willing to share their life's experiences, both good and bad, with me. Some of those experiences I have shared with you here on this blog.

This holiday, after you have eaten the turkey and all the trimmings and have watched your team (hopefully!) win, I challenge you to become a "Listener." I know you won't be disappointed.