When I was in college, a family member handed me a 3-ring binder full of family history information. It included fan charts, spread across many pages, and a CD for more info on the computer. But I wasn’t a family history person, nor was I in a stage of life that lent time for that. So I put it aside. Eventually, I pulled out the binder and discovered that it was full of stories! Some ancestors I knew, some I did not, but there was much more in this folder than I anticipated. I was hooked! I remember hoping that I would have kids one day and that I could share these stories with them, well before they were in college like me. My family’s resilience and creativity inspired me to push forward through my own struggles at the time. If Great-grandpa Reed could build a car from scratch so he could drive to college, maybe I could build my own life too.
Years later, I was a young mom to two girls and had a folder for both sides of my family AND my husband’s family, research already done. Would my kids happily pick those up and find its treasures on their own? Not on your life! They could barely read! So I made an illustrated family history booklet for them. I picked out a few stories, typed them on 4x6 cards with room for a few rudimentary drawings, and stuck them in plastic slots in a little photo book. My kids loved it! We read it during church, for bedtime, and sometimes car rides. It was easy to carry and almost waterproof! Together, my family started to become a little more resilient, knowing our ancestors overcame their own challenges. We could do this! And I happily thought that was that.
In 2020, resilience again was at the forefront of my life. A pandemic was not in my life plan! And now my three kids were getting older, and the photo book was starting to fall apart. I needed something bigger. After months of new research via FamilySearch, I made my first Anthology Book. It had a little bit of everything in it, including real photos and longer stories. A friend asked to see my book in detail, and we decided to collaborate on her own book. She wanted a food theme so she could include recipes to interest her five boys. Brilliant!
Our Anthology books try to focus on themes that transcent time, like homes, food, and nature. A clothing theme is in the works, too! They are geared for kids ages 10 and older.
Our Picture Books are for the younger crowd, about age 3-9. They harken back to our original family history made in a photo book: small, illustrated, and short!