Once upon a time….

It was at my cousin’s funeral…

My cousin Jeanne Jarvis, wife of more than 50 years to Norman Jarvis was laid to rest in Washington, DC in February 2015.  Her husband for more than 45 years, Norman Jarvis, preceded her in death by just 6 weeks.

In 2008 I was researching my dad’s genealogy and I sat down with Norman to ask him about his family history and how he and Jeanne came to live with my dad and grandmother after her husbands untimely passing in 1960. You see, my dad’s story began in Southern Germany in 1946 where he was born to a German woman, but was taken to an orphanage for post war children.  He was later adopted and brought to the US by a upper middle class African American family in Washington, DC in 1952.  But this particular story for another time; the focus here stays with my cousin Norman and our conversation in 2008.

During the course of our “recorded” conversation, Norman shared with me the history of the Jarvis family dating back to before the Civil War. When I shared the recording with his children, as they had not known he had made this recording, it was expressed to me then that what I had given them was the greatest gift possible being that in the last several years of Norman’s life he suffered from dementia and spoke little to not at all. Now, the family has his personality and words recorded for all time to share not only in his memory but his legacy and the legacy of their family that will now be passed on to future generations.

I use this story as the starting point for sharing with you in this Blog what Once Upon a Time is truly all about and why I work with individuals and organizations to preserve and to pass down their history for future generations. I always say to my clients,  “Don’t allow others to tell your story for you, tell your story in your own words while you can.”