Knowing your story and those stories around you is so helpful in education. We are always telling our students to read the textbook or read some unrelated stuff. But we can’t forget that there are people around us that have lived the history we read about. This became even more apparent to me this weekend when I read a book my grandfather just finished writing about my grandmother’s life.
This book was about how my grandmother made it through the Great Depression, life at home with 10 children (1 adopted son is a Catholic priest missing and presumed dead in Sudan), the changes in the Catholic Church, and several other historical events.
There was so much information I never knew… Like she was in several movies, first as a Meglin Kiddie dancer, then on her own. (Midsummer’s Night Dream scene below.) These movies helped supplement the family during the Great Depression (a time when they lost all their investments).
It reminds me how rich our lives are from the people around us. And, how much we can learn from primary sources.
An Ethical Island 
What a beautiful tribute to your grandmother, and a poignant reminder to listen to the stories of our elders before they are gone and forgotten.
Thanks for reading! It was a good reminder for me, too. Their generation is leaving us and we will miss so much.
We went to Hawaii as a family a couple years ago and my kids got to meet 2 WWII Pearl Harbour survivors. The kids’ teachers were so upset we were taking our kids away for 2 weeks during the school year…. But the kids got to meet 2 heros that their kids will never meet. I wish we could preserve the stories.