Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Leaving a Legacy

The Story Only You Can Tell is a blog, written by seven friends, who hope to leave a legacy for our children and future children. We are prioritizing the process of recording our history, our present and our hopes for the future so that our kids are not without the inheritance of the knowledge of US and our love for them. We desire to share our life lessons and experiences, expecting that our little ones will one day use them to direct their own choices whether in imitation of - or opposition to - the choices we have made.

Amid the sippy-cup spills, the morning rush to preschool, midnight feedings, sibling brawls and wet beds it is sometimes difficult to bestow upon our children all that we want them to know about US, their mothers, and the wisdom that we have to share with them. Even before they are born those moments (that can sometimes seem like an eternity) of making babies and the anticipation of meeting them, they are a whirlwind - here one minute and gone the next. Life IS fleeting. Time truly DOES fly, and we are not content to let it do so without leaving the gift of ourselves for our kids.

A "legacy" is much more than a financial gift, it is any gift handed down from an ancestor or from the past to the next generation. We would contend - that the gifts of wisdom, experience and memories (both fond and heartbreaking) are far more valuable than any amount of money or any stretch of property this world has ever seen. And so - we are going to give those good gifts to our children - the gifts of love recorded - a legacy that moth and rust cannot destroy.

WE WELCOME YOU TO JOIN US ON THIS JOURNEY:

Each week of 2011 we will write our responses to random journal prompts designed to give our kids and future kids glimpses into our lives and hearts. The 7 of us will not each answer the same question every week so there will be variety in the topics of the posts that you read. If you would like to leave a written legacy for your children (or future children) also, you are invited to start a blog of your own - or simply include the posts on your current blog - and answer the questions along with us. Again, there are seven of us each answering different questions every week so you should have many options for post topics. 2011 will be devoted to recording our history and memories. Our hope is that this blog will exist for future years and will include several other focuses over time.

We would love to encourage one another as we pursue the goal of leaving a legacy. So, if you plan to blog "the story only YOU can tell" for your own children please let us know via email (knowingnorrah@gmail.com) or blog comment and leave the blog address so that we can check it out!

We have made this blog public in hopes that it would motivate other women (moms and future moms) to begin the process of leaving a legacy for their own families. Some of the topics might require more detail or more transparency for our children than what we are willing to post for the world-wide-web. In that case we will record our full responses elsewhere and post edited versions for this site.

We hope that you enjoy reading the STORIES ONLY WE CAN TELL - and more than that - we hope that our writings encourage you to tell a story of your own.

lauren, danielle, lindsay, carrie, jen, meghan, holly

Monday, December 20, 2010

Journal Jars Become Blog

What started it all...


How did THESE jars become a blog?


It's quite simple, really. In the wondrous mind of a beautiful, generous, oh-so-creative-soul was born the idea to construct a unique and lasting Christmas gift for her best friends. So, she grabbed some ribbon and some pretty paper, thought of 52 questions about life and childhood and bundled them all in a jar with LOVE. She typed a sincere note to each friend describing her pleasure with their presence in her life and relaying her intentions for the "journal jars."


Each note read, "...one of the best gifts we can give our children is the gift of ourselves. This includes who we were, what we've been through, accomplished, and what made us who we are today." The note went on to detail the journaling project, created to encourage each friend to develop a written account of their life for their children. The project was designed so that the friends could answer one question or prompt per week and empty the "journal jar" within one year.


The friends loved this unique gift - and having shared so much of life together already - they decided to share the journaling project too. Bearing their souls, their pasts, their tragedies and triumphs not only to be read years into the future for the sake of their children, but to be divulged in the present for one another.

Thus starts the "journal jar" blog, authored by 7 friends, with 7 stories and countless memories... THE STORIES ONLY WE CAN TELL.