I (Della Hilton, founder of Legacy Autobiography) have been blessed with parents, relatives, and ancestors who placed a high value on genealogy and the preservation of the stories of their heritage. My shelves are graced with more than a dozen volumes of life histories and autobiographies of my family’s ancestors. They are among my most prized possessions. My mother’s grandfather died when I was young, but his life history has allowed me to learn about him as if he were sharing his stories with me himself. Now that I have children of my own, these books have become even more dear to me, as I read to my daughters the stories of their ancestors who have passed on, and help them to come to know these men and women I love so dearly. Their voices speak from beyond the grave, sharing their legacies and teaching us who we are and where we have come from.
While we are not defined by our ancestors, they are an enormous part of who we are. Whether it is physical traits or personality characteristics we have inherited from them or the ways in which their lives and choices ultimately brought about the circumstances into which we are born, each of our lives has been fundamentally affected by our ancestors.
I firmly believe that as we come to know and understand our ancestors, we come to know and understand ourselves. We lay hold upon our shared positive character traits and claim them as our own. We empathize with weaknesses we also struggle with and are empowered by their journey of overcoming. Our own doubts are dispelled by their stories of faith. We see ourselves in them, and them in us. As family, we are connected by a golden thread of DNA and experiences linking us back through the generations. Our ancestors are more than just names; they are a part of us, and as we come to understand that part of ourselves, we grow closer to becoming all that we are meant to be.
The only way to really know those who came before us is through their stories and life histories—through those our ancestors left behind, and our own stories we leave for our future posterity. My passion is the preservation of these stories for the benefit of future generations, and it is my hope and desire to help you preserve yours.
You may think you have no story to tell. You may feel that your life has been a boring life, or perhaps a life so filled with sadness and hardship that no one would ever want to read it. You may even feel like your children and grandchildren are not interested in your story. But who we are is a direct result of our experiences, be they seemingly insignificant, sad, or otherwise, and I promise you that one day, in this generation or perhaps one yet to come, there will be those who want to know you.
Don’t deprive them of that blessing. Don’t let your legacy die. Don’t let your story to be lost forever. Write a record of your life.
We are here to help.