Fri 11 Sep 2009
Posted by Trish under Capturing stories, Oral History, Personal Stories, Reminiscence
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The National September 11 Memorial and Museum is collecting history by archiving stories from September 11, 2001. Everyone has a story from that day. Everyone was touched in some way, no matter where in the world they were. Add your story and make history.
Make History! Share your 9/11 story
Mon 15 Jun 2009
Posted by Trish under Capturing stories, Oral History, Personal Stories
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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) –” I’ll never forget holding World War II medic Tony Acevedo in my arms. He wept and convulsed for more than 10 minutes, his body constricting and tightening in a way I’d never seen before. “I’m sorry,” he said, repeating, “I’m sorry. I want to say more, but I can’t.”
This is written by Wayne Drash, a correspondent with CNN, writing about American POW’s who were held at a slave labor camp, in Germany, known as Berga an der Elster. A slave labor camp that, until last week, had never been recognized as such by the Army.
He ends his report with this: “My final message is to my generation and the next. Don’t be so quick to shove grandpa and grandma into a nursing home. Sit down with them. Listen to them. Hear their stories. The greatest generation. They’re cut from a different cloth and we’re losing them too fast.”
Read the full story here.
Mon 9 Mar 2009
Posted by Trish under Rituals
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I just attended my first Facebook funeral. It lasted about 5 days.
I received the news of Tracy’s death via Facebook. And I sent condolences to his partner via Facebook. I swapped stories and photos on-line and like all good funerals I ran into people I had not heard from in years. The swirl of postings containing “do you remember…” and expressions of heartfelt appreciation and sorrow was fundamentally the same ritual my great-grandparents performed as they ‘waked’ a friend several nights in a row. Granted, without the Irish whiskey.
While, it initially felt strange to use Facebook as a funeral home or the front parlor of a home, it allowed people from all over the continent to grieve as a “family” and acknowledge our connections to each other and to Tracy. I heard from a friend that her group still leaves messages at a deceased friend’s Facebook page. It serves her far-flung pals as a virtual tombstone.
I’m sure none of this is a surprise to the younger generation or long-time Facebookers. But being new to FB, I was surprised and pleased at the connectedness I felt sitting at the keyboard. Though I’m sure Tracy, who hated computers, is not at all amused.