Heritage Book

HERITAGE BOOK
By Sara Dudenhoeffer

Back in November I decided I wanted to make a Steeves Legacy book through Heritage Makers. The book would preserve family photos and give my children a better idea of the family I grew up in.

I determined to do this project when I looked at my grandparents one day and realized just how much they had aged in recent years.

My great grandmother was a very special lady—as was her husband, my great grandfather who died before I was born. Everyone who met her instantly fell in love with her. My best friend in elementary school once told me that her older sister had actually been named after my great grandmother because my great grandmother had done something special for her parents. But, although my great grandmother had touched so many lives and had a heart of pure gold, I had only known her as the old lady in the hospital that mom made me go visit. So when I see how much my grandparents have aged, it scares me to think that my children might only know them as 'old people.' Or perhaps my children will not know them at all.

The project was to be simple. I would go to grandma and grandpa's house one day and gather their photos so I could scan them. I would have grandma and grandpa tell me stories behind some of my favorite photos and I would write them down. Then I would put everything together in a book to preserve their photos. The book ended up taking months. I think I ended up publishing the first copy of it in February after starting it in November.

My grandparents had trouble remembering a lot of the stories behind some of their older photos, so I had to go to my uncles for additional information. Of course, the first person I turned to was my Uncle Darrell, or Uncle Bug as most of the cousins call him. I don't want to say he was my favorite uncle as all my uncles are special to me. But when I was growing up I spent a lot of time at his place and he had become a father figure to me, which was special because I lacked one at home.

I invited Uncle Darrell and his wife, Aunty Sue, to come over for supper so that afterward they could look through the photos and tell me a bit more about them. I didn't realize at the time that this was going to be the last evening I would spend with my Uncle.

One Saturday morning near the beginning of December, my uncle died quite suddenly of a seizure. He'd never had a seizure before. It was quite shocking to the entire family. He was having problems with his heart. But no one ever expected he'd be leaving us so soon.

When I set out to make this book, I worried that I would lose my grandparents soon. I never once thought that I was at risk of losing my Uncle Darrell. And I never thought when I started the project that the first page would be "In Memory of Uncle Darrell."

I wish that I had talked with my Uncle more while he was still here. I wish that I had taken advantage of his amazing wisdom more while I still had him at my disposal. I wish that I had visited him more. I really miss his crazy sense of humor and his excellent advice.

We printed ten copies of my Steeves Legacy book when it was completed and now almost all the families in my extended Steeves family own a copy. It is so special for me to go through the book and remember listening to and watching my Uncle Darrell as he relayed stories and reacted to photos from his childhood.

The book is mostly just photographs, but there are a few stories that give insight into the lives of the people. It is really hard but great to read through my Steeves Legacy book and know exactly which parts of it were told by my uncle. I wish so much that there were more of his stories in a book like Steeves Legacy. That wish is pushing me to create a book after each of my uncles and aunts and one after my grandparents. I hope you'll consider doing the same for the people in your life. The time you spend with them will be so great, and the resulting book will be cherished by you and yours for years and years and years.