At age 83, my mom is one of the oldest cousins on her mother’s maternal line, and so she is one of the few who can remember things that happened even before younger cousins were born. In this photo, she is the girl holding the two baby cousins on my great grandfather’s front porch. To capture and record stories from the past (before it’s too late), we often get together with some of the cousins in this group to look through and scan photos, read and share memories and write stories. Sometimes we have three or four generations gathered around the table. I love these moments.

We laugh, cry, marvel at the lives of those who went before, and listen to those who are still here to tell it like it is! It is so much fun that we look forward to these family history meetings, and when we do get together, we find it hard to stop talking long enough to eat our lunch!
We use Google Docs to collaborate – collecting information and arranging it in a timeline. From there we are constructing specific life histories on my grandmother and her siblings, and then we will work on the next generation. Right now we are working on the life story of my great aunt Maevonne whose life of service is an example to us all. We are scanning and adding photos, and taping our conversations. Many of the audio stories will be uploaded to FamilySearch Memories (see this blog post for an overview and instructions) and we are backing up the audio and videos on our hard drives. Try FaceTime or Skype for including others in family history meetings. Cousins from all over the globe can have the option to add to conversations and feel connected. Posting on our family FB page has also been a way to share both photos and stories, and family members can comment to add their memories. For more ways to share family history using social media see FamilySearch Project 7 Goal 3.

We try to meet consistently and have invited those who can’t attend (due to time constraints or distance) to edit in our google docs. See the Activities Page (Family Activities: Documenting the Past) of The Family History Guide for additional activity ideas and help to document the past. Project 6 Goal 3 contains a myriad of “how-to” suggestions and instructions to collaborate with others to do family history work.

For more information on using google docs, see Getting Started with Google Docs.  Learn how to bring your documents to life with editing and styling tools (hundreds of fonts, links, etc.), access and edit wherever you go (phone, tablet, computer – even when there is no connection), and have all your changes automatically saved as you type. Wow – what a great tool! 

Our cousin family history meetings have become a tradition now, and one we all cherish. We have a different collection of cousins each time we get together, and that makes it a unique (and wonderful) experience with new memories to share. We are all about building connections, strengthening bonds, and documenting the stories and information we are learning. I would love to hear about the ways you access “cousin power” to further family history work with and for those you love and care about. I hope that as you get together, you will have as much fun as we do!