My Brother Has A Few Great Ideas - Part One

I have three wonderful brothers, one of whom (John) is closer in age to me than the other two.  He, like me, feels the pull of mortality and the desire to leave a written record behind for future generations.

I was chatting with John yesterday, and the subject naturally turned to genealogy.  He and my sister-in-law, Ginny, had spent quite a bit of time a few years ago traveling around cemeteries in northwestern Missouri, taking photographs of our ancestors' gravestones.  In recent years, his job has kept him too busy to continue with his family history pursuits.
John mentioned that for the past several years, he has been keeping a hand-written journal that documents his daily life, mixed in with stories of our childhood.   While this isn't a new idea, it's certainly one that I hadn't really considered because of my love of technology and digital records.
I recently saw a blog post from a fellow family historian (sorry, can't remember whose or else I would link to it here!) that asked if anyone has found handwritten documents from ancestors.  In my case, the answer is unfortunately no.  Imagine how wonderful it must be to uncover a handwritten journal or letter from one of your ancestors!
I plan to take my brother's advice and start a handwritten journal.  I don't think it has to be anything elaborate, just something that future generations can have as a reminder that we were more than just names and dates.