Family history is another rich source of memory gifts. Frame old maps, the deed to the family home or a square of needlepoint or embroidery made by your great-grandmother. Or make a slide show of family slides. For a high-tech twist, try creating a videotape or DVD of old slides of someone’s family and setting it to music. Their tape will become such a hit that relatives will play it over and over at family get-togethers. You can also use a video camera to tape your clan's reunion, a special birthday party or Grandma reading to the kids, and make copies for your relatives.
Write a "book" about your family/clan. You may interview relatives about their childhood days and their sentimental highlights. Later, present everyone with a copy of his story, "Growing up with Scott and Claire." You can also turn favorite family stories into picture books for the children. Do the drawings yourself and write a simple narrative. One book may describe how the family traveled together around Asia and another may recount recent funny anecdotes and escapades.
If you don't have time for such a big project, work on a short family history instead. Draw up a list of specific questions and ask your relatives to fill in their answers. Then copy the finished pages and put them inside a quilted cover. You've made a gift that will become more important as the years pass.
Remember family traditions. A friend recalls her mother keeping mugs of hot cocoa on the kitchen windowsill and a rich stew simmering on the stove. One Christmas, she kept this memory alive by gifting a sister and brother who now reside abroad with packs of cocoa tablets and their mom's old recipe of beef stew.
Finally, sometimes the smallest of presents can mean the most—like the packet of moonflower seeds my parents sent me. Our family had always grown these plants with the luminous white blooms that appear only at night. My dad would lead us kids out onto the patio, and we would marvel at the beautiful flowers that blossomed under the stars. So this spring, I will plant some moonflowers in my yard, and at night I will take my own son and daughter outside, and we will stand together in the moonlight, smelling the fragrance of the rare and wonderful white blooms.
