Do you have a loved one who is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s? If so, then this is a must-read article for you!

The Mayo Clinic recently came out with an article written to help Alzheimer’s patients save their life stories today so that they can recall their best memories tomorrow:

Alzheimer’s: Mementos help preserve memories
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alzheimers/AZ00020

The article motivates families with instructions on how to create a record of someone’s life’s accomplishments, whether in print, on video, or even voice recorded. Saving life history is something that I am all to familiar with as a Family Biographer, so I wanted to add a few tips to go along with this article and hopefully give you techniques to use with your loved one.

If you have a loved one with Alzheimer’s or know of someone with Alzheimer’s, pick any of the 5 actvities below to complete together. Taking the time today could make all the difference and could make sure their legacy will long be remembered - even if they aren’t here to tell it on their own.

Five Activities to Complete with an Early Stage Alzheimer’s Patient

1) Identify the Photographs: Bring out all of those old boxes of photographs, grab a pad of sticky notes, and put labels on the back to identify key people, places, and events in each photo. Capture this story that goes along with the photograph - don’t lose the priceless narratives which bring the photos to life.

2) Create the “ultimate album”: Help your loved one pick 30-50 of their favorite photographs which depict the most poignant moments from their life. Assemble them together into a special album to keep on their coffeetable for instant-memory sparking time. If you’d like a kit to help, look at our PhotoCatcher, it comes with all the tools you need to create a memory-saving album and bring together their best photos and stories.

3) Conduct a life history interview: Whether your turn on a voice recorder or a video camera, set up an official time to interview your loved one about their entire life story. Start your interviews from the beginning, with tales about their parents and childhood, and work your way through the special events from their life. Make it official and set up a few different sessions with them. Check off important topics along the way. If you’re looking for a good Interview program, check out our StoryCatcher, which has over 1,000 memory sparking questions to help people of all ages tell their life story. It’s sure to help you cover all the right topics and most importantly uncover new memories too.

4) Make a Family Tree: Sometimes the simple act of putting together a family tree can lead to all kinds of stories. Sit down with your loved one and try to sketch their family tree as far back as possible. Try to get birth dates, marriage dates, and death dates for each person. Sometimes just the act of creating a family tree can open up all kinds of stories worth saving and referring to in the future!

5) Make a Personal Timeline: Last but not least try to help your loved one make a personal timeline. Taking some blank pieces of paper, create a left column to jot down the year they were born and then continue down with all of the subsequent years. For each year record a memorable event from their life: maybe they started grade school, began a new job, took a special trip, or even got married! Creating a personal timeline can be a great way to piece together all of the best stories from their past!

Good luck with the above activities. Completing any or all of them can lead to the creation of a priceless memento for someone with Alzheimer’s. Don’t be afraid if they can’t remember it all - but use the above activities as a springboard to capture as much as you can…while you still can! Or check out our website for more story-saving ideas, CatchMyMemory.com.