The value of recording life stories.

Gene Edminster is a WWII veteran and a member of my Rotary club. I recently interviewed Gene for the Catalina Rotary Veterans Project, an initiative designed to preserve the military and Rotary service stories of veterans who are club members. At the end of our session, I impulsively asked Gene if he saw value in preserving his stories on video. He responded by talking about the war stories he heard from his father, a veteran of WWI, stories that are now thankfully preserved on audio cassettes. But then Gene turned his attention to his wife, recently lost to Alzheimer’s Disease, and how he wished he’d recorded her stories. His answer was poignant, heartfelt and direct, and spoke directly to the need to preserve personal life stories before it’s too late. To see some examples of ways life stories can be preserved and celebrated, visit the Family Legacy Video Theatre.