Why Your Story Matters
When we do genealogy and local history, it’s easy to get caught up in dates and names: born, baptized, married, buried. Important, yes – but a life is more than a line in a parish register.
Your memories and family stories give colour to those bare facts. This is exactly why your story matters: it brings life and meaning to your family history.
How did your grandparents celebrate Christmas?
What did Sunday dinner smell like in your childhood kitchen?
What did it feel like to leave Norway – or to arrive here from somewhere else?
Which sayings, habits, or little “oddities” run in your family?
What did your parents or grandparents work with, and what did everyday life actually look like?
These small details are what future generations will treasure. Long after the social media accounts are gone and hard drives have failed, it’s the written stories that remain.
If you would like to share your stories, I am delighted to publish them on my blog.
What Kind of Stories Am I Looking For?
I’m open to many kinds of contributions, as long as they are rooted in real life, family history, or local heritage. For example:
Emigration and immigration stories
A great-grandparent who went to America. An aunt who went to sea. Someone who returned home after many years abroad.Everyday life memories
Childhood on a farm, growing up in a town neighborhood, school memories, confirmation, first job, military service, early married life.Traditions and customs
Holiday traditions, food customs, dialect words, songs, lullabies, sayings – anything that shows how your family “always did it”.Objects with a story
The worn Bible with names inside, a coffee grinder, a chest, a piece of clothing, a tool – and the story behind it.Genealogy “discoveries”
The moment a puzzle fell into place, an unexpected connection, or a surprising ancestor you found in the sources.
You don’t have to be a “writer” to contribute. The most important thing is that the story is honest, personal, and respectful. I can help polish the language if you’d like.
This Is a Non-Commercial Blog (and What That Means)
My blog is a personal, non-commercial project. I run it because I enjoy genealogy, history, sharing what I learn and most of all: to interact with you. There is no big organization behind it – just one person, some coffee, and a love of stories.
Because of this, I unfortunately cannot offer payment for contributions.
I want to be completely open about that.
What I can offer is:
Your name clearly credited as the author
A short author bio at the end of the post (for example: who you are, where your family is from, and what you’re interested in)
A link to your website, blog, or relevant project, if you have one
Careful handling of your material with respect and gratitude
- My gratitude and commitment to help you expand your family history
In other words: I can’t pay you in money, but I can give your story a home where it will be read and appreciated by people who care about Norwegian heritage and family history.
“But My Story Is Not Interesting Enough…”
I hear this all the time:
“Nothing special ever happened in my family.”
“My life is too ordinary.”
“I don’t know how to write.”
Let me gently disagree.
The “ordinary” is exactly what future generations will want to know:
What was a typical school day like?
How did your parents discipline you – or spoil you?
How did you travel, shop, cook, work, relax?
What did your street, village, or farm look like when you were a child?
What feels normal to you today will not be normal forever. Times change. That’s why your memories are important – they freeze a little piece of everyday life before it disappears.
And as for writing: you don’t need to sound like a professor or a novelist. If you can tell it over a cup of coffee, we can turn it into a blog post together.
How Long Should It Be?
There’s no strict rule, but as a guideline:
Short reflections: around 500–800 words
Longer life stories or family histories: 1,000–1,500 words (or more, if needed)
If you have something much shorter – a little anecdote or a single memory – that can also be valuable. Several short pieces can even be combined into a themed post.
Can I Include Photos or Documents?
Yes, please – if you have them and are willing to share.
Old photographs, letters, postcards, recipe cards, or other illustrations can add a lot. If you send images, please:
Make sure you are comfortable having them published on the blog.
Tell me who or what is in the picture, and roughly when and where it is from.
Let me know if there are any names or details you prefer not to publish.
If you’re unsure, we can blur faces, crop, or leave out sensitive information.
How to Send Me Your Story
If you’d like to contribute, here’s a simple way to start:
Write your story in your own words. Don’t worry about “perfect”; just get it down.
Add a few lines about yourself for an author bio.
Mention if you are including photos, and briefly describe them.
Contact me through the blog, and I’ll let you know how best to send the text and any images.
If you only have notes, bullet points, or an old letter you’d like to adapt, that’s fine too. We can work from that.
Let’s Preserve These Stories Together
I often think about how much family history has already been lost simply because no one wrote it down. Grandparents and great-grandparents took their memories with them, and now we can only guess at what their lives were like. There are so many things I would have liked to ask my parents about, if they still had been with us.
We can’t change that. But we can make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to you.
Your story – or your family’s story – might one day help a grandchild, a distant cousin, or a curious researcher understand where they come from. It might explain why a family moved, why a tradition started, why certain names repeat, or why a particular object has been carefully kept in a cupboard for decades.
So if a memory comes to mind while you read this…
If you hear the echo of a voice that is no longer here…
If you think, “Someone should write that down someday”…
Maybe that someone is you.
And my blog is ready to give your story a place to live.
