The Memory Board

To keep up with and record family activities, we use what we call our “Green Family Chart.” In the family room, we have a bulletin board where we hang a chart each month. The chart is a blank piece of poster board twenty-two inches long and fourteen inches wide. We use different colors of poster board and a variety of borders. On this monthly chart we write down a short synopsis of everything we do and things that are of interest to us. A polaroid camera allows us to post pictures instantly.

Each new month we put up a new poster board ready to fill throughout the month. We like to record four months at a time on our bulletin board, and when it’s time to put up a new month’s board we retire the oldest board to our yearly collection, where it is covered in plastic. All the months for a single year are put together in big rings with a special front page designed by the family to indicate the year just completed.

These monthly family charts have been a constant reminder of the fun times we’ve had together. Activities such as going to the ballet, going on the first spring picnic, and building our biggest snowman ever are fun to remember again and again. Also recorded are pictures of very special occasions such as baptisms, the first smile of a newborn baby, Scouting awards, and special family nights. Things of historical importance are also put on our charts: the day of the first space shuttle flight, a record-breaking snowfall, the passing of a General Authority.

As we sit around the dinner table, we can look up at our charts and laugh about our fun times, and it gives us ideas for future activities or family goals we want to plan. The “Green Family Charts” are a fun way to pass history on to our posterity. Susan Nord Green, Centerville, Utah