Grab a cardboard box . . ..

To help organize your personal and family records so you can use them when you write you life history.  Actually, it doesn't really matter what type of box, but put it in a very obvious place.  When I was doing this, I used a couple of different boxes.  I had one in the hall upstairs, and one on the dining room table.(I didn't want to make going up and down stairs an issue on whether it would get put in the box, or whether I would set it on a shelf or counter.

The next thing to do is casually go about your daily work around the house, but now with your eyes, mind and heart focused on finding important papers. Over the next few weeks you can collect and put into the box records of your life.

• birth certificate
• certificates of ordination
• certificates of graduation

Everything that you can find pertaining to your life - diplomas, honors, awards, photographs, a journal or diary goes into the box.  Anything that is written or registered or recorded that testifies what you have done during your life.

The process takes a while, that is OK,  don't rush it.  You will probably find that these things are scattered all over the house. I truly found them all over the place.  I found some in several boxes in our shed. A few more were discovered in a box under a bed, and several important pieces were located in various other boxes in closets and in the garage. ( I was looking for important paper documents for all my kids...so I really had to search all over.)

Gather all the items and keep them together in the box, and keep collecting.  When you get to the point that you think you have everything available you can go on to the next step.

Next steps:
Sort everything out on a table and divide your life into three periods -

1. Start with the birth certificate and sort every record that goes with childhood- photographs, records and other documents until age 12. Arrange them in chronological order.
2. Then pull together everything that pertains to your youth - from 12 to 18 years of age- put it all together chronologically.
3. Then all other records fit the section for the rest of your life.

Line up all these records - the certificates and the photographs and all other items and keep them safe in an other envelope or box..

By gathering these items you have began to compile the important information you will need when you want to start your family tree or do a pedigree chart.