Legacy Mattersor How to preserve her stories in the age of the iPod
When I became an adult, I learned some churches used the hymns to teach scripture to members who couldn't read. In their own way, the songs were a way to store and share information, just like my casette tapes. Like my cassettes, the hymns have become obsolete.
I'd grown up hearing the songs, but I'd never learned to sing them; that crucial information had been lost. I've been a gospel musician for more than 30 years, yet I can count the times I've heard the hyms on one hand.
When I sat down with my grandmother on July 4, 1990, I was archiving data, as surely as I would be almost two decades later when I backed up crucial files from my hard drive.
She is doing the talking, but her daughter – my mother – is in the room. So are her youngest sister and her older brother. For some reason, we'd all come to celebrate Independence Day that year. All in all, three generations sat at the kitchen table, huddled around the recorder.
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The songs became the bridge to another story. She began to talk of her beloved Papa, who helped teach her to sing.
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The tape is digitized in minutes. And it only takes minutes to register for the program that will allow an entire family to access this conversation.
But before I click the mouse, I whisper my hope in a prayer. May this transfer be successful. May this story be saved and given to another generation.