Memory Bank Headings
Here are fifty generic headings for the pages of your memory bank. Feel free to modify or add to them to fit your own life and things you want to write about. The order of topics isn't important, but do number the topics and put a Contents in front, so you can find a page when you want to jot something down. Notice as you copy this list of headings into your Memory Bank, the memories that trigger, feel free to make a note of it. More on this later.
1. Birth
2. First Memories
3. Parents/Grandparents/Great grandparents
4. Siblings
5. Extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.)
6. Toys; early friends and neighbors
7. School (separate or grouped)
8. Holiday celebrations, special events, etc.
9. Birthdays (yours or others)
10. Hopes and Dreams and Failures
11. Illnesses (including cures and remedies)
12. Religion
13. Spiritual growth
14. Home(s) ... the houses, rooms, locations you lived in through your life
15. Other important places (landscapes, houses, cities, neighborhoods, etc)
16. Kids (yours mostly)
17. Jobs
18. Learning new skills
19. Politics
20. The Arts: Theater, Dance, Movies, Book, Painting, Music (a page for each that affected you)
21. Turning points
22. Hobbies and inventions
23. Brief encounters (friends and lovers)
24. Lasting relationships
25. Love, courtship, and marriage(s) -- for reflections on as well as stories about)
26. Weather stories
27. Pets and other animals
28. Remembering Specific Historical Events: VE Day, The Kennedy Assassination, Death of Martin Luther King, 9/11, etc. --a page for each
29. Accomplishments
30. Fashion and style, clothes and hair
31. Games, sports, play
32. Your special talents and skills
33. Famous and/or unforgettable people you've met or who influenced you
34. Mentors
35. Travels
36. Family traditions
37. Gifts given and received
38. Special moments
39. Hard times, tears and losses
40. Brushes with danger
41. Legacy of [X] in my life. Make a separate page for each of the large essentially inescapable social/historical movements through which you lived, playing either a marginal or central role. For example, The Roaring Twenties, The Great Depression, World War II, The Korean War, The Cold War, The Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, Free Love, etc.
42. Moving/emigration/immigration
43. Children and the things they say
44. Food
45. Vehicles and transport
46. Pets and animals
47. Lessons learned and other reflections on Life
48. Death (your thoughts about and experiences with)
49. The Future . . . yours or the world's, from where you stand right now
50. Ghosts. Notes on your heritage or genealogy
1. Birth
2. First Memories
3. Parents/Grandparents/Great grandparents
4. Siblings
5. Extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.)
6. Toys; early friends and neighbors
7. School (separate or grouped)
8. Holiday celebrations, special events, etc.
9. Birthdays (yours or others)
10. Hopes and Dreams and Failures
11. Illnesses (including cures and remedies)
12. Religion
13. Spiritual growth
14. Home(s) ... the houses, rooms, locations you lived in through your life
15. Other important places (landscapes, houses, cities, neighborhoods, etc)
16. Kids (yours mostly)
17. Jobs
18. Learning new skills
19. Politics
20. The Arts: Theater, Dance, Movies, Book, Painting, Music (a page for each that affected you)
21. Turning points
22. Hobbies and inventions
23. Brief encounters (friends and lovers)
24. Lasting relationships
25. Love, courtship, and marriage(s) -- for reflections on as well as stories about)
26. Weather stories
27. Pets and other animals
28. Remembering Specific Historical Events: VE Day, The Kennedy Assassination, Death of Martin Luther King, 9/11, etc. --a page for each
29. Accomplishments
30. Fashion and style, clothes and hair
31. Games, sports, play
32. Your special talents and skills
33. Famous and/or unforgettable people you've met or who influenced you
34. Mentors
35. Travels
36. Family traditions
37. Gifts given and received
38. Special moments
39. Hard times, tears and losses
40. Brushes with danger
41. Legacy of [X] in my life. Make a separate page for each of the large essentially inescapable social/historical movements through which you lived, playing either a marginal or central role. For example, The Roaring Twenties, The Great Depression, World War II, The Korean War, The Cold War, The Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, Free Love, etc.
42. Moving/emigration/immigration
43. Children and the things they say
44. Food
45. Vehicles and transport
46. Pets and animals
47. Lessons learned and other reflections on Life
48. Death (your thoughts about and experiences with)
49. The Future . . . yours or the world's, from where you stand right now
50. Ghosts. Notes on your heritage or genealogy