“The unexamined life is not worth living.” —Socrates
Sheila Dunec wants you to not only examine your life, but also write it down. The written testament is “a gift, a legacy,” she says, “that our elders create and give to us.”
Ms. Dunec, a Foothill College instructor, has been teaching a class called Life Stories for 10 years, including sessions at the Menlo Park Library; in it, she guides participants through the creation of a family history and, as the title suggests, a life story.
New Life Stories sessions begin next week at the Ladera Community Church in Portola Valley. The 10-week sections are set for Thursdays, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. from Jan. 10 to March 13; and Fridays, 9:45 to 11:45 a.m. from Jan. 11 to March 14.
The class helps students use memories, genealogical tools and other resources to create a narrative that can be shared with family, friends and future generations, Ms. Dunec says.
“Some people publish their stories, and many bind them and give copies to their family,” she says. “They capture the family history, what parents learned from their lives.”
They capture it before it is too late.
“After the death of my mother, I realized what had been lost,” Ms. Dunec explains. “I had lost the opportunity to ask questions about her life, her family, my family.”
The class consists of reflective exercises to elicit memories of different stages in life, and each participant keeps a binder of memory pages that are fleshed out into a narrative.
Each week focuses on a specific stage or topic in life, which include birth, the world we’re born into, family, and growing into adulthood. The remaining six topics vary from quarter to quarter and range from simplifying life to celebrating the gifts and guides life brings you, Ms. Dunec says.
Ms. Dunec encourages students to give expressions of thanks to the guides in one’s life.
“When my eldest daughter was in college,” she recounts, “she wrote a letter to her grandfather, explaining how much he meant to her and thanking him for always being there for her. It brought a stoic man to tears; he carried the letter with him for over a year.”
A life story is a lasting tribute and a learning experience, she notes. Participants in past quarters have ranged in age and experience. The elderly tell their own stories; adults interview their parents to tell their stories; everyone finds his or her own place in family history, she says.
The class fee is $150 for the 10-week session. Registration is limited. For more information or to register, call Sheila Dunec at 565-8087.
Ladera Community Church is at 3300 Alpine Road in Portola Valley.
