This past November, Stories Inherited announced that – for every Stories Inherited life story project purchased prior to the end of the year – we would donate our services to a family without the resources to get this important task done for their loved one.

With mixed emotions, we are announcing that the first life history project we donated as part of the program has been published. While completing the project would normally bring smiles to all parties involved, we were saddened to hear that our storyteller for that project, Geraldine, passed away this month.

When we interviewed Geraldine, her amazingly uplifting spirit and positive outlook on life made it seem unthinkable to us that she would be gone just a couple months later. Beneath her glowing smile, Geraldine was a stage four cancer patient suffering from additional health conditions.

Geraldine’s positive attitude in the last months of her life are truly inspirational. A brief snippet from Geraldine’s life story illustrates that attitude:

“The only thing really the chemo did was take my hair out. I mean all of it. I looked like a little baby. And I didn’t mind that. I threw a hat on, a scarf on, and I said ‘Well,’ and I went on about my business.”

Gerri also suffered from a heart condition and diabetes.

“I try to keep a good attitude about the whole thing,” Gerri said. “If you don’t have a good attitude, you’re going to slide. You’re going to slide right down into a pit.”

… When asked what advice she’d give to younger generations, Gerri answered, among other things:

“Live each day to the utmost. You don’t have to be sick or hurt or anything like that to [realize you need to] live your life. Don’t think about tomorrow, don’t think about the bills you have to pay, just live – just have a good time and take care of yourself.”

It dawned on us that our community can gain a lot from reading the life stories we hear as part of our job at Stories Inherited. With that in mind, we will regularly post excerpts from our life story projects. Stay tuned for more stories from lives well lived. In the meantime, check out Stories Inherited’s personal history services by visiting StoriesInherited.com.