In writing a personal or ancestral history, we cannot help but have some power over the story of a person's life. Choosing what events to include and what to leave out, how we tell the story, the voice we use all impact how we see that person's life. In an interesting history, we use techniques from fictional writing--scenes, drama, climax, themes, etc. In life we are always telling a story to ourselves and to others that means something to us. Our perspective is revealed in how we view events.
Something I have noticed is the goodness in each person's story. Knowing more about a person seems to endear him or her to me and hopefully to my readers. We see how the challenges a person faces causes growth or affects him or her in the other events of his or her life.
My own perspective is that each life is about a person's relationship with God. My belief is that we come from heaven and will return there. The tragedies and the joys of our lives are the things we learn and grow from. We may blame God or thank Him or even deny that He exists. However if I am looking for God's mercy or His blessings in a life, almost always a pattern can be seen as the life is examined. That pattern is the story that is being told.
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