Of course youre thinking of Christmas gifts in August, arent you? Well, I dont usually, but this year I am because I want to tell you about a wonderful idea for a gift to your family, but this one you have to start early.

Present them with a family memoir. A memoir is like a biography or autobiography. Its a way for family members to get to know their siblings and their ancestors and to pass along stories behind the stories such as why "the plates are cold."

I had an opportunity to live with my maternal grandmother for a short time just before she passed away. She was anxious to talk and she was probably thinking a lot about her youth. I regret, now, that I wasnt more attentive to her and asked her more probing questions. I wish I had recorded what she had to say.

The same is true of my mother and of the many members of the rest of my family.

So for Christmas this year, why not give a gift that the whole family can enjoy for generations? Give the gift of memories.

You can do this by having the extended family share their recollections, no matter in what part of the country they reside. There are many ways this could be done. This is only an idea for one, very easy way and might help to get your creative juices flowing.

Have a family teleconference and have it recorded, then transcribed. Using one of the many free conferencing services, the conference itself would be free except for long distance charges incurred by the callers. The recording can even be done free.

Designate a host. It could be a member of the family or it could be an outsider who would be primed with questions to lead the family members in an agreed-upon direction.

For example, have an older sibling of your parent as the authority or guest, then have your cousins and other members of the extended family participate in the teleconference. You might even want to invite an old family friend who could contribute.

Agree upon a topic. It might be what was my mother/father like when you were children? Was my parent easy to get along with? Or pick a particular year or a specific happening, such as holidays, summer vacations, clothes, education, etc.

The topic could even be general and everyone gets to ask questions: What kinds of clothes did you wear? What was a favorite activity? What were favorite meals, drinks, desserts, snacks, picnics? What kind of school did you attend? What kind of toys did you have and what were your favorites? Where did you go for vacation and what was your favorite? What were some of the family traditions for the holidays? Did you play tricks on each other and what was the worst that my parent did?

Once the recording is finished, it is easy and inexpensive to duplicate as many copies as needed. Have the audio transcribed and copies of the audio and transcription can be given to each of the family members. The only costs other than the long-distance phone charges, would be the cost to duplicate the CDs, the cost to transcribe the audio, the cost to print the transcription, and the cost of a host if you use a host. It would be good to include some family photos provided by those who participate.

This same gift idea can be used for other occasions and given to friends, neighbors, co-workers, a gift to expectant parents. Use the idea for weddings, class reunions, family reunions, anniversaries, graduations, significant birthdays. Gather a group together to reminisce about a person who is having a significant birthday (like one of those that ends in a zero or a 5).

Use the idea to plan an event, such as family reunions or holiday dinners.

I once did a transcription for a company which was morphing drastically from its beginnings and some of the original personnel were getting older. In this case, instead of using the telephone, they got together and reminisced about what it had been like to be a part of a baby company and to see it grow into a successful giant.

So, its the end of August and you dont usually think of Christmas gifts? Perhaps these ideas will get you to thinking and you can start planning for the family Christmas gift now.