The Donum Ancestor Challenge

Look back far enough, and we all come from people who survived something. Most of us know a few of their names. Fewer of us know what life taught them, in good times and hard ones.

So here is a challenge, in seven steps. Take one a day, or do them all at once.

1. Find the person in your family who remembers the most. Often it's the oldest person you can still talk to. Ask them three questions:
   • Who came before us, and what happened in their lives, good and hard?
   • What helped them along the way?
   • What did they learn that you want me to know?

   If nobody is left to ask, start at step 2.

2. Choose one person further back in your family, whose story was handed down to you. They can be family by birth or by adoption, and they don't need to be famous.
3. Write down three things you know are true about them. They can come from what you were told, a photograph, a letter, a document, a grave or a place. Keep what you know apart from what you guess.
4. Find the chance. What chance were they given? What chance did they make for someone else? It can be small: they learned to read, taught a trade, or saved a little money.
5. Finish this sentence: "Because they ___, I can ___."
6. Tell their story here. Start with what life taught them, then tell what happened. Before you send it, you'll confirm that a family member is comfortable with it being shared.
7. Thank them. And if you'd like, give a chance too. Use the three lines of the Donum Thank You Challenge: "Thank you, ___, for ___." "Because of you, ___." "Now I ___." Then ask one person you know to take this challenge.

If what you find is hard. Not everything that reaches us is good. Some families lost everything. Some people did harm. You can keep that in your own notes. A story shared here says what happened, and never names anyone to blame.

Your Ancestor Record. You can save steps 2 to 5 in My account, where only you can see them, and print them to keep.

Why do it? Because a story nobody writes down can be lost within a generation or two. And because what they learned the hard way may be exactly what someone else needs today. And because what they started does not have to end with them.

Start your Ancestor Record› Tell their story› The Donum Thank You Challenge› Read other people's stories›