John Resnik

Porch Swing Tip of the Week: My Childhood, Part One: The People

To tell about your childhood, you need not begin with your birth. Stories about the people who influenced you can be told in any order. What is a fond early memory of your mother, or of your father? Who was your closest childhood friend, and what did you enjoy doing together? Who did you admire or consider a hero as a child? Share about family get-togethers and traditions. Name one enjoyable memory with each of your siblings. Remember that the family members you knew as a child were very different than from how your children or grandchildren knew them later. 
 
Need additional help? Contact us at 833-767-2411 or inquiries@porchswingstories.com 

We’re always here to help.
 
Jayme & John Resnik and the Porch Swing Team

Porch Swing Tip of the Week: Searching for a meaningful Valentine’s Day gift?

Why not express love for your sweetie with a Porch Swing gift certificate?  Go to our website at  www.porchswingstories.com to get more information on how to encourage a loved one to write and accumulate their stories into a keepsake book. He or she will feel valued and special because you facilitated the preservation of their most treasured remembrances. Later, reading the completed book will warm your heart and remind you of why you chose that Extraordinary Person as your Valentine!

Need additional help? Contact us at 833-767-2411 or inquiries@porchswingstories.com 

We’re always here to help.
 
Jayme & John Resnik and the Porch Swing Team

Porch Swing Tip of the Week: Beating the wintertime blues by walking down memory lane. 
 
We just had the winter solstice, and if you’re like me and lots of people I talk to, the early sunsets and late sunrises seemed to sneak up on us this year. As the days get shorter and the weather less conducive to spending time outside, many people – millions even, according to WebMD – suffer with Seasonal Affective Disorder. SAD. Hmmm…..

If wintertime makes you feel blue and less energetic, it might help to take a walk when you can out in the sunshine. Then take a walk down memory lane, remembering and recording happy experiences on your StorySite. You can change your perspective from feeling sad that you can’t do things that warmer weather allows, to being grateful that you have some time to get your stories written down. 

Need additional help? Contact us at 833-767-2411 or inquiries@porchswingstories.com 

We’re always here to help.
 
Jayme & John Resnik and the Porch Swing Team

Porch Swing Tip of the Week: In Others’ Words
 
Have you sent friends and family members an invitation to give their input into your life stories? You can ask for big-picture impressions of your personal history; another’s thoughts can be so encouraging, even if you’ve heard them before. Or request observations about a particular event that you and someone else experienced. For example, siblings often remember what happened differently from how you do. (Of course, yours is the right version, but you can humor them, right?)

These outside viewpoints can add depth, color, and emotion to your book. On your StorySite, just click on In Others’ Words for assistance requesting your friends’ or family members’ perspectives. 

Need additional help? Contact us at 833-767-2411 or inquiries@porchswingstories.com 

We’re always here to help.
 
Jayme & John Resnik and the Porch Swing Team

Porch Swing Tip of the Week: My BFFs

According to Time.com, researchers have found that the happiest people have strong social relationships. And they weren’t talking about how many friends you have on social media either. TheAtlantic.com confirms that friendships provide mental and physical benefits. Friends help us maneuver life’s stresses. But then, you already knew that, right?

Have you written about your friends, from childhood, from college, from military service, from work or church or whatever? Do you have a Best Friend Forever that you really have had forever? Tell about your friends, where/how you met, funny experiences you’ve had together, what you enjoy about them, why you’ve chosen to stay friends. It’s nice when your readers know your friends, but it’ll be more special to know why they’re your friends. 

Need additional help? Contact us at 833-767-2411 or inquiries@porchswingstories.com 

We’re always here to help.
 
Jayme & John Resnik and the Porch Swing Team

Porch Swing Tip of the Week: School Daze

Most public schools in the country have started again after summer break. Yeah, watch out for buses and kids in the crosswalks! When you were a kid, did you hate when fall came and you had to go back to school? Or were you, like me, anxious to see your friends again and sort of tired of just your siblings as playmates on the farm? What can you tell your readers about the physical building(s) you attended, your teachers, subjects you enjoyed or hated, differences and similarities between then and now?

Maybe you could write a chapter to your younger self about how what you were learning then would become important later. (Dear Younger Me, get serious, pay attention, do our best! You’re gonna need this!) Your 20/20 vision in the rear-view mirror, big-picture insights, and hard-won wisdom might just inspire your younger readers to make the 2021-22 school year their best yet!
 
Need additional help? Contact us at 833-767-2411 or inquiries@porchswingstories.com 

We’re always here to help.
 
Jayme & John Resnik and the Porch Swing Team

Porch Swing Tip of the Week: It’s Okay To Be Weird!
 
Do your grandchildren say you’re weird? I mean, in a nice way, letting you know that they’re not so sure about you? Whew! Glad it’s not just me!

What practices or habits do you have that need explaining to younger generations? For example, you may always use some cooking trick that is uncommon and, upon explanation makes great sense and is adopted by others. Knocking on wood? Or throwing salt over your shoulder? Always eating the same thing for breakfast? Or sneaking up on unsuspecting youth with your own Nerf pistol? What else? 

Own it! Tell’em! Let your readers know why you do what you do. You might even mention unusual characteristics and quirks you remember about your parents, or grandparents, or that crazy aunt everyone warned you about. 

Need additional help? Contact us at 833-767-2411 or inquiries@porchswingstories.com 

We’re always here to help.
 
Jayme & John Resnik and the Porch Swing Team

Porch Swing Tip of the Week: Dreams and Aspirations

Do you remember that Garth Brooks song, Unanswered Prayers? The lyrics explain that the songwriter’s younger self prayed for something he thought God never answered; then, later in life he understood that he really got a better answer than he had realized. Have you had that kind of experience?

For example, what did you want to be when you grew up, and did that match with where you ended up? Many children have aspirations that are never realized, for one reason or another. A chapter telling about what you have dreamed of — whether it happened or not — could be enlightening to your audience. There may be a goal you had as a younger person, and you’d like to explain what inspired you to lean that direction, how or why the goal was derailed, what you learned from it then, and what years and wisdom have taught you since.

Are there bucket list items you’d like to mention? This chapter would be a good place for that as well. 
 
Need additional help? Contact us at 833-767-2411 or inquiries@porchswingstories.com 

We’re always here to help.
 
Jayme & John Resnik and the Porch Swing Team