VANCOUVER—When Peter Nobes first received a drab-coloured 168-page book about his father’s life 18 years ago, he didn’t think much of it.

His dad was in his late 60s then, and Nobes figured if he wanted to know the insignificant details about Dad’s life – his old jobs, his first kiss – he could just ask.

Something changed in 2010. “He had a fall and was in hospital,” said Nobes, the director of Catholic Cemeteries. “I remember thinking about his life. It made me think about Dad, my family, and my kids.”

Suddenly, those first-person details meant a whole lot more. “I sat down sometimes to read it through, and I really found it interesting. He had quite a journey in his life, just even reading about his summer jobs.”

Even after his father recovered from his injury, Nobes found himself drawn to the true stories in the book: how his father (now 86) proposed to his girlfriend over the phone, how he struggled with the death of his father when he was 36, and how he took another blow when he was laid off after working at Zellers for 35 years.

Inspired, Nobes started digging into family genealogy. He asked his dad about his past, studied his mother’s Irish roots, and learned about his wife’s Polish heritage. He learned there were horse wranglers and miners in his family tree.

That small, hard-cover gift sparked a mission. Now, Nobes is launching a campaign encouraging all Catholics over 60 years old to create their own legacy books.

It’s about having “healthy conversations about what matters,” he said.

The project, called My Family Story, is a free, multi-week series featuring writing coach and “armchair genealogist” Lynn Palermo. The series, sponsored by Gardens of Gethsemani, will include questions about past jobs, marriage, parenting, and family values, as an aid to creating a personalized journal. It officially launches May 1.

“There’s a psychological thing that as people get older, they do a life review. Part of that is wanting to pass on life lessons and tell how life has meaning,” said Nobes.

He hopes relationships will grow stronger when people work together on their books. “It ties in with the archdiocesan priority of strengthening marriages and families,” and, he hopes, will “feed into the family character and family values.”

Certainly, he will be creating one for his children, hoping to pass on his memories, thoughts, and family research. “That was a great gift my father gave us.”

More information and registration for My Family Story is available at www.myfamilystory.ca.