This week's Australia Day honours recognise hundreds of people 'whose efforts make our communities and the nation a better place to live,' according to the Governor-General David Hurley.
As a rural reporter, I loved to interview those recognised for services to agriculture. We rarely had time to record the back story, but this is where you fit in.
Listening to a family member tell their story is an intimate experience. I sometimes wish I could hear my dad's voice, telling me his story.
What set me thinking along these lines was the death of a friend's sister. I helped with the eulogy for the memorial service broadcast. It was a wonderful tribute and a great storytelling event.
Connection with the extended family was significant and memories of holidays with cousins and family feasts just tumbled out as my friend reflected on her sister's life.
As we chatted, I discovered a family gem. My friend was a descendant of the Furphy family, Irish immigrants who built the Furphy farm water cart that transformed agriculture in the late 1800s.
John Furphy must have been quite a character; not only did he use the water carts for advertising his products, but as a strict Methodist and lay preacher he used them to spread the fiery word of God.
He embossed the following messages on the tanks: 'Good better best, Never let it rest, Until your good is better, And your better best' and 'Water is the gift of God, but beer and whiskey concoctions of the devil. Come and drink water'.
During the first World War, the army used the Furphy water cart to move water around army camps. It was a gathering point for the troops and a place to gossip. The term 'furphy' became synonymous with idle rumour, or even 'fake news'!
Joseph Furphy, John's brother entered the history books as 'the father of the Australian novel'. He wrote under the pen name Tom Collins, and his best known work is the classic Such is Life.
Most of us don't make the history books or honours list, nor does our name become part of the Aussie vernacular, but we all have a story.
What about recording your family's?
It doesn't have to be chronological. For starters, try recording the story about how the family survived that drought, how mum and dad met, or how the family coped with a mouse plague!
- Robin McConchie, former rural reporter
