Family – generations
Occasionally, when I get some time to do something I really love, I explore the family story. I love to listen to the stories of the beginnings of our family. Not the beginning, but the earliest generations that I can hear stories about. Older people are a treasure. They hold the stories that bring life to the names on the family tree.
So, my sister and I got to enjoy spending time with our mother and her sister. Two sets of sisters, hanging out and laughing together. I think up until just a few years ago, I realized that Lee being my aunt meant that she was my mother’s sister but I didn’t realize that they were sisters. You know, sisters. One is bossy, the other rolls her eyes. One thinks one way, the other totally disagrees. They brag to each other about their kids and grandkids etc. They love each other fiercely! You know, like me and my sister. Hahahaha! We won’t discuss which one is bossy and which one rolls their eyes. You get the picture!
Andrea and I were able to share our progress in trying to learn the identity of Mom and Lee’s maternal (bio) grandparents. Our ancestry DNA research is going on two years now. We enjoyed hearing the family stories and listening to the ladies talk who had met and really knew grandparents that were gone before I was ever thought of. I listened today as Lee detailed the interior of our great grandparents house. The furnishings, the dishes, the washstand, the green mohair furniture. The way they walked together in the early mornings long distances just to visit with people and enjoy company. Which grandmother never said a curse word in her life and which one tended to have a potty mouth. Personality and mental pictures.
One day when I am gone, I hope that some one will know me well enough to explain me to a future generation. I think it is important to know who paved the way for us, what people worked together to make our parents who they are/were and shape who we become. Biological family or loving adoptive family. I LOVE the story. I LOVE that we jump right in the middle of the story. I LOVE hearing the story and telling the story. I LOVE trying to be careful that the story I leave behind points the way to Jesus and love.
generations of stories, generations of love, generations of imperfect people working to make a life. . .
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