This weekend we celebrated my husband's grandmother's 90th birthday! She is a beautiful woman that loves her Lord, family, friends, and life. Grandma was in her element as she visited and reminished with nearly 200 people. As I looked over the sea of gray hair, I realized that everyone in the room knew her from various points in her life. Some were family. Some were neighbors. Some were friends. Some were residents of the assisted living home where she lives. Regardless of why the attended, their lives were touched by her.
At one point, I couldn't resist asking a table of elderly ladies how they knew Grandma. After I explained who I was, they openly shared that at one time or another they were neighbors or went to church with her. Although she isn't my biological grandmother, I couldn't resist the opportunity to get to know more about this part of her life. I was saddened when I realized that as these people pass on, a part of Grandma will go with them. And one day, she too will go to be with her Heavenly Father and join her beloved husband.
Family is very important to me and I value both my current family and my ancestry. I want our children to understand that life as they know it wasn't the case for their great-grandparents. I'm thankful that our boys know two of their great-grandparents, but never really had the chance to know the others. I feel it is our responsibily as parents to ensure that our children understand their heritage and the impact that family can have on one's life.
I'm not able to in words express my true sentiments regarding my interest in family history. However, one of my biggest regrets in life is not learning more about my grandparents before they died. I just didn't have the chance and/or wasn't old enough to appreciate the importance of that information. I still have one grandmother left and I cherish her and the stories she has shared with me.
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It's so strange to me how you and I are often pondering or dealing with the same things. We just did a project in school this week where the kids had to figure out their nationalities, and make a pie chart to represent the percetages, etc. I thought of it as a good math lesson. The kids were more interested in hearing stories about the names on the page. It was fun to be able to share my memories and anecdotes with them.
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