Know your roots

Now, I’m not talking about weeds or hair – we will leave those for another post. What I am referring to is family and from whence one comes. Not only is it fun to explore and hear some interesting stories (like cross burnings in the front yard) but it is also a source of pride and can provide a heads up to possible medical challenges. I frequent Clara’s posts on Youtube and find her articles on Depression Cooking so much fun to watch and then make. She mentions in one episode about how important it was to have a large family – it was a source of joy during hard times. That got me to thinking about my parents and grandparents. I am fortunate to have all but one of my grandparents still living and knew both of my great-grandmothers; I was about 10 when they passed at 103 and 104, roughly. My parents generation ended the ‘large’ family creation with each having one or two children. I stopped at two as has my sister (right?).

My paternal grandparents, who are now in their mid 90’s, grew up during the depression. Granddaddy has had several mini strokes and now has difficulty remembering the past. My Dad, thankfully, had the forsight to create DVDs that document both of their lives. These DVDs include pictures, narative and some voice snippets from each grandparent. When I get to visit them, I often ask Grandmother how they did a certain activity back when she was a little girl. On one of my last visits I asked how they kept bread from molding. She explained that they did not make loaf bread like we do now.; they ate biscuits and corn bread. It was made fresh at each meal and was just enough to feed the 8 kids, parents & grands, and 2 farm hands. I enjoy listening to her talk about the past.

On my mother’s side, Grandfather is still living (103) and sadly my Grandmaman passed at 99. He was a foreign service officer who fell in love with a Belgium girl. It is her maiden name that I adopted after my divorce (Lanniee). Unfortunately I did not get a chance to speak with her about her growing up years and hope to learn part of that past from my mother and aunt. Grandfather is old enough now that asking him about the past sometimes gets a response, sometimes now – and that is if his hearing aid is in and working! =)
Thankfully both of my girls know both sets of their great-grandparents on both sides. Which reminds me, I need to visit them more!