My mom and dad and grandparents have all passed away. Their stories of growing up and meeting and living their lives are only left in my memory. I wish I would've written down their stories. I wish I would've paid more attention. Now, how exactly did yall meet? And why did you move down here? And what made you quit college?
My dad was an amazing story teller. He did write down some of his anecdotes, thankfully. But I still have questions that I wish I would have asked. I still wish I would have listened a little closer. But as a kid, it's just the same old stories that mom and dad tell, blah blah blah.
But as I get older, I am curious. I don't remember my great grandparents at all. But I'd love to know their stories. My mom documented all the family genealogy. For that, I am grateful. But they are just names. Dates of birth, dates of death, counties of marriage etc. Who were they? Why did they fall in love? What were their triumphs? their defeats? their life changing moments?
I'd love to pass some stories down to my kids and grandkids. But I'm sure they are about as interested as I was at their age.
That's part of the reason for this blog. My social media posts will be lost to history someday. FB and Instagram will be as obsolete as Myspace. But hopefully, the stories I've written in this blog can survive. And hopefully, someday my descendants will stumble upon them and know a little bit about who I was. I wasn't just a date of birth and date of death. Maybe it will shed some insight onto their own journeys and personalities. Who knows?
So ask your living relatives now their stories! Video them! Write them down. Save for your posterity. You might not be interested in it now. But someday you will and you don't want that moment to be lost forever.
