I had a brief and random conversation with my dad today. Somehow we ended up talking about my grandparents brief time in Pennsylvania before they had kids. Dad said, "it had to be around 1941, before the war". That phrase stuck in my head even though it wasn't the main point of the conversation, but it made me think about all the history my grandmother has lived through. I even brought it up during our family walk/talk this evening (we got to talk more because Aiden wanted to stay with Nana and Popaw tonight).
Mamaw was born in 1917 and would kill me if she knew I published that anywhere. Fortunately, she isn't into technology. LOL! Just think of all the history that has lived through - the Great Depression, wars, terrorism, kings and queens, assassinations, countless new technologies and inventions, etc., etc. Wow! I wish she was more of a talker and would tell me more stories of her history, but she doesn't think anyone is interested even if we tell her we are. I remember helping her clean a high shelf above her sliding glass doors one summer. She had this little collection of whisky bottles and about knocked me off my chair when she informed the distillery was in Batesville AND her dad worked there. WHAT?!?!? First of all, Batesville has been in a dry county (one that doesn't sell alcohol) for as long as I can remember. Second, I thought her dad was a farmer, and she has always struck me as a tee-totaler. Who knew? I even remember telling me how it used to take half a day to get to Batesville from Locust Grove (where I grew up) because they had to take a ferry across the river and came in from the west side of town. Today, it takes 15 minutes, and we just take the road down the "mountain" on the south side.
I told Joseph that I wish we could go back in time and experience various things without influencing or changing anything. You know, all the sci-fi time travelers threaten our very civilization because they could upset the past. Wouldn't that be so awesome? I'd love to go back and take the ferry to Batesville with my grandmother or pick cotton in the fields while my mom slept on the cotton sack or travel into the mine with my grandfather to find coal. I don't think any of us can ever understand what it was really like because we didn't experience it.
Anyway, I'm glad my children can be close to their grandparents, and I hope our parents share stories of their younger days with the kids. I feel like I've missed out on important parts of my heritage because I'm not close to any of my grandparents or any of my family in that generation. I fear an era of family history will be lost because nobody has recorded their stories and most of them are gone. I hope I remember all of this someday, so I eagerly share stories with my kids and grandkids because I'm sure things will be vastly different down the road. Maybe they will be fascinated that I used to sit in front of a computer and type my stories and feeling for others to read.
Totally, off topic, but it just started raining, and it sounds AWEsome! I love the sound of a late night summer rain. Sigh! I wish I could sleep by my open door, but Joseph doesn't even like to leave windows open at night. HaHaHa! I'm going to relax to this glorious sound for a few minutes before I hit the hay. I swear this is so NOT July in Arkansas weather. I'm grateful, but it's weird.
~Heather
Day 16 of 365
No comments:
Post a Comment