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| My dad's family - 1935. |
Like many, I'm drawn to figuring out my family history. Why am I inspired in this way? Is it good to spend so much time looking back rather than working for the future, or is looking back a good way to think about and work for the future? I'm thinking about these questions.
One draw is that I have always loved my big, wonderful family. I have so many joyful memories of growing up with lots and lots of cousins, loving aunts and uncles, good grandparents, and more. Truly, there were many, many joyful times and so many stories shared. I want to capture that joy for myself and others. I also want to look for the roots of that joy--what created such a spirited, happy, friendly, and helpful family? How can we take that forward?
What traditions do we keep, and what have lost over the years? How might this thread help us to remember and recreate similar good times for our families, both intimate and extended?
Just as people discuss the importance of having a sense of place, I think it is equally important to have a sense of family, using the broadest definition of what family is. And, when we don't look back, are we likely to lose the strength that our good history has brought to us and potentially recreate or bring forth some of the unhappy chapters and events?
So for now, I'll continue the quest--who is my family past, present, and into the future? What stories will continue generation after generation, and what ways will we leave behind? Time will tell.