Family History Stories

My Paternal and Maternal Grandparents

John and Edith Robert and Violet

Stories!  I love stories,  stories about what is happening now and stories from the past. I often think of myself as a story collector.  Several years ago, I purchased an audio recorder.  I can often be seen placing it out in the middle of people who have gathered to talk and reminisce. I love hearing all their stories and watching the laughter and sometimes sadness flow as they start remembering.    I am a longtime family historian.  I love to learn about who came before me, the good, the bad and even the ugly.  I firmly believe we are made up of who came before us along with who we chose to spend time with in the present.  Many of my values and traits came from my Parents and Grandparents.  Their legacy has been instilled in me through the years and even generations.  I can look back and see the values that these people lived by and know that these are the same things that I chose to stand for and to display in my life.  Do I reach the goals that I set, not every time, but I keep striving and trying.

 I was blessed to know all my Grandparents.   One couple lived locally and the other 1500 miles away. We spent great quality time with my Grandparents that were close.  They both lived until I was in my 30’s and 40’s, so I have great memories.   Although my other Grandparents were many miles away, my parents made a conscious effort to see them at least once a year.   Did I have the strong relationship with my Oregan Grandparents as I did with my Missouri ones?  No, but I have good memories of them all.    Both of my Grandparents lived long lives together until they died.  Were their journeys all butterflies and roses?  Not by any means.   My parents have been married for over 60 years.  I have been blessed to see their love for each other and how they give to each other.  Although, I had these examples of what to strive for and a goal to stay in this type of relationship like they did, it was just not meant to be for me.   So I continue to look at the lives of those in the past and reflect on what they did and what they went through to stay so long in these relationships.  We learn from our past.  Did they stay because it was ingrained in the times that divorce was not a thing that happened?  Did they have no other choice to stay?  Were they tied down with the daily obligations?  I would like to think that they stayed together because they were in love and made this commitment that this would be the only lifestyle that they would know.  Realistically, I know that this might not have been the reason.  We do what we have to do for many different reasons.   There are so many things to know and learn from their past. 

I have been passionate about the history of my family's past.  What did they go through?  What made them who they are?   I often think, Dang, I don’t think I could have survived that. What would I have done if this had happened to me?    My journey to learn started over 30 years ago.  I used to work and share info with my Aunt Mary Jane.  She was the collector of all the family pictures. I was the collector, in the beginning, of all the facts.  The past 3 years, we grew closer (she lived in Oregon) and she started giving me the pictures that had come into her hands through the years.  I started not only collecting the  data, but the stories behind the pictures.  She was an amazing resource! She knew and remembered all things.  Thankfully, she sat down with my Grandma and asked her many questions about her past.  I am blessed to have this on cassette.  Yes, I know this is dating me.  I have since digitized it.    Unfortunately we lost my Aunt about a year ago.  I am very thankful for the time we had together.  She made sure that every picture she gave me had names and info on them.  I recorded numerous stories and transcribed them into timelines of people that the stories were about.  She knew that I would continue this journey for future generations.  As the older generations start to leave me, I am even more passionate about learning all I can about their journey.  

This blog will not only be a record of my family and what I discovered but a way for me to share some of the knowledge and insight on what I would have done differently.  I will share all the things I have learned and all the things I wish I would have known sooner.  I hope you find some value and insight to how to make this journey of learning all about your past history.  What and who made you matters.  

I would love to hear your story.