Perfectly Practical #49 - Connecting with the Past
Last week, I went with my Momma to get flowers for my Grandparents' & Great-Grandparents' graves. It was time to switch out the Christmas flowers for some springy ones.
It seems a little morbid, but I do actually find that walking through a graveyard is kind of peaceful and very interesting. It makes you wonder what life was like for different people. Or why they died at such a young age. Or if Wilehmina was really a fashionable name at one time - by the way, that was really my Great-Grandmother's name, poor dear.
Lately I have had the opportunity to interview my family members for a little project I am involved with and it is so neat to connect with the past. The childhood stories, stories of the family jokesters, the love stories, and how life was 60 or 70 years ago - it seems like a different world altogether rather than just a different time.
I am no great student of history but I have heard it said and can recognize the truth in the statement, "Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it." If only I would have learned from the mistakes and the wisdom of my forefathers...if only this country would learn from the mistakes and wisdom of our forefathers...
Connecting with the past gives us a sense of identity and belonging. It gives your relatives who lived 100 years ago relevance in your child's life. It's wonderful to think of those family traits that you see in the mirror each day or the tale behind your Great-Grandmother's breakfast plates from 100 years ago that sit in your china cabinet were the same dimples and dishes that you see today.
I would encourage you to sit down with the older generations of your family and talk. Or better yet, have your kiddos sit down and interview them. Let the kids hear about the "good old days." That knowledge of a common vine winding its way down your family tree is so precious. Plus, you never know when you might need those stories or dates for a school project...
It seems a little morbid, but I do actually find that walking through a graveyard is kind of peaceful and very interesting. It makes you wonder what life was like for different people. Or why they died at such a young age. Or if Wilehmina was really a fashionable name at one time - by the way, that was really my Great-Grandmother's name, poor dear.
Lately I have had the opportunity to interview my family members for a little project I am involved with and it is so neat to connect with the past. The childhood stories, stories of the family jokesters, the love stories, and how life was 60 or 70 years ago - it seems like a different world altogether rather than just a different time.
I am no great student of history but I have heard it said and can recognize the truth in the statement, "Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it." If only I would have learned from the mistakes and the wisdom of my forefathers...if only this country would learn from the mistakes and wisdom of our forefathers...
Connecting with the past gives us a sense of identity and belonging. It gives your relatives who lived 100 years ago relevance in your child's life. It's wonderful to think of those family traits that you see in the mirror each day or the tale behind your Great-Grandmother's breakfast plates from 100 years ago that sit in your china cabinet were the same dimples and dishes that you see today.
I would encourage you to sit down with the older generations of your family and talk. Or better yet, have your kiddos sit down and interview them. Let the kids hear about the "good old days." That knowledge of a common vine winding its way down your family tree is so precious. Plus, you never know when you might need those stories or dates for a school project...
Hi - my dear friend who is only 45 name is Wilhemena lol talk about your old lady name! Lovely post!
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