Howdy Family,
it's been waaaay longer than we would have liked since Brenda and I tended this blog. Life's "crazy arabesques" claimed our attention, but we really want to get back to collecting our stories - old and contemporary, anecdotal and historical, reflective and imaginative, factual and speculative... the stuff that captures how we were, how we are, how we wish to be, along with what we're doing, and thinking, and planning.
Lots has happened since our last Great Aunts missive...
Our niece Claire and her husband Ron gave Kim and Mark their third grandchild when Aaron Edward Mark Rollock was born in London on August 27, 2017.
Our niece Claire and her husband Ron gave Kim and Mark their third grandchild when Aaron Edward Mark Rollock was born in London on August 27, 2017.
On February 09 this year Nephew Matthew and his Nikki had twins, Bella and Noah Mark, to join Sophia, making them a family of 5, living in Bedford in the UK. Does anyone know of any other Punnett twins?
Niece Zen gave little Blaze a brother, Aatlaz, on April 24, 2018. Here she is during that pregnancy, at an exhibition of her paintings in Saint Vincent.
Sister Bunny's son Christopher and lovely Karina
had Baby #2 on January 31, 2018, in Ft. Myers, Florida. Asha Sabine O'Brien, joined the family just shy of the second
birthday of her sister, Morena Quinn.
Sister Lynn's second grandchild, Adalynn Rose Jane Hurst, was born to Carla and Eric Hurst on December 29, 2017 in Acworth, Georgia. Ady celebrated her first birthday with family in Trinidad.
Carla, Luke, Lynn, Eric & Ady, Toro, Luke's daughter Gianna, Laura, Wendy, Malini
Roger and his Raneen are making Brenda a grandmother in June!
Nephew Tristan, who lives in Miami, Florida, visited Patricia's clan in Ireland and again in Spain, making us very happy that Generation # 11 are keeping family bonds alive while frolicking in "foreign".
Brenda tells me that Benjamin Sky was born in October 2018 to Alexandra and John Luke, joining River and Lily Rose in their clan.
There have been losses, struggles and illness too.
Uncle Angus Fraser, the family holy man, left this world on October
7, 2018. He was remarkable in his warmth and goodness, and dedicated his life to the service of mankind, accomplishing much, and leaving a legacy - in quantifiable terms and in hearts around the world. I'd love to see Cousin Betty Jane or Patricia do a post on that treasured gentleman. His exit leaves the elegant and feisty Laurie Fraser Tuddenham as the one remaining member of our parents' generation. Auntie Laurie, keep on keeping on - we love you!
I remember hearing that when Britain declared war on Germany, a telegram was sent from the people of Barbados to the people of Britain saying something like, "Go ahead, England, Barbados is behind you!" I think we've all been sending that message to beloved Cousin Patricia as she has been going through the health mill with her trademark humour and courage, and with the loving, devoted support of her very own posse of Husband and children. Go good, Miss Paartrisha!
Much is missing from this attempt at filling the time since we lapsed, but we intend to do our best to stay current, while capturing old stories, and we hope that family and friends of all generations will pitch in with us. Please, do help us stay au courant...
One love,
Lisbie
below is an article on the importance of family stories you might like to read (reprinted without permission, of course...)
March 27,
2019
Melissa
Martin, author, columnist, educator, and therapist. She resides in the US.
People in all
countries tell stories about their history. Communities are hubs for talking
and listening. Every person has a story, and every person is a story. So
families are full of stories.
“When families
are invited to share their stories, folktales and culture, there are a number
of benefits for children, families and schools: Encouraging students to talk
with family members about their cultural heritage shows respect and interest in
students’ diverse cultures, making students and families feel more connected to
the school. Families are offered authentic, academically oriented ways of being
involved in the school without themselves needing to be highly proficient in
English or numerous academic subjects.”
Every family
has a book full of stories. Account of births and deaths—and the colourful
happenings in-between. Each generation is unique. Tales are photographs made up
of word pictures. Of course, some yarns are embellished or exaggerated. Also,
some stories are full of laughter while others are full of tears. We reach back
into our memories and relive the times of the past. Family history is embossed
in our DNA.
Recently, my
aunt Judy told me a story about the time Lydia, my grandmother, square danced
for Rosalynn Carter. I guess the Carters visited Portsmouth, Ohio, during their
campaign for the presidency. Lydia bowed and kissed the hand of Rosalynn after
the dance ended—and the lady from Georgia bestowed a glowing compliment upon
the pioneer woman from Appalachia.
Moreover, who
can forget our witty and wacky relative, “Uncle Beanie.” He bought, sold, and
traded antiques in Scioto County and beyond. As a kid, I was mesmerised by his
house full of goodies. It looked like a store of treasures. Moreover that man
could play a tune on the piano! Without taking any piano lessons, he learned to
tickle the ivories by ear. His sister, Joyce lived next door. She wore red
lipstick and sparkly jewellery. My cousin Kim and I adored Joyce and thought
she must have been a former movie star.
My grandmother
Hila was the queen of the garden. She ploughed, planted, and produced veggies
fit for royalty. Her fingers picked, snapped, and cooked the best green beans
in southern Ohio. Snuggling under my grandmother’s homemade quilts on a cold
winter’s night and examining the different pieces of fabric in the warm
daylight are fond memories of yesteryear.
Patchwork
quilts lay at the foot of every bed. She used remnants and scraps of material
from old clothes and sheets for quilt pieces. Every homemade quilt told a
story. Instead of ink and words, the fabric’s colour, texture, quality,
pattern, style, and stitching give an account of why, what, where, when and
how. Hila hailed from the backwoods of Kentucky.
In her book,
“Appalachian Elegy” bell hooks (name not capitalised by her choice) wrote of
life’s harsh realities in a collection of poems inspired by her childhood in
the isolated hills and hidden hollows of Kentucky. History lives on when our
words are written in a book.
Storytelling is
as old as the mountains and valleys. While hunting or gardening, families
shared stories. At the dinner table or the bedside, families shared stories.
Spoken stories served the purpose of informing, entertaining, educating and
passing down beliefs, values and ideas.
“Family stories
are tales about people, places, and events related to the members of our immediate
family or their ancestors. Family stories casually chatted about at the dinner
table or regaled again and again at family gatherings can parallel great epics
or notable short stories.
The memorable
stories of our lives and of others in our family take on special importance
because they are true, even if everyone tells different versions of the same
event. These tales are family heirlooms held in the heart, not the hand. They
are a gift to each generation that preserves them by remembering them and passing
them on.”
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