) ( ) Good Morning Family! .-.,--^--. ( Come on in. . . \\|`----'| - The coffee pot's on. . . \| |// ...and we even have decaf, | |/ tea, and hot chocolate! \ / ------ Today's topics include: 1. Welcome to new cousins 2. The picture If you've been with the family for at least three weeks, you'll probably want to skip the following paragraphÂ… TO OUR NEWEST COUSINS ~~ On behalf of the entire family, I'd like to extend a most hearty welcome to those cousins who came into the family fold this past week. We are very glad to have you with us and hope you'll stay and remain a part of our online family. As soon as you're comfortable with us and the list, please send in your Bower[s]/Bauer or Baur lines so we can all see how we're related to you. We do not have a fancy format for sending in records or queries to the list. Post as many as you wish! If the data has anything to do with Bower[s]/Bauer or Baur ancestors or any of the 81+ variant spellings we research that might help someone, please feel free to post it. Every scrap of information is appreciated. If you haven't visited the homesite of this list yet, you are encouraged to do so. Our home is Bower Community, located at <http://bowercommunity.com>. There, we currently have two sites: The Bower Family Homestead [a.k.a., the Homestead] is our primary homesite and the gathering place for much of our information. It waits to join us all in welcoming you into the family at <http://bowercommunity.com/homestead>. Smaller and just opened this year, our sister site, the Bower Cottage, houses most of our projects including an online GEDCOM fed by quite a few cousins from our lists. The Cottage is still small as far as material goes, however give us time and we'll have it filled really soon. The Cottage is at <http://bowercommunity.com/cottage>. THE PICTURE I've been working on my second book behind the scenes here... the one for my mother's side. Momma gave me an old, old photo album last July that she had tucked away in a box in the top of her closet. She pointed out the picture of a young woman to me... one wearing a long dress, her hair in a pouf-bun high on her head. It was my grandmother in her twenties and it was her engagement picture. She looked so young and pretty... not at all the way I recalled her aged appearance as a child. I didn't think about Grandma (born in 1890) ever being young then, and never did... not until Momma pointed out that picture to me. I thought, "She's beautiful! No wonder Grandpa married her!" She wasn't smiling, and I wondered about that, too. Looking at Grandma's picture makes me wonder more about what she was like. Oh, I have all her vitals... her birth and death dates, her marriage date... all the places. I have a copy of her will and I know many of the organizations she belonged to. But what was she _really_ like? Did she march through Detroit for women's right to vote? Did she know how to do the popular dances of the 1920's. Was she always as "starchy" as I felt she was when I was a child? I remember Grandma's laughter... I also remember her as being strict ~ and a fabulous cook! But what were her beliefs? Getting past the superficial layers, what was she like as a person?... a vibrant young woman? As a military brat, I didn't have benefit of knowing Grandma as well as I might have if my dad had chosen a civilian career. My memories and limited knowledge of Grandma will hardly do justice to the "real" her. I think about things like that as I work on the narratives for the people in my heritage. This one side is full German... the very country I've come to love after living there so many times. Why didn't I take the time to appreciate everything more about Germany and Momma's side of the family when I was there? It's too late now. However, it may not be for you. Are your grandparents still alive? What about your great aunts and uncles? Do you take the time to really "hear" their stories of their youth, or will you one day look at the pictures and think to yourself, "If only I had given him/her/them my time, and listened." Next time, listen. Listen with your eyes, feel and sense them with your ears... and let them touch your soul. Give them the gift of your time so they can give you the gift of themselves. Once they're gone, you'll have not only your documents but a wealth beyond price... the enrichment of memories from them and of them. They are what made us. They are we and we are them. After all, it's family... caring for and sharing with one another... and, it's what we're all about. To those of you with February birthdays, the family and I all wish you very happy and special day. You are loved!! I really enjoyed this time with you. It was so nice. I hope you all have a fantastic upcoming week. I wish you all a week filled with health, fun, productivity, and above all, filled with love. ) ( ) _.-~~-. (@\'--'/. Colleen ('``.__.'`) `..____.'