I have a story for you about pictures and how much they can mean. My fathers mother died when he was just 8 years old. She left behind 7 children one of whom died in two months after her. My grand father was killed in an accident less than 1 year later. My father could not remember his mothers face and we often talked about what she might have looked like. He said that he would pray at night that he could look at the face of his mother and know what she looked like. He had a sister who was blonde , fair and had gray eyes, the rest of them had dark hair and blue eyes and we always wondered if she looked like his Mother or if the rest of them did, he could not remember what his father looked like either.I have a sister named Kathy and she was like Aunt Ruth, Blonde hair, fine and straight, gray eyes. The other 3 of us have dark curly thick, hair and blue eyes. My father died in 1974 at the age of 50 and I thought then that he would get to see what his parents looked like after all this time. We had no family connections because his mothers father had disowned her when she married my grandfather, why I don"t know. Last year my dads sister, the last of them that is alive, called and asked me to come by. There on her dining room table was an old yellow picture of my grandmother that someone in the family had kept and had bothered to trace down my Aunt and bring it to her. As I picked it up I not only looked into the face of my grandmother but at the face of my sisters twin. How I wish that My father could have seen it. It would have meant so much to him. Can you imagine not being able to picture either of your parents faces? I called my sister and told her of the picture. I sent her a copy that week. She called me back when she got it. She said you know all these years I thought that I must have been adopted because I didn't look like anyone else in the family that I could remember. I laughed and said, Yes you did ,you just didn't know it. My dad was looking at the face of his mother everytime he looked at her and didn't know it. Doesn't God answer prays in a funny way sometimes. Brenda ----- Original Message ----- From: "tharper" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, September 16, 2000 3:08 PM Subject: Re: [DC] Sunday Afternoon Rocking > an, > How true and touching. Maybe they would appreciate this picture but in > my opinion he left it with his "true" family. You treasure it as no other > could. however I understand what you mean about it might be important to > someone somewhere. > A freind of mine bought un old house and in it were a small package of black > and white photos. For some unknown reason she gave them to me and I put > them away in an envelope in my hope chest. After 12 years my son brought > home a girlfreind and we started going through pictures of him as a child. > We came across this envelope and I was telling her the story of how I became > the owner of them > Imagine my shock when she asked me what I was doing with a picture of > HER grandfather. He lived in Darrington and the house that the pictures > came from was in a town 17 miles west of that. I call the woman who use to > own the house to see where the picture came from and she said only that > someone had left them there for her to find 20 years before. > This picture of Kylene's granfather meant so much to her as her > grandparents and her were very close and she had lost her grandfather only 2 > years before this. She asked to have it for her grandmother and to make a > long story short I meant her grandmother to give her this picture and the > rest of the package (which were all people she new) and we have become dear > freinds. > I will always be glad that I didn't toss those pictures and though they > were mine for a little while, they now are where they belong and I will > always feel that those pictures by a fluke of fate brought me some very dear > freinds. > Toni > -----Original Message----- > From: j <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] <[email protected]> > Date: Friday, September 15, 2000 11:55 PM > Subject: [DC] Sunday Afternoon Rocking > > > >"Returning Roots" (from the Sunday Afternoon Rocking series) > > > >Afternoon All, > > > >I am guilty. I never intended to be guilty, or to have a piece of someone's > >roots that could indeed be returned, but I am guilty...and perhaps many of > >you are as well. It happened quite by accident. > > > >Many years ago, I had a beloved step-grandfather. I loved him for the care > >he took of my grandmother, the enjoyment he gave her last days, and I loved > >him for who he was by his own merits. Not long before he died, he came many > >miles to visit, and he brought with him an ancient picture of folks in old > >fashioned dress. In the photograph was his own mother as a young girl, and > >he brought the photograph, not because I had any ancestral ties to it, but > >because I had a talent and he wished to ask me to use it. He asked me to do > >an oil painting of that photograph for him. I fully intended to do that and > >wanted very much to please him...but the time for fulfilling the request > >never seemed to evolve, and not long afterwards, he died. It bothered me > >that I had never fulfilled his request, and there have been times when I > >have thought of going ahead with the project even though there seemed to no > >longer be a point for doing so. > > > >For over twenty years that photograph as been in my possession, meaningless > >to me except as something that was beloved by someone I cared a great deal > >for. Somewhere in the world, this man had children, although I am not at > >all sure who they are, or where they might be found. They were never > >particularly close to our family, and I am not even sure that they were > >particularly close to their father. I am sure they have no clue I have this > >picture (perhaps do not even know who I am), and they may not realize the > >picture even exists. However, I have no doubt but that if I just took a bit > >of time, and really applied myself to the chore, I could probably find > >them. And chances are, that among these children, or their children, is > >someone who would treasure and appreciate that photograph for reasons far > >greater and more meaningful than my own. > > > >I do not believe my story is either unusual or one that few can relate to. > >Indeed I believe that many of us have found ourselves the possessor of > >another's roots unintentionally. And I believe there comes a time when one > >must finally quit "putting off until tomorrow", and actually make the > >effort to return something more precious than money to those who can > >appreciate. This has been heavy on my mind for a good long while, and > >before the year is out, I hope discover the "rightful owner", to package > >that photograph up and mail it to a person who will be surprised and > >pleasured to receive an unexpected "gift" that was never mine to hold on to > >in the first place. With that "gift" I will send my apologies for waiting > >so long to return roots that were not my own. > > > >Yes, I believe my story is not so unusual and many of us find ourselves in > >such a position. But I think there is yet another story that is less > >unusual still, and that the most of us are guilty of. We also find > >ourselves the possessor of our own roots not shared with others that have > >the same right to those as ourselves. In most cases, it is not that we are > >selfish, or wish to keep what has descended to us "all to ourselves", but > >that we never really take the time to share. Perhaps it is a box of family > >photographs, perhaps it is a family document, a bundle of old letters. > >Perhaps it is a series of stories we received from an elder only because we > >were in the right place at the right time to hear these and our cousins > >were not. Perhaps there are physical keepsakes...a quilt, a piece of > >glassware, a basket, a piece of furniture...things we certainly will not > >let go of...but could easily make a photograph of and provide the story > >behind for another, that all of the family will know what exists and how it > >played a part in an ancestral story. > > > >Those are things we treasure, and we are so grateful to have these bits and > >pieces of our past, so relieved that somehow those things managed to wind > >up in our hands after traveling throughout the generations of a family. > >But, honestly, regardless of the legality of the issue...ethically, do > >those things belong to us any more than they belong to other descendents of > >a family? Do other cousins not have the same right to treasure those roots > >as ourselves? Sigh. And yes, I too am guilty. I have shared with many, but > >not with all. I have made copies of photographs and documents, recorded > >stories, and sent roots to many, often to cousins that I did not even know > >before the net...but oddly, for some reason, many of the cousins with > >actually greater blood ties and closer in relationship, have not received > >such a package from me. I didn't mean to slight anyone, and I truly have > >had it "in the back of my mind" to create such a package and share what I > >had. But I have not done so in every case. Once again, I think it is time > >for a "reality check" and a good look at my own mortality, what I hold that > >others may well treasure as much as myself and certainly have a right to as > >much as myself. It is time for me to realize that unless I do today what I > >can do, the other descendents of my lines may never have access to what I > >have. "Tomorrow" may never come, and putting off until tomorrow is not > >really an option if I truly am committed to what I write about and espouse > >so often. It is time for me to begin returning roots. > > > >just a thought, > >jan > > > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >(Note: Afternoon Rocking messages are meant to be passed on, meant to be > >shared...simply share as written without alterations...and in entirety. > >Thanks, jan) > > > >Sunday Afternoon Rocking columns are distributed weekly on the list Sunday > >Rocking. This is not a "reply to" list, and normally only one message per > >week will come across it, that being the column. To subscribe send email to > >[email protected] > > > >Comments about the content of these messages can be sent to > >[email protected] > > > >If you enjoy Sunday Afternoon Rocking, you may also enjoy the following > >newsletters: > > > >"These Thoughts": A newsletter (non-reply list) sends short, positive, > >inspirational messages to educators each Monday and Wednesday. To > >subscribe send e-mail to [email protected] > > > >"From the Heart". A newsletter (non-reply list) will begin in October > >sending one short positive message per weekday. Messages have been culled > >from the sharing of the folks at the "Bluffs", "Best Kept Secret in > >America". They are inspirational and traditional in nature. To subscribe > >send e-mail to [email protected] > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >_________________________________________________ > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >==== DanvilleCrossing Mailing List ==== > >What do you mean my grandparents didn't have any kids ??? > > > ==== DanvilleCrossing Mailing List ==== > My genealogy software won't accept "spaceship" > as a "Place of Birth"..... Now What ???? > >