-------- Original Message -------- Subject: SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE Date: Sun, 03 Mar 2002 06:49:23 -0700 From: Colleen Pustola <ladyaudris@earthlink.net> To: SundayCoffee@topica.com The Lost This is not a discussion group, but a read-only service. If you would like to make any comments regarding this Coffee or any others, you are welcome to send them to me at <ladyaudris@earthlink.net>. Please share this with your genealogy friends and relatives and invite them to join us, as well. To subscribe to this newsletter all they need to do is send a blank email to <SundayCoffee-subscribe@topica.com>. THE LOST Whoosshhhh!! She looked around. Where was she? People surrounded her for what seemed like miles and miles! Where in the world had they all come from? One minute she was alone, the next she was sitting amidst this huge crowd! There was no sky; there was no earth. What kept this mass of people so closely grouped together? ...and the DUST! Whew! Between that and the overbearing pressure of the crowd, she felt as though she could hardly breath! Then she saw them, her family. There were her parents and all eleven siblings! Why, that's her as a young girl and there's her long-dead sister, a child again! Over there were her husband and eight children! She looked around a little more and found a few of her aunts, uncles and even some cousins! Everyone seemed to be there ~ a REUNION! Oh, yes! But there were also many, many people she didn't know. "Let's think on the positive side of things, though," she thought. Just look at everyone she DID recognize! Look at her dad! He's so proud of his family! You can see his pride by the way he stands, his shoulders thrown back. The long, hard years of farming show in his weathered face. Her mother looks delicate in the face; those long skirts covering her frailness. She won't live much longer... the doctor said she shouldn't have had so many children. She noticed her two grandfathers by the oxen-pulled wagon. Both her grandmothers and both families' children were in it. She saw her father as a boy! "Everyone is on their way to a Fourth of July community picnic," he'd once told her. To look at them their clothes weren't the finest ~ rather plain actually. One grandfather wears a beaten up hat as proudly as though it were a gentleman's derby. And there!... there are six of her great-grandparents! Those people pioneered this area. Two pairs of those grandparents made their way over to America ~ one from Germany, the other from Ireland. Best friends, they are and what a combination of personalities they make. One of the great-grandmothers was even a handmaiden to the queen herself before she got married! But they all died, the last one 17 years ago, wasn't it? How could they be here now? And just in front of her ... her mother had once told her they were her great-great grandparents from the old country! They look a little smudged. How in the world could they be here in this crowd? They look like they might be awfully warm in those heavy clothes. Her first impressions of them hadn't changed ~ he still looked friendly; she still looked strict! What's going on? she wondered. See those two women over there? One is a cousin to her, the other just an acquaintance. The two young women are best friends, so close you'd think they were sisters. They have their arms wrapped around each other. They once vied for the attentions of a young man, but she doesn't see him in the crowd. Did either of them marry that man? She looked at the two women more closely. Why does her cousin's friend have that scar across her face? Her friend didn't have that before ...at least, it looks like a scar. Some of them had names, some didn't. She was one who didn't. Some were in groups of full families, while others just one or several people. Some were dressed in their Sunday best; others in worn and ragged clothing used for working. The styles of dress of the children was as mixed as the adults they co-mingled with. The old, old gowns of some of the the women ... how could this be? How could these people who had already passed on be here with all these younger people today? What kind of a reunion is this? Whooshhhh! She felt the cool air waft around her. It wasn't as crowded anymore; the dust was still in the air but it wasn't as choking. Where'd everyone go? She felt as though she was being looked at. "This one doesn't have a name, either." Whooshhh! Back into the crowd again! This is crazy! Wait! Who is that? That woman who is standing with her hand on the man's shoulder as he sits? Who IS that??? Her sister! It's her sister! It can't be. She died when a horse pulling a wagon ran over her 9 years ago! What a beautiful woman she was before she died. But she and her husband look so faded now... There wasn't a mirror to look in, but she knew the dress she was wearing wasn't the one she had on earlier today. As a matter of fact, she hadn't worn this dress since she was 18! Dateline 2002: Antique Store, Any City, Any Country "These old pictures, just look at all of them ~ tintypes, sepia-tones ~ all kinds! They sure are dusty! Some of them are in pretty bad shape, too." "I know, it's such a pity that a lot of them don't have names. They're from quite a few old estates. We just took all the pictures and stuck them in that box to get them out of the way. It's rare that anyone looks at them, but we have an occasional customer who looks through them. If we get too many more pictures though, we'll probably have to throw these out to make more room. We'll get rid of those unmarked ones first." FINIS And so it goes, a dusty box of old pictures sits in yet another out of the way place in one of the world's antique shops (or maybe even a flea market or garage sale). Some of the photographs may be marked with names, dates, places, and/or relationships; many aren't. Certainly, all of the people in the box had life stories, most of which will never be known to future generations. If you haven't figured it out yet, "she" was one of the unmarked pictures in the box ~ one of the lost souls. I wonder how many of us will become one of the lost souls in yet another dusty box of unmarked, unwanted, uncared-for photographic treasures. How many of our descendants will end up saying, "I haven't the slightest idea who s/he is but s/he sure looks familiar!" Is that really what you want, gentle reader? Are your pictures labeled? Will your grandparents, parents, sister, even YOU be known to your descendants 3-4 generations from now? Obviously this was a work of fictional fantasy, for we KNOW that souls aren't really attached to pictures ...are they? It's family ... and that's what we're all about. Colleen

Hi Kay, This was WONDERFUL !!!!! Thank you for sharing it with us. I've sent in a subscrib message and look forward to reading future editions. If you are interested, there is another list similar to the Sunday Morning Coffee; it's called "Sunday Rocking Chair" and is wonderful as well. To subscribe, sent a blank email to the following address: Sundayrocking-subscribe@topica.com Do you have any other addresses? Thanks again for sharing this :-) Nancy E Parr At 10:46 PM 3/5/02 -0500, you wrote: >-------- Original Message -------- >Subject: SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE >Date: Sun, 03 Mar 2002 06:49:23 -0700 >From: Colleen Pustola <ladyaudris@earthlink.net> >To: SundayCoffee@topica.com > > The Lost > > This is not a discussion group, but a read-only >service. If you would like to make any comments regarding this Coffee >or any others, you are welcome to send them to me at ><ladyaudris@earthlink.net>. > >Please share this with your genealogy friends and relatives and >invite them to join us, as well. To subscribe to this newsletter all >they need to do is send a blank email to ><SundayCoffee-subscribe@topica.com>. > >THE LOST > >Whoosshhhh!! > >She looked around. Where was she? People surrounded her for what >seemed like miles and miles! Where in the world had they all come >from? One minute she was alone, the next she was sitting amidst this >huge crowd! There was no sky; there was no earth. What kept this mass >of people so closely grouped together? > >...and the DUST! Whew! Between that and the overbearing pressure of >the crowd, she felt as though she could hardly breath! > >Then she saw them, her family. There were her parents and all eleven >siblings! Why, that's her as a young girl and there's her long-dead >sister, a child again! Over there were her husband and eight children! >She looked around a little more and found a few of her aunts, uncles and > >even some cousins! Everyone seemed to be there ~ a REUNION! Oh, yes! > >But there were also many, many people she didn't know. "Let's think on >the positive side of things, though," she thought. Just look at >everyone she DID recognize! > >Look at her dad! He's so proud of his family! You can see his pride by > >the way he stands, his shoulders thrown back. The long, hard years of > >farming show in his weathered face. Her mother looks delicate in the >face; those long skirts covering her frailness. She won't live much >longer... the doctor said she shouldn't have had so many children. > >She noticed her two grandfathers by the oxen-pulled wagon. Both her >grandmothers and both families' children were in it. She saw her father > >as a boy! "Everyone is on their way to a Fourth of July community >picnic," he'd once told her. To look at them their clothes weren't the >finest ~ rather plain actually. One grandfather wears a beaten up hat >as proudly as though it were a gentleman's derby. > >And there!... there are six of her great-grandparents! Those people >pioneered this area. Two pairs of those grandparents made their way >over to America ~ one from Germany, the other from Ireland. Best >friends, they are and what a combination of personalities they make. >One of the great-grandmothers was even a handmaiden to the queen herself > >before she got married! But they all died, the last one 17 years ago, >wasn't it? How could they be here now? > >And just in front of her ... her mother had once told her they were her >great-great grandparents from the old country! They look a little >smudged. How in the world could they be here in this crowd? They look >like they might be awfully warm in those heavy clothes. Her first >impressions of them hadn't changed ~ he still looked friendly; she still > >looked strict! > >What's going on? she wondered. > >See those two women over there? One is a cousin to her, the other just >an acquaintance. The two young women are best friends, so close you'd >think they were sisters. They have their arms wrapped around each >other. They once vied for the attentions of a young man, but she >doesn't see him in the crowd. Did either of them marry that man? > >She looked at the two women more closely. Why does her cousin's friend >have that scar across her face? Her friend didn't have that before >...at least, it looks like a scar. > >Some of them had names, some didn't. She was one who didn't. Some were > >in groups of full families, while others just one or several people. >Some were dressed in their Sunday best; others in worn and ragged >clothing used for working. The styles of dress of the children was as >mixed as the adults they co-mingled with. The old, old gowns of some of > >the the women ... how could this be? How could these people who had >already passed on be here with all these younger people today? What >kind of a reunion is this? > >Whooshhhh! She felt the cool air waft around her. It wasn't as crowded > >anymore; the dust was still in the air but it wasn't as choking. >Where'd everyone go? She felt as though she was being looked at. > >"This one doesn't have a name, either." > >Whooshhh! Back into the crowd again! > >This is crazy! > >Wait! Who is that? That woman who is standing with her hand on the >man's shoulder as he sits? Who IS that??? > >Her sister! It's her sister! > >It can't be. She died when a horse pulling a wagon ran over her 9 years > >ago! What a beautiful woman she was before she died. But she and her >husband look so faded now... > >There wasn't a mirror to look in, but she knew the dress she was wearing > >wasn't the one she had on earlier today. As a matter of fact, she >hadn't worn this dress since she was 18! > >Dateline 2002: Antique Store, Any City, Any Country > >"These old pictures, just look at all of them ~ tintypes, sepia-tones ~ >all kinds! They sure are dusty! Some of them are in pretty bad shape, >too." > >"I know, it's such a pity that a lot of them don't have names. They're >from quite a few old estates. We just took all the pictures and stuck >them in that box to get them out of the way. It's rare that anyone >looks at them, but we have an occasional customer who looks through >them. If we get too many more pictures though, we'll probably have to >throw these out to make more room. We'll get rid of those unmarked ones > >first." > > FINIS > >And so it goes, a dusty box of old pictures sits in yet another out of >the way place in one of the world's antique shops (or maybe even a flea >market or garage sale). Some of the photographs may be marked with >names, dates, places, and/or relationships; many aren't. Certainly, all > >of the people in the box had life stories, most of which will never be >known to future generations. If you haven't figured it out yet, "she" >was one of the unmarked pictures in the box ~ one of the lost souls. > >I wonder how many of us will become one of the lost souls in yet another > >dusty box of unmarked, unwanted, uncared-for photographic treasures. >How many of our descendants will end up saying, "I haven't the slightest > >idea who s/he is but s/he sure looks familiar!" Is that really what you > >want, gentle reader? Are your pictures labeled? Will your >grandparents, parents, sister, even YOU be known to your descendants 3-4 > >generations from now? > >Obviously this was a work of fictional fantasy, for we KNOW that souls >aren't really attached to pictures ...are they? > >It's family ... and that's what we're all about. > Colleen > > > > > >==== GAWARE Mailing List ==== >Search the RootsWeb Archives: >http://lists.rootsweb.com/ > >============================== >To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, >go to: >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237