Lona, I stumbled upon this page yesterday while at work...it was a very slow day! Put your ancestors name in, and county - there are abbreviations- and it may give you the date of death, age, and certificate number so you can request it. http://ukcc.uky.edu/~vitalrec/ Kit (researching in Muhlenberg Co ADKINS, OATES,WILCOX) ----- Original Message ----- From: <Charlo98@aol.com> To: <KYMUHLEN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, July 06, 2002 6:52 AM Subject: [KYMUHLEN] DEATH RECORDS > Hope all had a great 4th of July! > Does anyone know where I might look for death records in Muhlenberg. My > grandfather was killed there in a mine accident in 1923 and have never been > able to locate his death certificate. Have tried the local health dept. and > also Frankfort. Was told by Frankfort that it was possibly because of being > killed in the mines and that even in 1923 registration of deaths was still > "spotty" at best. Thought their might be other local sources. > > Thanks - Lona > Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio Searcher > Researching: LOSTUTTER, WILKEY/WHELCHEL, DREW, OVERTON > > > ============================== > 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 >

Hope all had a great 4th of July! Does anyone know where I might look for death records in Muhlenberg. My grandfather was killed there in a mine accident in 1923 and have never been able to locate his death certificate. Have tried the local health dept. and also Frankfort. Was told by Frankfort that it was possibly because of being killed in the mines and that even in 1923 registration of deaths was still "spotty" at best. Thought their might be other local sources. Thanks - Lona Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio Searcher Researching: LOSTUTTER, WILKEY/WHELCHEL, DREW, OVERTON

OPPS, I sent you to Smithland, instead of Smithfield. Below is the link for mapquest. Click on the link then type Smithfield in the box on the left. it will show you where it is. close to LaGrange. Sorry I sent you wrong. Vera http://www.mapquest.com/ CHARTIM wrote: > > This is a multi-part message in MIME format. > > ------=_NextPart_000_00D1_01C22399.E5C0C720 > Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Could someone please tell me where Smithfield, Ky. is located? > It's not on my atlas. > Thank you, > tim @ chartim@valuelinx.net > the more one knows the less one believes > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.373 / Virus Database: 208 - Release Date: 7/1/2002 > > ------=_NextPart_000_00D1_01C22399.E5C0C720 > Content-Type: text/x-vcard; > name="Tim.vcf" > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Content-Disposition: attachment; > filename="Tim.vcf" > > BEGIN:VCARD > VERSION:2.1 > N:;Tim > FN:Tim > EMAIL;PREF;INTERNET:chartim@valuelinx.net > REV:20020705T013221Z > END:VCARD > > ------=_NextPart_000_00D1_01C22399.E5C0C720-- > > ============================== > 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

Hello, If you will click on the link below it will take to McCracken Co. page then click on Maps and you will see where Smithfield, Ky. is. It is close to Paducah. Vera http://www.rootsweb.com/~kymccrac/ CHARTIM wrote: > > This is a multi-part message in MIME format. > > ------=_NextPart_000_00D1_01C22399.E5C0C720 > Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Could someone please tell me where Smithfield, Ky. is located? > It's not on my atlas. > Thank you, > tim @ chartim@valuelinx.net > the more one knows the less one believes > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.373 / Virus Database: 208 - Release Date: 7/1/2002 > > ------=_NextPart_000_00D1_01C22399.E5C0C720 > Content-Type: text/x-vcard; > name="Tim.vcf" > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Content-Disposition: attachment; > filename="Tim.vcf" > > BEGIN:VCARD > VERSION:2.1 > N:;Tim > FN:Tim > EMAIL;PREF;INTERNET:chartim@valuelinx.net > REV:20020705T013221Z > END:VCARD > > ------=_NextPart_000_00D1_01C22399.E5C0C720-- > > ============================== > 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

I think it may be down by Paducah,but I am not positive. Alma

This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_00D1_01C22399.E5C0C720 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Could someone please tell me where Smithfield, Ky. is located? It's not on my atlas. Thank you, tim @ chartim@valuelinx.net the more one knows the less one believes --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.373 / Virus Database: 208 - Release Date: 7/1/2002 ------=_NextPart_000_00D1_01C22399.E5C0C720 Content-Type: text/x-vcard; name="Tim.vcf" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Tim.vcf" BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:2.1 N:;Tim FN:Tim EMAIL;PREF;INTERNET:chartim@valuelinx.net REV:20020705T013221Z END:VCARD ------=_NextPart_000_00D1_01C22399.E5C0C720--

TOBITHA E WILCOX MARCH 17 1813 TO APR 15 1894 W/O GEO GEORGE WILCOX MARCH 1808 TO JULY 14 1844 H/O TOBITHA STEPHEN H WILCOX NOV 30 1840 TO JUNE 20 1846 S/O GEO W & TOBITHA E N J D WILCOX OCT 19 1843 TO AUG 3 1844 D/O GW & TE WILCOX CEMETERY ===== HILAN H ADKINS 1869 - 1943 MOLLIE J ADKINS 1872 - 1931 WIFE OF H H EVERGREEN CEMETERY --------- 1870 CENSUS SHOWS ADKINS,WM 27 TN MARY A 23 WIFE KY RUFUS F 2 KY THOMAS H 9 MONTHS KY TOBITHA WILCOX 57 VA(MIDWIFE) ====== 1880 CENSUS SHOWS ADKINS,WM C 38 TN TN TN M ANGELINE 34 WIFE KY KY KY RUFUS 13 SON KY HILANEL 11 SON KY ELMO 8 SON KY LILLIE 5 DAU KY WM 2 SON KY RICHARD 10 MONTHS BORN AUGUST KY ------- 1900 CENSUS SHOWS ADKINS,ELMER E 28 MARRIED KY B.MAY 1872 MATTIE L 22 WIFE KY B.SEPT 1877 RUFUS F 32 BROTHER KY B.SEPT 1867 ---- ADKINS,WM C 57 MARRIED 33 YRS TN VA TN B.OCT 1842 MARY A 53 WIFE MOTHER OF 12 WITH 7 ALIVE B.NOV 1846 ALVA 21 SON B.OCT 1878 ODIE O 17 SON B.JUNE 1882 FRANK W 10 SON B.MAY 1890 -- ADKINS,HILAN H 30 MARRIED 7 YRS B.SEPT 1869 KY MOLLIE J 28 B.MAY 1872 KY MOTHER OF 2 KOONTZ W 5 SON B.SEPT 1894 KY MARY L 2 DAU B.JAN 1898 KY ------ 1910 CENSUS SHOWS ADKINS,HILAN H 40 KY MOLLIE J 37 KY KOONTZ 15 KY MARY L 12 KY ROSS 10 KY ----- ADKINS,WM C 67 TN MARY A 63 KY MOTHER OF 11 WITH 7 ALIVE ODIE O 27 KY AMA 21 DAU IN LAW KY O CHILDREN ===== Tamara Protect Our Children & Prevent Domestic Abuse http://endabuse.org/programs/children/ Equal Employment Know Your Rights http://www.eeoc.gov/ Keep my daughter Tabitha and grandaughter Hallie in your prayers... "Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life. " Sophocles On Thu, 4 Jul 2002, Kit Sinyard wrote... >Happy 4th of July All! >Am joining this list looking for my Maternal branches. I know my Great Great Grandfather William Christopher (son of William I. and Elizabeth Aclin Adkins) settled in Muhlenberg County. Married Mary Angeline Wilcox (George and Tabitha Hughes Wilcox are her parents) and had 9 or 10 kids. One was Hilan Herman Adkins, my GGrandfather who married Mary Oates. They had 5 kids, including my Grandfather William Koontz Adkins. > >I know there is a Wilcox Cemetary in Muhlenberg Co, and I think some are buried there. Am hoping I can get some help if anyone has cemetary books in looking for others. Would like to make a trip to Greenville soon (from Nashville, TN) but need to know where to look! > >Thanks in advance! >Kit Krengel Sinyard > > >============================== >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 > >

Happy 4th of July All! Am joining this list looking for my Maternal branches. I know my Great Great Grandfather William Christopher (son of William I. and Elizabeth Aclin Adkins) settled in Muhlenberg County. Married Mary Angeline Wilcox (George and Tabitha Hughes Wilcox are her parents) and had 9 or 10 kids. One was Hilan Herman Adkins, my GGrandfather who married Mary Oates. They had 5 kids, including my Grandfather William Koontz Adkins. I know there is a Wilcox Cemetary in Muhlenberg Co, and I think some are buried there. Am hoping I can get some help if anyone has cemetary books in looking for others. Would like to make a trip to Greenville soon (from Nashville, TN) but need to know where to look! Thanks in advance! Kit Krengel Sinyard

These 2 following news reports on about the grave discovery found in Henderson Ky just last week I posted that story so I thought you may be interested in knowing the outcome. ========= Remains of Pocahontas descendants found in Henderson Reporter: Casey Stegall FOX 7 -Evansville IN Henderson, KY July 3 -- A piece of famous history is discovered right here in the Tri-State, and now it's becomes a battle for a family to keep their home. Imagine finding the perfect spot to build your dream home, only to find out the land you picked has relatives of a famous person buried on it. So, construction has to stop all to preserve the history of that site in Henderson. A Tri-State family is dealing with just that, and it's created some pretty big headaches. Those headaches began last week after construction crews were excavating land for a new home, when they came across the remains of two people. Turns out the remains are related to a pretty notable figure in U.S. history. So what does that mean? Pocahontas. She was more than just a Disney character, which is why historians find it fascinating that her direct descendants are buried right here in the Tri-State. Burial grounds protected, so for now, the family who owns this land can't build their home here. This could end up in a battle over historical preservation and building the American Dream. Archaeologists will further excavate the land to see if any other remains are buried there. ============== July 3, 2002 WFIE TV -EVANSVILLE,IN Bones Found may have Historical Importance Kerri Richardson, reporter Jill Seiler, web producer There's new information about the human remainsdiscovered by construction crews in Henderson last week. The Henderson Historical Society has been trying to find the previous owner of the property, and they made an unusual discovery. The land used to be owned by a descendant of Pocahontas. However, it's too early to tell if the bones that were found there are of the same person. Original story: 28 June...In Henderson, officials have determined the bones unearthed were apparently from an unmarked cemetery. Two sets of human remains were uncovered at a housing site on Stonegate Drive. The Henderson County Historic and Geological society says it has found 5 land deeds dating back to 1910, deeds indicating there is a cemetery in that area. =========== Protect Our Children & Prevent Domestic Abuse http://endabuse.org/programs/children/ Equal Employment Know Your Rights http://www.eeoc.gov/ Keep my daughter Tabitha and grandaughter Hallie in your prayers... "Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life. " Sophocles

Hi,does anyone know where fairmount Cem is located in Central City? Thanks Alma

Remains found in Henderson Reporter: Casey Stegall Henderson, KY June 26 -- A construction crew came across a grisly discovery Wednesday while on the job in a Henderson County neighborhood Crew members were working on excavating a site on Stonegate Drive in Henderson, when they came acrosswhat appeared to be human remains. They called police. Whose remains where they? Initially, authorities believed they could be those of a missing person, like Heather Teague. But the state medical examiner stepped in and ruled the bones were much older. It only took forensic experts a few minutes to determine that the remains found here were those of an African-American adult and child. This land was being cleared to build a home. Now construction has been halted, and the entire area must be searched for more remains. The coroner will work with archeologists. Henderson historical representatives believe this was a cemetery and the people buried here are perhaps slaves. Casket handles were also found, which indicates a formal burial. For now, the area is off limits. Police have contacted the property owners and given them the news. Experts said it may be too early to tell whether more bones will turn up. The state forensic expert did not reveal just how old the bones are. ------------ For those of you keeping count this is the 3rd such incident in KY this year I email several weeks ago about the remains found on the new site of the courthouse in Frankfort KY under construction And in Ohio Co Ky just last week a report on a cemetery where the land was sold and a house was built on the graves of many african american ancestors Tamara Please Pray for my daughter Tabitha and grandaughter Hallie. Protect Our Children & Prevent Domestic Abuse http://endabuse.org/programs/children/ "Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life. " Sophocles

cemetery becomes battle ground Reporter: Randy Moore WTVW CHANNEL 7 Ohio County, KY June 14 -- An Ohio County, Kentucky family is furious about the desecration of a historic cemetery in the tiny town of Echols. The cemetery is believed to be a slave and Indian burial ground. The family says it is certain that graves have been looted and they suspect that a house is actually resting on several final resting places. Getting to the bottom of this is going to take a lot of time and work. Marie Boss,87, always thought she'd be buried in Tunnel Hill Cemetery, right next to her husband, Ben. Randy: "When your time comes, do you want to be buried there?" Marie: "Well, I did, but I changed my mind." And here's why. Tunnel Hill Cemetery is in ruins. Linda Moss says the cemetery used to be a slave and Indian cemetery and blacks continued to use it until 1991. That's when Linda buried her father there. A lot of Linda Moss' family has been buried there. She says a lot of the graves have been vandalized. She says some have actually been dug up and robbed. "When they buried someone, they was buried with their valuables like that gold, rings, artifacts, arrowheads, bows and all that," explained Tim Moss. We did come across a depression in the ground that looked like it could have been the work of grave-robbers. Randy: "Somebody dug it up? Linda: "Uh huh. And there were stones here. They all had markers. You don't see nothing'." The markers might be gone, but the memories are not. Linda moss remembers graves all over the ground. Moss says there are even graves...under a house on the property. Donald and Kathy Holland don't believe it. They moved in 1989. Their side yard is where the road to the cemetery used to be. They don't mind visitors to the graveyard, they just don't want them driving through the yard to get there. Donald: "Ya'll don't understand. That's my septic tank system right there." Linda: "You don't understand that's graves right there." Randy: "What's the issue for you all, just access to your families grave sites? Linda: "Yeah and get off those graves. Like a said, that is a grave. Those are graves." The Hollands say they can't understand Linda Moss's sudden interest in the cemetery. They say they've only seen her here twice in the last ten years. After meeting with the sheriff, the Hollands agreed to allow the Moss's a right of way out on the edge of their property. "Something like that...we'll work it out with them," Donnie said. "But I don't want them to come across my septic tank." But the Moss's won't agree. They say the old right of way was taken from them and they can't afford to build a new one. Besides, Linda Moss says the issue is bigger than the right of way. Linda: "You cannot build on no cemetery. What are you going to do about destroying those markers and all that stuff, shooting them up and all this stuff?" Sheriff Elvis Doolin: "Well, that's why we're investigating." Randy: "As you continue to investigate, will you be looking to see if, indeed, there are graves on the Holland property and even under the Holland house?" Sheriff: "I will do the best I can." In the meantime, Marie Moss will look for another final resting place. "Don't think I want to be there." We checked with various governmental agencies. County Judge-Executive Dudley Cooper says because a county road is not involved, he has no jurisdiction. Property valuation administrator Jason Chinn says because cemeteries are tax exempt, he has no jurisdiction. And no one seems to know who owns the cemetery. The Holland's rightly own their 3-quarters of an acre, but the Moss's say the Holland house was originally a much smaller store building. They say over the years, the house and yard have expanded over the top of the cemetery. That's going to be very difficult to prove, but Linda Moss says she is not going to give up her fight to protect the sanctity of the cemetery and we will follow her progress. ==================== Please Pray for my daughter Tabitha and grandaughter Hallie. Protect Our Children & Prevent Domestic Abuse http://endabuse.org/programs/children/ "Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life. " Sophocles

I checked the books and found only 2 DUNLAP burials WM T and EMELINE DUNLAP in Muhlenberg Co Ky There are many unmarked graves thru out this county so the possiblity still exists that Morton & Rebecca could be buried in Muhlenberg County Tamara Please Pray for my daughter Tabitha and grandaughter Hallie. Protect Our Children & Prevent Domestic Abuse http://endabuse.org/programs/children/ "Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life. " Sophocles

Anyone have directions to Evergreen Cemetery and whether it's possible to get to it? My grandparents Jacob Harrison Heltsley and Alice Grissom were buried there in the 1940s. I 'd like to see the graves when I visit there this Sept. or Oct. Also, is J.R. Kimmel Funeral Home in Drakesboro still around? Thanks, Ernie Heltsley

Hello List, I am looking for the burial place of my great great grandfather, Morton Dunlap and his wife, Rebecca Dunlap. I believe he died sometime around 1908. He was living in Hopkins County at the time of his death but he is not listed in any of the cemetery books for Hopkins County. Both Morton and Rebecca lived much of their lives in Muhlenberg County so it is possible that is where they are buried. If anyone has a book with the cemeteries of Muhlenberg County I would appreciate it if they would look for the my great great grandparents. Thank you, Roxie

Thanks Dollie, someone sent me their phone number and I've already called them. They are great folks. Lynda >From: Dollie Baker <dollieb@muhlon.com> >Reply-To: KYMUHLEN-L@rootsweb.com >To: KYMUHLEN-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: Re: [KYMUHLEN] looking for a Jessup cousin >Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 10:57:17 -0500 > >Lynda, >As far as I know Elmo and Adele are still living on Hwy 62 West in >Greenville, KY. >They use to be my neighbors. If you need their address I can get that for >you. >Dollie Hill Baker > >"L.R. Miller" wrote: > > > I used to take my grandmother to Muhlenberg County to visit her 1st >cousin, > > Elmo Jessup. Can anyone tell me if he or his wife are still alive? >I've > > lost contact with them. Thanks. > > > > Lynda > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at >http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. > > > > ============================== > > 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 > > >============================== >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 > _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com

Anyone out there know anything or know anyone who might about my ancestors, Joshua H. and Joshua Calvin Heltsley, notable bootleggers and businessmen of Muhlenberg, Todd and adjacent counties? I, Ernest C. "Ernie" Heltsley, and my father Ernest Heltsley, were both born in Drakesboro. He was a coal miner and had to move around to find work just before, during and after the Depression. I'm writing a book on the family and it would be incomplete with the Joshuas. Who are we, you might ask? I am Calvin's great grand nephew, best I can figure out. Joshua H. and my great-great-grandfather William Helsley were brothers. Dad was born in 1894 in Drakesboro to Jacob and Alice Grissom Heltsley. Two sisters lived there or near there: Maude Heltsley Underwood, longtime Drakesboro postmaster; Elnora Heltsley Kavanaugh, near Henderson. Please let me know anything you know orothers who would.: E-mail: heltsley@aol.com Tel. 520-795-0602 Address: 4828 E. Grant Road, No. 28, Tucson, Ariz. 85712 Thanks for your help. Ernie Heltsley

Lynda, As far as I know Elmo and Adele are still living on Hwy 62 West in Greenville, KY. They use to be my neighbors. If you need their address I can get that for you. Dollie Hill Baker "L.R. Miller" wrote: > I used to take my grandmother to Muhlenberg County to visit her 1st cousin, > Elmo Jessup. Can anyone tell me if he or his wife are still alive? I've > lost contact with them. Thanks. > > Lynda > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. > > ============================== > 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

I used to take my grandmother to Muhlenberg County to visit her 1st cousin, Elmo Jessup. Can anyone tell me if he or his wife are still alive? I've lost contact with them. Thanks. Lynda _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.

>From Jan, unicorn@sun-spot.com Everything is Greener (from the Sunday Afternoon Rocking series) Everything is greener. The trees on the mountains are dressed in bright young spring greens, tinged with yellow. The leaves are not yet dusty, and the trees stand shimmering in poignant freshness against the backdrop of the darker lush greens of pines. It has been coming for some weeks. The flowering trees have heralded spring, announced their appearance in dainty pinks, bold fuchsia and virginal white. And after their announcement, have softly withdrawn into their own places on the mountains, blending now with the greens of more quietly spoken trees. Spring has arrived and the mountains are preparing now for their summer. They will sing on the mountains for months, softly swaying in breezes and whipping frantically in storms, sheltering life of all types that venture into the kingdom of the trees. And thus they will remain until autumn, when once again the most outspoken of them will herald another season with individual bursts of vibrant golds, yellows, oranges, sienna, and thanksgiving. It is spring, and everything is greener. It is spring and life on the mountains is bursting with promise and newness. The baby lay on a blanket on top of a bail of hay. Her sister stood just to the side and beneath, dark hair cropped into a "pixie cut" of sorts. Her oldest sisters, hair cut in identical styles, stood on each side, in high dark laced shoes and stockings, identical dresses their mother had sewn by hand. It was spring, and the girls' chubby round faces were filled with promise and newness. It was spring, and everything was greener, even though the 1921 photograph showed only shades of gray. Mama and Papa proudly recorded the moment of promise, the youthful faces with all their lives stretching before them, a promise of years of springs to come for each of them. A son would come later, and his spring would be recorded the same, in the same place. I think their dreams for those babies must have been that they find their way away from the hard life the generations before had known, that they have more education, that their life be just a little better than the generation before. I think so, because I know what my grandparents sacrificed for five children, and I know the notions they planted in their heads that life must be different for the ones coming on. I painted the porch swing today. I do not have a porch. I have a deck, and a porch swing beneath it, because I cannot imagine life without a porch swing. Mama would lay me on a flowered pillow and tie my chubby baby self to the slats of Pa's porch swing. She would set the swing to swaying as she went about her business on a farm that offered no work conveniences, and few for living. The baby lay on a pillow in the porch swing, chubby legs drawn up to kick in the spring warmth. A delightful gurgle escaped her lips as Mama snapped the photograph that would remind a woman a porch swing had been a part of her life all of her life. It was spring, and the baby's round face was filled with promise and newness. Everything was greener, even though the 1950's photograph showed only shades of gray. The place was the same, the same farm on which the 1921 photo had been snapped; though the baby would not stay there long. And another mama and daddy proudly recorded the moment of promise. I know their dream for that baby must have been that she find her way away from the harder life they had known, that she have an education, more than any that had come before. I know they wished that she see a bit of the world and another way of living than that which had been before. I know because I know the extent to which they sacrificed that these things come to pass, and I know the notions they planted that there must be no argument about choosing such a path. And I know that in the locked corners of that baby's heart, though she followed all the paths carved before her, the porch swing was never forgotten, and the farm faded from the physical into a secret escape she carried with her in her heart. The day I brought my third home, I sat them together on the huge bed. Three little children, a tiny newborn baby girl between her grinning dark haired brother and her curly haired sister. Three of them with all of their lives and all of their springs before them…and I saved the moment. The place was not the same. The farm was gone, taken to make a wildlife refuge in the Land Between the Rivers. The place had no ancestral memories, and no future. It was a temporary place. It was not spring. Winter was coming on, and the only spring was in the faces of three children. But those faces were filled with promise and newness. And another mama still proudly recorded the moment of promise. This picture burst with color, and another way of saying "spring is with this generation". And I know the dreams I had for those children. An education, yes, at least as much, and more if they wished. And at least a life as fulfilling as my own has been materially, and more if they wished. Notions planted that they would have an appreciation, a love for, tradition and what has gone before. Notions planted that they must learn from the mistakes of that past as well as the successes of it. And there was a fervent hope that they would know innately the emotional lessons that I learned so hard. A hope that they would never have to tread the paths I trod before learning…something more. In June, the fourth generation will come home. She is a baby girl. We know this, and I, of another generation, am still yet in wonder that we can know this before we even look upon the promise in her face. She too will come to a temporary place, but like the generation before her, her spring will be recorded in vibrant color. She is more special than she knows, this baby girl. Her spring is more poignant than any that have come before. The four little girls in the first photograph have left us now, as my father did eighteen years ago. All those ladies slipped away within two years, two within a month of one another in the autumn, and two within twelve days of one another in the winter, of both a year and a lifetime. They all lived out the promise of the long ago photo, and all the years their tiny youthful faces suggested. They lived seventy-nine springs, eighty-two springs, ninety springs, ninety-one springs. But they left me, and those who loved them, in a bleak cold winter. And the days were harsh, and the trees on the mountains seemed stark fingers clawing at the sky, grasping at memories, denying truth. The wind echoed a screaming heart, wending its way through the last days of winters crying for what had gone before, echoing a winter eighteen years before. And Serenity's spring (for her name is to be Serenity) is also my spring, a new life, a new promise. For all of the painful good-byes of the last few years, finally there will be a glorious beginning, a wonderful laughing hello. I am glad for the spring, and everything is greener. And her parents, my son, my daughter-in-love, must have dreams for this baby. I wonder if they have chosen her name based on one of those dreams. I think they must have the dreams all of us in each generation have had for our children. I hope there is something I wanted for my own…an appreciation for, a love for, tradition and what has gone before. And something more this time…a knowledge that happiness is not measured in bank balances or things. A knowledge that its secret dwells with choice, that it is free for the grasping. An understanding that its very simplicity, its very accessibility, is what confuses so many, and need not confuse this time. I hope there is a stark acceptance of the cycle of life, the fleeting nature of it. The innate understanding of spring, and summer, of fall…and a quiet acceptance of winter, knowing Spring will come again. And everything is greener. Just a thought, jan Copyright ©2002JanPhilpot ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (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 Sundayrocking-subscribe@topica.com Comments about the content of these messages can be sent to unicorn@sun-spot.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~