If I could have a Thanksgiving guest and ask her questions, I'd get my paternal grandmother, Emma Rosetta Lewis Scobee.. and what I wouldn't give to have that chance. Unfortunately, she died in 1960 and the sad thing is, I knew her. I could have asked her all the questions then, but I wasn't interested. Actually, it isn't that I wasn't interested, I just never thought a thing about my ancestry. How I wish I'd had her tell me stories about her life and the struggles she had. She was born fairly well to do and at 15, got pregnant by my then 25 year old and extremely poor grandfather. How her parents hated him. I can understand why. She never stopped loving him until the day she died. We could torture the poor old soul by telling her that he probably had girlfriends in heaven and she was still jealous. Her married life was hard. She had 10 children and raised 2 of them to adulthood. When she was old and sick and unable to take care of herself there was only 1 who would take her in, and that was my dad. I got to live with her for a few weeks until my uncles had a fit when they learned that she would lose her pension if she wasn't in a nursing home, and they came and took her away from us and we never saw her alive again. She didn't last long in the nursing home. She was so sad. She'd sacrified her life to raise them and that was the thanks she got for it. I don't understand the big deal about the money she would have lost. They didn't get it anyway as it went to pay the nursing home fees. I've missed her all these years, it's been nearly 50 now. What I wouldn't give to be able to have her with me just 1 more day. I try to explain all this to my grandchildren and tell them stories, but they don't want to listen. I tell them anyway, for they may grow up to care like I did. To me, my life hasn't been very interesting, but I know a lot of funny, embarrassing and interesting stories from my mother's family that I can tell. 1 girl cares. She wants me to write them all down so she will never forget them. Maybe that's something we should all think about doing. Writing down every story you've ever heard told in your family. Even your own. I'm thankful that when my mother began realizing that her memory wasn't what it used to be, she got out a pen and paper and wrote down everything she could. I have that book typed up and I will be taking it to the nursing home where she is. She doesn't know me or who I am, and doesn't remember her own name, but perhaps reading about her old life will jog something for her. Computers and emails are fun, but you know, think what is being lost. Our handwriting. Letters to hold and read that were touched and written by those we loved. What happens to all this information we put on the web? Someday it will be gone into the cyberspace archives, but the letters I read, written by hand, from WWII are something special to me. Yes, I miss my grandmother and all the stories she could have, but didn't tell me. I don't want my grandchildren or great grandchildren to miss out. I think I'm going to get out a pen and paper right now and start with what I can recall tonight. Tomorrow I'll remember something else and I'll add it in. I'll save it in a safe and fireproof place for all to read when I am gone. The "good old times" before there were computers, microwaves, men on the moon, televisions, back when polio was something we feared every dog day of summer.

What a wonderful sentiment! My children are young--2 and 6 years--and I keep hand written journals for them (that I'm rather behind on at the moment) that I jot down "letters" to them of what is going on in our lives as a family, like going to my sister's for Thanksgiving or having the vet out for one of the horses, where grandma is going on her trip or where the first graders went on their field trip, their cousin going into the Army or the way the 2 year old pronounces the word "peanuts." We aren't talking high-flying excitement here, just everyday life, and hopefully I can write to them at least once a month. I don't know if they'll ever care, but maybe they'll find something interesting to look back on or perhaps one of their children will. If nothing else, then at least I am exercising my writing skills! Anyway, it was reading stories of some of my ancestors, and my interest in old family photos, that got me interested in genealogy! Perhaps if we remember we are witnesses to history, it will be easier to remember that our own stories, even if our lives aren't really exciting to us, have a place in the stories of our family tree. Thank you for reminding us of the importance of family stories! I'm going to put working on the kids' journals on my to-do list for today! Christine Dale On Nov 29, 2007, at 9:56 PM, Joanne Morgan wrote: > If I could have a Thanksgiving guest and ask her questions, I'd get my > paternal grandmother, Emma Rosetta Lewis Scobee.. and what I wouldn't > give to have that chance. Unfortunately, she died in 1960 and the sad > thing is, I knew her. I could have asked her all the questions then, > but I wasn't interested. Actually, it isn't that I wasn't interested, > I just never thought a thing about my ancestry. How I wish I'd had her > tell me stories about her life and the struggles she had. She was born > fairly well to do and at 15, got pregnant by my then 25 year old and > extremely poor grandfather. How her parents hated him. I can > understand why. She never stopped loving him until the day she died. > We could torture the poor old soul by telling her that he probably had > girlfriends in heaven and she was still jealous. Her married life was > hard. She had 10 children and raised 2 of them to adulthood. When she > was old and sick and unable to take care of herself there was only 1 > who would take > her in, and that was my dad. I got to live with her for a few weeks > until my uncles had a fit when they learned that she would lose her > pension if she wasn't in a nursing home, and they came and took her > away from us and we never saw her alive again. She didn't last long in > the nursing home. She was so sad. She'd sacrified her life to raise > them and that was the thanks she got for it. I don't understand the > big deal about the money she would have lost. They didn't get it > anyway as it went to pay the nursing home fees. > I've missed her all these years, it's been nearly 50 now. What I > wouldn't give to be able to have her with me just 1 more day. > I try to explain all this to my grandchildren and tell them stories, > but they don't want to listen. I tell them anyway, for they may grow > up to care like I did. To me, my life hasn't been very interesting, > but I know a lot of funny, embarrassing and interesting stories from > my mother's family that I can tell. > 1 girl cares. She wants me to write them all down so she will never > forget them. Maybe that's something we should all think about doing. > Writing down every story you've ever heard told in your family. Even > your own. > I'm thankful that when my mother began realizing that her memory > wasn't what it used to be, she got out a pen and paper and wrote down > everything she could. I have that book typed up and I will be taking > it to the nursing home where she is. She doesn't know me or who I am, > and doesn't remember her own name, but perhaps reading about her old > life will jog something for her. > Computers and emails are fun, but you know, think what is being > lost. Our handwriting. Letters to hold and read that were touched and > written by those we loved. What happens to all this information we put > on the web? Someday it will be gone into the cyberspace archives, but > the letters I read, written by hand, from WWII are something special > to me. > Yes, I miss my grandmother and all the stories she could have, but > didn't tell me. I don't want my grandchildren or great grandchildren > to miss out. I think I'm going to get out a pen and paper right now > and start with what I can recall tonight. Tomorrow I'll remember > something else and I'll add it in. I'll save it in a safe and > fireproof place for all to read when I am gone. The "good old times" > before there were computers, microwaves, men on the moon, televisions, > back when polio was something we feared every dog day of summer. > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >