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The
Story Tellers
We
are the chosen. My feelings are that in each family there is one
who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their ones
and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that
somehow they know, and approve. To me, doing genealogy is not a
cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who
have gone before. We are the story tellers of the tribe; all tribes
have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who
have gone before cry out to us: "Tell our story!". So,
we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves
have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times
have I told the ancestors, "You have a wonderful family, you
would be proud of us?" How many times have I walked up to a
grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say.
It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why
do I do the things I do? It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be
lost forever to weeds, and indifference, and saying I can't let
this happen. The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my
flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in
what our ancestors were able to accomplish. How they contributed
to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and
losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to
go on and build a life for their family. It goes to deep pride that
they fought to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and
immense understanding that they were doing it for us. That we might
be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do. With
love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because
we are them and they are us. So, as a scribe called, I tell the
story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation
to answer the call and take their place in the long line of family
storytellers. That, is why I do my family genealogy, and that is
what calls those young and old to step up and put flesh on the bones.
(Unknown Author )
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