Thursday, December 12, 2013

Living History

My son in law is in the Army. We knew it was a possibility and likely that he would eventually receive overseas orders and so it is with mixed emotions that I am feeling after learning that my daughter and her family will be moving to Germany. Germany. Full time. Not a vacation. It is so far way with a new address of  residence.  I will miss the hugs from my grandchildren and the frequency of our stateside visits and saying goodbye will be hard. But I am also thrilled for them. What an opportunity to see Europe!

I have been to Canada, Mexico, Spain and Ireland but that is the limit of my worldly travels. So I am happy for them that they will be based in Europe and will have the opportunity to travel and have their passports stamped with all the countries large and small that they visit. I also know that we have the technology to keep in daily contact and I can see part of Europe through the eyes of my grandchildren.  I will visit them too, not as often and the goodbyes will still be hard but the next time I hug my grandchildren it will be in Germany, their new home and I am excited for them.

And I think of my family history, the past and the future and how our history continues to unfold. I think of how it will read twenty years from now. I think of the stories and entries that will be under my daughters family and her time in Europe. I think of my oldest daughter and her completion of law school as a mother to four in her mid thirties. I think of the legacies of all of my children that will be read by my descendants after I am gone.

 My oldest grandson is the budding family historian in my family. He loves to hear the stories about his ancestors who were in the civil war. He is always asking me about the lives of his ancestors. Learning about his family history brings history alive for him in a personal way and I am reminded that unless our story is recorded and preserved no one will know the stories of our lives, or of my children. It will be impersonal and we will only be a name on someone's genealogical tree.

Family history is not just a compilation of our past and of our ancestors who walked before us. It is the present. It is the future. It is the stories of us. It is the victories, the struggles and the celebrations of the living. It is of saying goodbye to my daughters family and saying hello to them in a new country.