My mother, Carmen, is front row with grandpa's arms around her.
Father Abraham had many sons,
Many sons had father Abraham
I am one of them and so are you
So let's just praise the Lord.
I loved seeing my kids sing this song when they were little. Of course I had to remind the girls that daughters counted too. The Bible tells us that many generations after Abraham and Sarah had their family, the 12 sons of Jacob were named to head up different parts of Israel, and much later, around 930 BC, the Kingdoms of Israel split in half.
I love reading the stories in the Old Testament about the shenanigans these tribes were in to - like all of us, they were flawed. But God used them anyway,
Fast forward a few thousand years to my family of origin. My grandparents on my mother's side had 13 children. I have no idea how many first cousins I have but I'm guessing about 40. And if we extrapolate that out another two or three generations, it has to be way up in the hundreds or even thousands. I never lived in Kentucky but, as a child, I visited often. And then in 1962 I left for Florida and a whole new life.
And now, while I'm mostly secluded due to illness and coronavirus, I have become a part of a LARGE email group of descendants of my grandparents. Most of these folks I don't know at all because they're not my generation. They are a couple of generations younger. All of my mother's siblings are gone and most of the cousins in my generation are gone.
The leader of this email group has done an excellent job of organizing and laying out instructions. He began by encouraging us to recall what we know about my grandparents After a few weeks of stories and photos, then adding two of the original 13 a time, beginning with the oldest. I can't wait until they get to Carmen. This is not establishing ancestry. It's about telling stories, little vignettes to help us know something about these folks.
I cannot begin to say how meaningful this has been to me. My grandparents were extremely poor. Grandma had her first child when she was 14. While she had no control over how many children she had she was a strong matriarch. She saddled up and rode her horse side saddle. She took care of business. Grandpa was a dreamer. But here's what they and their offspring valued: Family.
Family was everything. I never met my uncle Walter because he died before I was born. He was killed by his brother-in-law in a hunting accident. When grandma heard about this she "took to her bed."
The stories being shared are overwhelming positive and loving. I thought I couldn't remember much but then was reminded by stories about how many of the men were musical, "They taught me how to sing in harmony." That reminded me immediately that, at most Sunday gatherings, when the men sat of the front porch waiting for the women to prepare the massive meals, they frequently yodeled. Other than Roy Rogers, I don't remember yodeling being a popular thing.
And it's clear that many of the original 13 children had many gifts besides music. Several of them wrote stories and poems. Extreme poverty and very little education didn't disrupt the need to write.
One second cousin told about how one of my aunts was peeling potatoes for one of these dinners and her sister complained because she was cutting off too much potato with the skin. I totally got this.
It took a few generations but the poverty improved. While the people on this email group don't talk about themselves it's clear that they have excelled in many areas. They are telling the truth but dealing gently with their forefathers and mothers.
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