STORIES OF THE GENERATIONS BEFORE YOU..
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My kids are still young but the importance of them understanding their ancestors, those that paved the way before them, and for me becomes more important every year. There is something so grounding about understanding the struggles of your family, their stories as immigrants, the businesses they built, and the legacies they are leaving behind. I begrudgingly dragged my children to their dad’s grade school alma mater today where he attended grade school. He didn’t seemed too excited about our endeavor either but I have faith that will come with time. Up a windy, almost one lane road, outside San Francisco, to the top of a mountain sits the school where he and his siblings attended K-8. We’ve described to them on numerous occasions how their now deceased grandfather, whom I absolutely adored, would slowly rise from bed at the last minute and much to the shock and horror of the entire family, take the children to school in a robe with slippers while Nana would clean up breakfast. I wanted them to see the road, to see the school, to gain an understanding that just like them, we too were kids once, we had similar challenges, we had what we sometimes thought were crazy parents. Maybe most importantly I wanted the memory of the grandfather they don’t remember to stay alive.
On the two day trip up here to San Francisco we told many stories of their Grandpa Bill and we also stopped in a small town in the San Joaquin Valley where their great grandparents used to live. We still have their house which has become a wonderful place to visit. The pace in this town is slow, the fruit and vegetables are fresh, and the sounds are not like those in the city. You hear birds, and the river, and the faint sounds of trains in the distance.
We spend a great deal of time telling stories about their great-grandparents and what they built after they immigrated from Sweden. There are so many times when you just aren’t sure if your kids are listening to you but when your 9 year old tells a story to her little sister about their great grandmother from the back seat of the car, you finally realize it’s sinking in, and the memories are in fact being kept alive.
Family history is so important. It gives our kids a sense of belonging, an understanding of the struggles our ancestors faced but maybe almost more importantly by keeping their memories alive, all the hard work and love continues to impact each new generation. I think that is something to strive for and be proud of. We are all connected.