Last month, over 100 of my relatives gathered for a surprise
party for my grandparent’s 85th birthdays. I was asked to write a
life sketch about my grandparents and to share it at the party. Now, I’m not
exactly the family history guru. I know the basic facts, but I’m not the person
you’d ask if you wanted to know what my Grandma’s favorite pet was. I’ve always
thought of my grandparents as just that, my grandparents. But I’ve never really
known about their childhood or when they were young parents.
Published in the Tremonton Leader in July 2017
I started by asking my parents, siblings, cousins, aunts,
and uncles what they knew about them, since I obviously couldn’t go straight to
the source and ruin the surprise. I heard so many stories that I never knew
about. The stories were personal and real. Learning specific details about
their lives made me feel like I could actually put myself in their shoes and
relate to their emotions, at least a little bit. I realize that my grandparents
are 85 years old, but it’s never felt like they’ve lived for 85 years. I mean,
I’ve only been around for the last 26 years, and I definitely don’t remember
some of them.
Hearing about how they lived in a home without running
water, heat, or air conditioning and how they had to use the stove to stay warm
really blew my mind. They had to use an outhouse out back and they’d go to my
great-grandparent’s house once a week to do laundry and dishes. It was
interesting to hear that my Grandma remembers exactly where she was when
President Kennedy was shot and that my grandparents furnished most of their
house for just $400. I especially loved hearing stories that brought out more
of their personality, like how my Grandpa used to put a nylon sock on his head
and knock on the outside house window to tease their seven kids.
Reading and learning about their lives makes me feel like my
life hasn’t even begun. My grandparents have 121 descendants and I have only
one (soon to be two). It’s daunting to think about how much more I’m going to
experience in my life and learning about their lives reminds me how lucky I am
to have the “simple” things. It also reminds me that I don’t need a lot of the
things that I deem a necessity.
When it comes to family history, I’m not one to care too
much about basic facts such as: birthdays, places of birth, or how many wives
someone had, but I love hearing real, raw stories. I feel like the stories make
me feel much more connected and humanizes the great people that have come
before me. It gives me a glimpse of what they went through and makes me feel
closer to them. This experience has given me a new desire to learn more about
my relatives and I’m excited to dig up more stories.
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