RE: Honey Grove, Texas - Haiku - On the joys of research and new family discoveries
I saw this on @owasco's resteem and me knowing she only reads awesome stuff, I chose to dig in. I also agree with her comment, what a beautiful write up!
Longer reads usually die somewhere in the middle but you had me following every word to a point of reading it out loud to my daughter. And I will tell you why.
Your grandmother sounds like the most interesting soul who died too soon and whoever did her obituary crafted their grief into something. My mum died when she was only 33. Probably why I am gravitating towards feeling this grief a century later.
I too was 'shared' among relatives. It was whoever had the hardest of responsibilities who would house me for a few days or weeks till it was done and I'd move to the next house. I hated it. I still don't get along with most of them because of how they treated me.
Thank you for sharing this. Truly... :)
So many of us have this story! We think being housed in one and only one home is the norm, but perhaps it's not. I was "lucky" I suppose, although my steady home did not always hold kindness for me.
There is nothing normal about having a normal functional family but it is so sad that even your steady home couldn't afford you enough kindness.
Yes, I was very lucky as well, and even though my family was highly dysfunctional (aren't they all, in some way?), the vast majority of my memories are happy ones. I was very blessed.
Thanks for the lovely comment, @tezmel.
I'm sorry for the hardship in your youth, but yeah, unfortunately my dad had the same relationship with most of his relatives, for the same reason.
His happiest time was when he stayed with his aunt Mamie and her daughter Martha; two years his senior, they got along well, and she was the only member of that part of the family that he bothered taking me to visit.
When his dad died, and the following year when his grandfather died, my dad was away; first in college, and then on the road as a pianist. Both times, his dad's relatives swooped down on their home and emptied it, not even leaving my dad his own belongings.
It was only because of his cousin Martha and her mom that he got anything belonging to his forbears. Thanks to their kindness in sticking up for him, and demanding that certain items be returned, I still have a dresser that belonged to his grandfather, a handmade writing lap desk that belonged to his mother, not to mention numerous linens, photographs, and other mementos.
Bless them both.
Him looking for something to hold on to is a familiar feeling. When they (our relatives) shared everything amongst themselves, we felt like we've lost everything. So I know exactly how he feels about those two special women. They gave him back tangible memories and those help intangible ones to stay even longer.
May they be blessed, yes.
I'm doubly grateful to them, because while I knew my mother's family quite well growing up, I knew very few members of my father's family, and those mostly in passing.
Much much love. Thank you so much for engaging me :)