THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2024 - WRITE YOUR STORY DAY

 THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2024 - WRITE YOUR STORY

Today - in addition to being National PI Day - is also National “Write Your Story” Day.

There have been times when I wished I knew more about my ancestors.  My mother related a story that my Great-Great Grandparents moved from Germany to Eastern Iowa in 1848.  Seemingly, at one time, Native Americans (Indians) visited their homestead.  What happened?  What was it like to live in a simple home?  Did they have an outhouse?  Did they use “chamber pots” (I’m sure my mother did at some point)?  What was it like without running water?  When did my great-great grandparents get a kitchen stove?  Did they have an icebox?  How was life in Eastern Iowa at that time?  Did they have horses and buggies - did they sell their produce to make money?  Was there a midwife for child deliveries? 

How about all my ancestors—how was life in Saxony, Germany, before German unification? How about the White side of the family? As we approach St. Patrick’s Day, how did Eliza Bell Moffet get from Scotland to Ireland? Was she on the Catholic or Protestant side of the Irish? How did her family get to the United States?  

My father rarely talked about his family.  Eleven children were growing up on a farm in northeast Iowa.  I’ve heard about the dog who got lost in a cave - and they could hear it barking.  Or when they threw firecrackers into some neighbors' tents.  How about they back up on some hills because the gas couldn’t get from the gas tank to the carburetor when it got too steep?  (And, how could it be uphill both ways when he walked to school - and how come there was always snow on the ground - I think those might be fiction!!!)

My story (up to eight years ago) is boring.  Karen White (or Bruce) was a teacher, then a professor.  He married and had two children.  Life was good. 

Will my grandchildren (or great-grandchildren) know something about me?  Will Google search engine in 2080 find my blogs and writing?  Will they want to see if I was crazy or mentally ill?  

I have friends who had some terrible childhoods.  Their stories also need telling.  How did they manage to become adults after some of the torture and agony of a abusive father -including sexual abuse.  

One friend escaped from Cuba just before Castro took over. (Her father was a sugar cane executive and saw that the regime was changing. Another friend (white male) married a black woman.  That story needs to be told - of how love wins against all odds. 

Other friends found “fate” and circumstances in their favor and flourished.  

The Chinese proverb, "The faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory," emphasizes the importance of writing down information instead of relying on memory. The proverb uses pale ink to symbolize the fragility of memory. Pale ink fades over time, just as memories fade. The proverb implies that even the faintest written record is more reliable than the brightest memory.

*****

What would I say to my great-great-grandchildren?  That LOVE does WIN.  That LOVE can transform you - if you are open to God’s love in your life.  That the universe is vast - but you are unique (just like your great-great-grandmother was very unique).

*****

WRITE YOUR STORY.  

I have no idea what will last on the Internet.  I have my blogspot - that I “hope” will last.  I anticipate that Google (the owner of blogspot) will see that storage space is being used for an account that is dead (in fifty years) - and send http://karens2019.blogspot.com to the dump.  But … the faintest ink (and the faintest typed characters) will be archived someplace - somehow.  Live live to the fullest.

AND … write down YOUR STORY!!

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, ©, March 14, 2024