Keep the Stories

Returning to the blog.

Wow it has been almost 2 years since I even looked at this. So, I guess I'm going on 2 years as being an orphan as well. The Holidays have passed, a bit easier than last year but still not the same. Especially Thanksgiving, that is a tough one, Halloween, they loved to dress up and go to Halloween parties. The 4th of July, Mom loved the 4th - Parades, Family, Fireworks what could be better.

When I stop to think about the last 4 years, it all seems so overwhelming. The loss of a Parent is tough but to lose both in just 2 years and find yourself suddenly orphaned is life altering. The entire family dynamics change. In addition to my Parent's our family has also lost Aunts and Uncles, we only have 1 Uncle left.  What was once a plethora of Aunts and Uncles now is limited to just 1. I do try to keep it in perspective, I am a grown woman with a husband, a grown child and grandchildren. It is the natural progression that you parents pass away and you become the elder of the family. Elder, so weird, I don't even adult well so me being the elder is laughable.  I can't even imagine how a younger person deals with this, my parents both lost their parents when they were young. My Mother lost her Father when she was a teen and her Mother when she was in her 30's. My Dad was in his early 20's when he lost his Father and 30's when he lost his Mother. I can't help but think that altered them somehow. Then of course I know people who have lost both parents when they were children, so I do feel blessed that my parents were around until I was in my 50's. 

I like talking about them, looking at their pictures, remembering the stories.  I am trying to find a way to keep them around in memory. I don't want my Grandchildren to forget them, they were to special. I need to start writing down the stories, the stories that make our family our family. You know not only who, what and where’s but the stories that show the personalities. They were larger than life. I try and somehow the words just don't do them justice but I need to do it so they are recorded for future generations. I obsess about remembering the stories, that is what I do, I guess that is why Mom called me the keeper or the papers.  Somewhere is a past life I must have been a story teller or maybe that is what I yearn to be. Those that know me know I always have a story, and those that know me often wish I would just shut up for once, seriously. I guess I know where my Granddaughter Chloe gets it from, well I for one hope she never loses that. I try to share the stories with Chloe, but for the moment, she really only cares about her own stories. 

I have my Grandmother's old postcards, and the ones I love the most are not the ones she collected that are blank but the ones that were sent either from her or to her because they capture the personality of the person in about 5 lines. Wish you were here, we had the best beer at this restaurant. Wish you were here, caught the biggest fish. I guess some would look at them and say it is a postcard, but when I read them I imagine the person in my head and those 5 lives give be a small glimpse of them. You can tell the ones that were real cards, the ones that were way to serious, the ones that loved beer and those that just loved the adventure. Even the card they sent tells about them, the ones that loved off colored jokes always pick that type of post card to send. See there I go, a story about postcards.

Well 2019 is just around the corner. I am going to really make an effort to write down the stories. I am also going to work on making new stories.

Happy New Year to all, make it the best year ever.