I'm passing on a bit of inspiration to intrude (I hope as a welcome
inspiration) on our daily dose of researching the past. Hope you enjoy
I have a wonderful on-line friend who reminded me the other day about the
importance of making a record of what is special to us. She knows that part
of the fun I have with genealogy is in working with other people so that they
can pass a lasting legacy on to the future generations, so this was
especially meaningful to me.
I thought that others who are seeking out records of the past would be well
reminded that today is the "history" our grandchildren will talk about.
So I'm passing this on, in hopes that it inspires you to make your family
history more than just a list of names & dates on a computer screen. I think
that when you read it you'll be reminded that writing down our feelings,
stories, etc is not only a wonderful gift to give otherns right now, but a
fantastic & important record for future generations to look at with love &
gratitude. It got me thinking about the kinds of stuff that I should be
writing down & what it will men to someone else!
Enjoy :^)
Susan
Sandy wrote "I just came across this letter that was sent to me in October of
1997. May you find the gem within it for your life.
Dear Sandy,
You may not remember me...I took your Dale Carnegie course several years ago.
During that class you related a story of how you took the time to write your
parents a letter of appreciation. Your story affected my life more than
youll ever know.
My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in June of this year. I
begged, pleaded and threatened my brother and sisters to get them all to write
letters to my parents. We enclosed all of the letters in separate boxes and
presented them at the anniversary dinner as boxes containing all of our
love!
After reading his letters, my dad called me and said, I cant believe you
kids think all of these things about me...Im just an ordinary guy! I told
him that he saw himself as Clark Kent, but we all saw him as Superman. So
you might ask, why am I telling you all of this? My dad passed away last
month. Several days after the funeral when the entire family was present, my
Mom told us how much those letters meant to my father. He read them all
several times over and was still surprised by the depth of our feelings. He
kept his "box of love" on his bedside night-stand and my Mom said that she
often saw him open the box and just hold a letter before replacing it.
The point of all this is to thank you for sharing your experience. Because of
you, we did not wait until it was too late to tell him how we felt. I feel
comfort in knowing that on my Dads death he knew how much we loved and
appreciated him.
With thanks,
Wendy
"copyright, Sandy Alemian-Goldberg, 1999
LifeCraft; PO Box 301; E. Bridgewater, MA USA 02333 (877)38-SEEDS
Website: <A HREF="http://www.seedsofhope.com">seeds of hope</A>
(
www.seedsofhope.com)