Dear Ancestor
Your tombstone stands among the rest;
neglected and alone.
The name and date are chiseled
out on polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who care
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist
You died years before I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you
In flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood contracts
and beats a pulse
Entirely not our own.
The place you filled
One hundred years ago
Spreads out among
the ones you left
Who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew
That someday I would
find your grave,
And come to visit you.
~ Author Unknown ~
An English historian once pointed out that "Discontent and disorder.... are signs of energy and hope, not of despair."
So, it is another year ending.... and I am looking forward... renewed and re-energized to begin again.....
This process of beginning again is how I manage to reclaim my identity. I will re-create a future legacy for my grandchildren.
Hence, I am pulling several relevant posts from LEST WE FORGET blogsite.... facts and tidbits that will help me in the Travis Roots Journey.... below is something on my list to do....
A Letter of sorts.... Hello family...For the last fifteen years I have been working to pull information on the family and have compile a wide range of topics and facts on the "Lest We Forget" blogsite.
This year, I am asking for your help. I know letter writing with postage and a mailbox is old school. But here goes. I can easily receive and correspond @ inbox messages on Facebook, or Iphone text msg.... hubby will help on his Ipad if necessary.... and the lists goes on.
Please complete the following survey and email it back to me, ileverettjr@earthlink.net
So whatever is easy for you..... call or txt me....find a way to answer the questions, save, then email them back to me.
Feel free to include any great family anecdotes, traditions, rituals, myths and old photographs that will stimulate memoirs and interest in the this TRAVIS FAMILY TREE PROJECT.
About yourself
1. What is your full name and why were you named it?
2. Were you named after somebody else? If Yes, whom?
3. Did you have a nickname as you were growing up?
4. If you did, what was it and why did they call you that?
5. Where were you born and when?
6. Do you remember hearing your grandparents describe their lives? What did they say?
7. Do you remember your great-grandparents? What do you know about them?
8. Who was the oldest person you can remember in your family as a child? What do you remember about them?
About our world . . .
9. How is the world now different from what it was like when you were a child?
10. Do you remember having a favorite nursery rhyme or bedtime story? What was it?
11. What were your favorite toys and what were they like?
12. What were your favorite childhood games?
13. What school activities and sports did you participate in?
14. Did you and your friends have a special hang-out where you liked to spend time?
15. Where was it and what did you do there?
16. Were there any fads during your youth that you remember vividly?
17. How old were you when you started dating?
18. Do you remember your first date? Describe the circumstances.
19. Name a good friend that you have known for the longest period of time? How many years have you been friends?
20. How did you meet the person that you would later marry? Describe them?
21. How many children did you have all together?
22. What were their names, birthdates and birthplaces?
23. Do you remember anything that your children did when they were small that really amazed you?
24. What is one of the most unusual things that one of your children did regularly when they were small?
25. What advice do you have for your children and grandchildren?
Tell Your Story . . .
26. Who was the person that had the most positive influence on your life? Who were they and what did they do?
27. Is there a person that really changed the course of your life by something that they did? Who were they and what did they do?
28. Do you remember someone saying something to you that had a big impact on how you lived your life? What was it?
29. Where have you lived as an adult? List the places and the years that you lived there.
30. Why are you living where you are today?
31. Do you wish you lived somewhere else (If so, where would it be)?
Helpful facts . . . .
32. Do you have any health problems that are considered hereditary in nature? If so, what are they?
33. What church, if any, do you attend regularly?
34. What are your hobbies?
35. Are you aware of the location of family archives and materials?
Family bibles
Church records
Family documents (birth, marriage, and death certificates, divorce papers)
Military records
Diaries and journals
Genealogies
Scrapbooks
Obituaries
Anecdotes
