I find myself wondering about the lives that came before mine. What I mean is, the lives of my ancestors. I work on the family tree and add names and dates. Occasionally I find an old newspaper article or something that begins to add character. That is always a fascination to me. Most times when I find a newspaper article it is the obituary. Those are usually straightforward with facts and terms of endearment. They may include the persons occupation or some other insight to their life. I think do to cost many are kept brief. But then I wonder, how much could be said about them anyway. Take my own life for example, how much could be written. It certainly depends on who the intended readers are. But for the general public, my friends and acquaintances in general, not much at all.
My third great grandfather came to America in 1856. He left his home in Germany, along with his Mother, wife, and one son. They came ashore at Castle Garden New York. That's were most immigrants landed before Ellis Island was a thing. He was a farmer by trade but took work in a cigar factory in New York City. Later he is in Greenport on Long Island, his occupation listed as torpedo maker. I know about his wife, children and mother. I mean they are my ancestors, that much I know. I even know fragments of what their lives must have been like. The truth is, I don't really know much about their lives at all, just a few snapshots, so to speak. It isn't the big picture that fascinates though, it is the details that intrigue me. It is that way with music and art as well. It's that way with lots of things, it's all in the details.
An obituary is a brief biography of the person. I think that is a fair statement. Sometimes I find them sad when so little is said. I wonder if that is all there was? I've even thought of a synopsis for my life and it wouldn't take up much newsprint. Then I think, what more would I add? Just what could be written? And it is that I wonder about with those that came before me. What made my third great grandfather come to America? What was the motivation to take such a drastic step. Surely that is a big decision. How did he wind up in Greenport a hundred miles east of New York city? Greenport is a rather remote place to find yourself in the 1800's. His son, my second great grandfather, served in the civil war. How did he feel about that? Immigrate to a country and in less than six years your son is in a war fighting for half of that country. It was north vs south. What's his story. That's the type of stuff I wonder about.
When I started writing these blogs that is one thing I had in mind. I did, and still do, want to leave a record of me. That is to say, a record of what I thought and felt. A sort of memoir you could say but not exactly that either. A compilation of the past is more accurate I think. For my descendants it hopefully proves amusing at the very least, instructional at best. But the later is a bit presumptuous of me. If nothing it will provide a peek into the " old " days. Yes, I'm aware a great deal of the topics I deal with will be " in the old days " in not too many years. A generation is generally considered to be between twenty and thirty years. Soon I will have been posting these blogs for nine years! Just ten years ago these things didn't exist, i-pads, Google Chrome, Snapchat, Spotify, instagram and there was no gps on that smartphone! Yes, I often speak of the " old days. " And I guess if I where to write an autobiography it would be about the " old days. "
I have toyed with this idea. Instead of writing an autobiography what if I wrote an epistle! You don't hear about too many epistles. They are mostly associated with the Bible. What is an epistle really? It's just a letter. Usually a very long letter but a letter nonetheless. And my idea would be to write an epistle to my descendants. A sort of very long obituary, with footnotes. I wish there was one about my third great grandfather. I would like to know his thoughts. For ourselves it is what we accomplish while we are here. For our descendants it is what we leave behind. Many times all that is left are faded photographs and fading memories. I feel like the written word is one of the most durable things you can leave behind. Hey we are still reading the words of those ancient Greek dudes. It isn't unreasonable to think that a third great grandchild of mine may enjoy reading what I thought. They might even agree! Well we are all judged by history in the end; depending on what you leave behind. Maybe it's better to be brief, just hit the highlights. Maybe no epistle, just a post-it note. You know we didn't have those before 1974! Wasn't till the mid 80's that cell phones were widely available. Yeah, " the old days. "
My third great grandfather came to America in 1856. He left his home in Germany, along with his Mother, wife, and one son. They came ashore at Castle Garden New York. That's were most immigrants landed before Ellis Island was a thing. He was a farmer by trade but took work in a cigar factory in New York City. Later he is in Greenport on Long Island, his occupation listed as torpedo maker. I know about his wife, children and mother. I mean they are my ancestors, that much I know. I even know fragments of what their lives must have been like. The truth is, I don't really know much about their lives at all, just a few snapshots, so to speak. It isn't the big picture that fascinates though, it is the details that intrigue me. It is that way with music and art as well. It's that way with lots of things, it's all in the details.
An obituary is a brief biography of the person. I think that is a fair statement. Sometimes I find them sad when so little is said. I wonder if that is all there was? I've even thought of a synopsis for my life and it wouldn't take up much newsprint. Then I think, what more would I add? Just what could be written? And it is that I wonder about with those that came before me. What made my third great grandfather come to America? What was the motivation to take such a drastic step. Surely that is a big decision. How did he wind up in Greenport a hundred miles east of New York city? Greenport is a rather remote place to find yourself in the 1800's. His son, my second great grandfather, served in the civil war. How did he feel about that? Immigrate to a country and in less than six years your son is in a war fighting for half of that country. It was north vs south. What's his story. That's the type of stuff I wonder about.
When I started writing these blogs that is one thing I had in mind. I did, and still do, want to leave a record of me. That is to say, a record of what I thought and felt. A sort of memoir you could say but not exactly that either. A compilation of the past is more accurate I think. For my descendants it hopefully proves amusing at the very least, instructional at best. But the later is a bit presumptuous of me. If nothing it will provide a peek into the " old " days. Yes, I'm aware a great deal of the topics I deal with will be " in the old days " in not too many years. A generation is generally considered to be between twenty and thirty years. Soon I will have been posting these blogs for nine years! Just ten years ago these things didn't exist, i-pads, Google Chrome, Snapchat, Spotify, instagram and there was no gps on that smartphone! Yes, I often speak of the " old days. " And I guess if I where to write an autobiography it would be about the " old days. "
I have toyed with this idea. Instead of writing an autobiography what if I wrote an epistle! You don't hear about too many epistles. They are mostly associated with the Bible. What is an epistle really? It's just a letter. Usually a very long letter but a letter nonetheless. And my idea would be to write an epistle to my descendants. A sort of very long obituary, with footnotes. I wish there was one about my third great grandfather. I would like to know his thoughts. For ourselves it is what we accomplish while we are here. For our descendants it is what we leave behind. Many times all that is left are faded photographs and fading memories. I feel like the written word is one of the most durable things you can leave behind. Hey we are still reading the words of those ancient Greek dudes. It isn't unreasonable to think that a third great grandchild of mine may enjoy reading what I thought. They might even agree! Well we are all judged by history in the end; depending on what you leave behind. Maybe it's better to be brief, just hit the highlights. Maybe no epistle, just a post-it note. You know we didn't have those before 1974! Wasn't till the mid 80's that cell phones were widely available. Yeah, " the old days. "
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