fact, fiction and speculation

  I pursued my family tree for a number of years on and off. I began with Ancestry.Com and had a paid subscription for quite a length of time. I have grown satisfied, that is the word I would use, that I have made enough discoveries. I canceled my membership and haven't added anything in a while. There are still questions without answers. I am a bit frustrated with the Ancestry website with their permissions and all of that. You work and pay for years and then are denied certain features, especially downloads, without paying a premium price. I get it, they are in business. I also know there are plenty of free sites available and perhaps one day I will begin again on one of those. And that is the issue, beginning again. It took years to compile what I have and would take years to gather again. 

 The last few days a certain name from the past has been on my mind, Laura Rose Terry. She was sister to my great, great grandmother. I wrote a blog about her five years ago, but she has resurfaced. That is because of a photograph I have displayed. That photo, taken circa 1891, is perhaps the only photograph of her in existence. I feel like she is calling out to me, don't allow me to be forgotten. She was 16 years 5 months old when she passed away from typhoid fever. A beautiful obituary was in the local newspaper, quite touching and filled with angst. The photograph itself is what is called a cabinet card. I am concerned that it is fading away. I wonder if they can be restored, I'll have to look into that. 

 Beyond all of that I find myself once again wondering what to do with all this information. How to condense that into something of interest to others. Like a readers digest condensed book I want to tell the story, just do it briefly. The reason for that is to retain interest, that's why readers digest did it, is my thinking. I have some writings from a distant Uncle explaining his life a bit. It is written in the first person and interesting. But that Uncle, a great grand uncle in fact, was an interesting guy. He held a patent for a book binding machine and was quite a successful man. I can't find much of interest about myself to incorporate in a manuscript. I'm a pretty ordinary guy. In the condensed version of the story I'm thinking this character would barely make an appearance. Perhaps as the narrator? 

 What I'm thinking about is a synopsis. The synopsis of five generations. Well, five generations on American soil, descendants of immigrants, as are the majority of Americans. The story of integration and assimilation. Those born on American soil are Americans and always have been. Those people, like myself, can make no claim to a past nationality, only a heritage. I am not multi-national I'm all American. I was never instructed in the customs, traditions, or culture of any other nation. My maternal grandmother was born in Sweden and sent to America by her family. It wasn't her choice. She assimilated herself to the American way of life and rarely spoke of Sweden or any Swedish customs, cultural things, or traditions. She simply adapted to the environment. She had ten children, all of them gone now, my Mom being the last. I'm not certain I have a record of all the grandchildren and great grandchildren. The 1950 census is the latest one released and many were born after that date, myself included. My own interest came too late to get that first hand knowledge that is invaluable. Opportunity lost, but more correctly, opportunity squandered.

 It's a responsibility. I feel compelled to tell the story. Yet simple explanations can come as a shock to those unaware. It is better to be prepared. Are there are any deep dark secrets? No, I wouldn't say that, just the regular course of life and living associated with any family. There have been tragedies and triumphs. The closer you are to the story the "fuzzier" the telling of it tends to be. What I mean is perhaps the details aren't quite as clearly stated. 

 But then I think why? Why the compulsion to tell the tale? Perhaps it is just the need to pass on whatever information I know and share whatever observations I have made over the years. Fact, fiction and speculation. That is what composes all of our lives. It is only when we can reconcile all three that we find true peace of mind. Is that to be the purpose of my synopsis? Well, that's just speculation isn't it? The actual writing of it may turn out to be a fiction, or a fact. Might be a mixture of all three.