So two weeks ago (Day #4 to be exact) I tried to put a clever spin on Jesus worshipping his father and I talked about Sabbath Day observance. Note to self, maybe I should complete a cursory glance of future materials before committing to a particular approach... because here we are with a whole post to talk about keeping the Sabbath Day holy.
One of the ways that the #LightTheWorld folks suggest we do this is by working on our family history, doing research or writing our own personal histories. Interestingly enough, this is actually something that I worked on in 2016 and it went relatively well. It was my Sunday night activity (along with scheduling and planning for the upcoming week) and it has been a great way to wind down and prepare mentally for the upcoming week. I find that working on Family History is great at helping me to keep things in perspective. We don't often have to look far to find all sorts of interesting tidbits in our family history; some of it is inspiring and faith-promoting and some of it simply reinforces the fact that we are all sent to earth in an imperfect state..... hope for personal improvement springs eternal.
In 2016, I started a family history project. The goal in doing this was to get the personal histories of my parents and Matt's parents written down while they are still with it enough to share. Not that I have any reason to believe that I'm on any sort of a deadline, just that I have learned that we should never take time together for granted. I also thought that it would be a great way to tackle my personal history. I think that so many times when we start to consider recording histories of any kind, we find ourselves complicating things unnecessarily. How many times have you started writing in a journal or recording information and become worried about how it reads or whether its in proper chronological order? Maybe that's just me. But, like so many other parts of real life, we don't exist in neat little chapters that bookend periods of our lives. I have also come to believe that some of the best information comes from a "stream of consciousness" download. So 2016 has been the year of the brain dump. I have written in journals more this year that I think I ever have in my life. I have a journal for my deepest, darkest personal stuff.... the things that will be burned if ever I have to evacuate quickly. I have discovered that sometimes the only way I can let potentially harmful things go is to write them down and put them away. Oftentimes it is more productive and well-tolerated than any sort of public shaming that I'd really like to do. I have kept a journal this year with records of all of the trips we have taken; what we've done, how we planned, what we'd change and personal breakthroughs. Spending all of this time writing this year has actually led to several "a-ha" moments. As a matter of fact, I just bought a Sherlock Holmes journal to compile some of my 2016 breakthrough discoveries. Some of them are surprising, but some or not. Either way, I'd like to have an organized record of my evolution as a person.
Anyway, back to my family history project. Every Sunday, I sent a question to our parents and siblings regarding memories from their past or talking about things they'd like to see. I learned a lot (AN AWFUL LOT) about some of my family members that I can honestly say have led me to improved relationships and more freely granting the benefit of the doubt. It has been a wonderful exercise for me, personally and I think those who have participated would say that they have enjoyed the opportunity as well. I am in the process of compiling things into a readable form. And I am vowing here that I plan to continue this labor of love in the upcoming year. For those that are looking to learn more about their family and the relationships and stories of the past, this is an easy way to do it. You eat an elephant one bite at a time; family history is no different. We shouldn't feel the need to impossibly complicate things. I have enjoyed working on family history on the Sabbath and I feel as though it has given me a greater appreciation for my Heavenly Father's plan. It is no coincidence that we come to life and are placed in families. They are relationships that are critical to our happiness. Besides all this, some of the stuff you discover is really interesting. I have listed a few of my favorite revelations below.
- It's amazing to discover how many folks in past generations, although born into wedlock, were just not born "far enough in." I think I find this so compelling because the world is constantly crying out that the world is going to "hell in a handbasket." Well I've got news for you, there have always been people who mess around and make mistakes. We just didn't generally hear about them as a matter of course in the past.
- People died in a lot of horrible ways. Matt's Great-Grandfather fell into a vat of acid while working at Kennecott. Worse than that, he didn't die immediately, but lingered for four days in a great deal of pain and suffering before he passed on. Also interesting is the fact that there was no recourse or standard of corporate responsibility. You lost one worker, you found another to take his place.
- Matt's other Great-grandmother (Nan) was a bit of a hellraiser. She liked to ride horses bareback, cut all the neighbor boys' hair, refused to go to school and any number of other interesting experiences. She wanted to be one of the boys at a time where there were very strict societal standards for girls and women. Fortunately for all of us, she was raised by forward-thinking parents in a lovely little rural town called Vernal which made it possible to spread her wings a bit.
- Through research, Matt had I discovered that we shared common ancestors in the not-to-distant past. As a matter of fact, my Fifth Great-Grandmother was the older sister of Matt's Third Great-Grandfather Lorenzo Dow Young..... who just so happens to also be Brigham Young's brother.... so, yeah, the family trees narrows at a particular point in our history. This is all the more interesting by the fact that this is only one of many times our families have crossed paths. We had relatives that came across the Atlantic Ocean on the same ships and some traveled in the same wagon trains/handcart companies to Utah.
- We found a record of one of my mothers relations who mustered out of a North Carolina regiment after the Civil War and the items he possessed at the time.
- One of my relatives (Russell King Homer) donated money to the Mormon Church when times were bleak and it is quite conceivable that this donation greatly furthered the building up of God's kingdom on earth in the latter days. The same could be said of Matt's relative John Tanner.
- Through our study of our family histories, we have learned to view our ancestors in context and to appreciate the fact that although they are not perfect, we are able to see how they worked toward perfection. It has been interesting to watch the evolution of character traits and family norms. By studying my family history, I have become aware of traits that have become the stuff of family legends.
- Nan's mother-in-law, a stodgy Brit and scullery maid from Dover, England is likely turning over in her grave because her daughter-in-law (Nan) gave away the extra plot of land next to her final resting place to a black neighbor.
- My grandpa was on his way to Pearl Harbor when it was attacked on December 7, 1941. The ship turned around and he was taken back to San Francisco. Sidenote, he processed on Angel Island which is in the San Francisco Bay. I went there this summer with Allie; pretty cool. He also met General MacArthur while stationed in the Philippines.
- My Great-Grandpa Homer, Willard George, who was a bit of a freeloader, was sealed to a former love interest posthumously at her urging..... evidently he was the great love of her life (as opposed to her scoundrel husband) and she convinced the St. George temple president to make things right.
- I had several family members who lived in a cave when they came to Utah. Coincidentally, some of their siblings had died of yellow fever while traveling up the Mississippi River.
- Both my Grandpa Homer and Matt's great-grandparents spent time in an area known as Swedetown in Salt Lake. This is the only thing left of Swedetown today.
- I have learned that most of the positive memories in my Grandma Homer's growing up years had to do with stringing popcorn and cranberries for display on the Christmas tree. These seem to be the only happy stories ever told at the now defunct Bertoch family reunions.
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