I think the title says a lot, “On the road again!” I was grateful in late June when Mom packed the car and headed back east. Her passion is doing research into our family history and learning and sharing what she has learned. While I am not as passionate as my Mom, I have gain so much from seeing what she learns and by being a part of it.
One of the places I have wanted to go and see and experience was Lost Nation, Iowa. It is the place where our family first settled after arriving from Ireland. I have seen the photos and imagined it but, to actually see it and walk where they did or could have does something to you. There is a connection one makes when one sees their graves and resting places. You also realize that you are one link in a chain of life and your family. The other striking reality is that someone in your family made some significant sacrifices along the way and I receive the benefit of those.
Visiting Lost Nation gave me the opportunity to meet another branch of the family at their annual family reunion. A reunion that has been happening since the 1970’s in the same location and the same time of year.
This has deepened for me the sense of my roots and my part in it. I imagined how my earlier family members must have looked out over their farms and realized others will follow in their footsteps and dreamed. My being there and being thankful is proof that something good did came out of their struggle and sacrifice as I write my own page of family history and add it to the book of our history.
Thoughts? E-mail: francisearly@francisearly.com
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