It Was a Bigger Deal Than We Thought...

During the past two weeks, I had a couple of messages from a woman (I think she's a cousin, but with the number of cousins I have, it's hard to tell) telling me about a memorial service that was going to be held in a local cemetery in honor of my great-great grandfather. I confess that I did not return her calls; I was sick with my upper respiratory infection for three weeks, and then we had the baby with us for a long weekend. I was also hurt VERY badly by my mother's favorite brother on the day after my husband passed away, and it's made me a little hesitant in general about that side of my family. She left messages on my sister's phone, too, and we decided that we'd go to the memorial service.

We thought it involved the placement of a marker on the grave of my great-great grandfather and great-great grandmother, as this had been a project of my mother's family association. The markers had been the subject of much discussion at several of our annual reunions, and the family had collected enough money to pay for the markers and their installation. The family reunions apparently ended after the death of my mother; I had written one of my cousins explaining the situation with my uncle, and offering to turn over all the addresses and other information to anyone interested in continuing the annual gatherings.

We arrived at the church at exactly the time given for the service, but we ended up being late for the service...but just in time for the photographs. As we gathered with the cousins for a group photograph, my sister and I looked around and realized what had happened...my great-great grandfather was a veteran of the War of 1812, and one of the state chapters had placed a marker (an engraved star) on his grave honoring that service. We mingled with the crowd, talking to several cousins (my mother's brother was not there, so I didn't have to decide how to handle that situation), and making our way to the church hall for refreshments.

There were several state officers from the 1812 group, and one of the state officers lives in a small town just east of our city. We spoke with several of the ladies, including the woman who lives near us and apparently serves as the membership chairman of the group. We have already joined the Daughters of the American Revolution, which pleased my mother (even though she declined to join herself!), and she would be pleased about us joining this group. She and my father were the genealogists for the family, and got a great deal of enjoyment out of their years of research (and filled more than forty notebooks with their data!).

They were proud of their heritage, and wanted us to be proud of who we are. In addition to our heritage, they brought us up in a loving home, with strong Christian values and moral standards. We were encouraged to read, to be creative, and to laugh whenever possible. We went to the library and on family vacations. We took lots of photographs, and collected seashells. We loved each other.