Lost Through Generations

When it comes to ranch or farmland, pastures are something that take a lot of time to maintain to ensure that crops and livestock can enjoy the fields. The same thing goes for stories and history. Every family has stories that are told and passed down through generations. But the thing is, we have to keep telling the stories to keep them alive. Eventually, the stories just fade into the people who lived them, and if we're lucky, we'll at least remember the people in the stories.

My mom's side of the family is reasonably good at keeping, finding, and sharing articles and book snippets that map out what our ancestors did in the history of Limestone County. These things are great, but after a while, it starts to feel flat, like we're not really getting to know who these people were, but more just what they did as founders so to speak. 

I'm proud of who my family was and who we are now, but there are things that I wish I knew better about them. 

By sheer luck, we are fortunate to have a ranch in Limestone county. We have names for just about everything of note out there, but the origins of the names have been lost. For instance, the main pond where we camp is called the Sugar Tank, but no one can really remember why. It's little things like this. 

The last time I was there, my brother and I were walking through the trees behind the barn and came across the remains of an old car. A very old car. We have the cowl, the windshield side supports, and the steering shaft. Other than that, it's buried or lost to the elements. I asked my mom about it, and she had no idea. 

By the barn which is a story in and of itself, is an old red brick foundation. What we know about it is that it was a house for caretakers who lived on the property. There were animals to look after and with the family living 20 to 30 minutes away in town, it was necessary to have someone to look after things. One night, a fire broke out and destroyed the house. All we have left is the Groesbeck Red Brick Co brick foundation.

I could go on and on about the lost stories about that side of the family and the ranch and everything else. But, it's not just that side of the family. A few months ago, I was having lunch with my dad. We were trying to remember stories and details about certain family members. We were coming up short. Try as we might, we could not remember who certain people were or where they lived or even stories we knew we had heard about them through the years. 

Finally my dad said, "Grandma would remember.'

Sadly, Grandma has been for five or six years, and none of us thought to sit down with her and list to the stories while we still had time.

Over the weekend, I had brunch with family celebrate my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. Through the course of the meal, we talked about we've all been up to over the last year when we haven't been able to get together. Towards the end, the conversation turned to stories about our fallen family members. It's always great to hear these stories that we can still recall. I hope some day all of the kids can be around to hear about where they family came from.

Just like the pasture, the stores take cultivating. If we don't return to the land to work it, it will be overgrown, just like the stories that will be forgotten if we don't return to them often. Take the time to sit down and share the stories of where you came from and who came before you.