Who is the Heritage Maker in your family?
Posted by Mayve on March 25, 2009
I just got back from spending a few days with my husband’s family in Wyoming. It wasn’t exactly a planned trip but any time spent with them was an opportunity not to pass up.
The first time I met Troy’s parents, I was already pregnant with our daughter. Yes, not exactly the perfect circumstance to meet your future in-laws but they took me in with open arms… even after we broke the news to them. They had reason not to like me, they had reason to be upset, they had opportunity to make me not feel welcome at the family reunion that Troy insisted I go with him to. But they didn’t. Instead, they enjoyed filling me in on the wonderful stories of the family. And as I sat and listened as everyone shared their favorite memories and antics, I remember thinking these stories probably never grew old – especially the stories told by Dad. To me, he was a natural storyteller; everyone listened intently as he spoke. He had a story about everything and about everyone and it always drew a smile or laugh from people who heard them.
This past trip was to help Mom get some things done around the house. To tear down the old shed. To knock down the broken and fallen fence. To take care of things that Dad no longer had the energy to do…
Dad slept most of the day and and got up in the afternoon or evening and did not stay up for long. This man, full of charisma and inner strength seemed strong to me but I know to the family who had heard his stories of carrying 5 gallon steel milk cans as if they were toys, this was not the man they were used to seeing.
Several times during our visit, Dad jumped into storytelling mode again, the rest of the family laughing and chiming in. Some stories I heard at that family reunion four years ago, some new. All were as entertaining and captivating as the next. I glanced over to my 3 year old daughter who was busy gabbering her own tales to no one in particular, oblivious to the events going on around her.
I thought, “Will she get a chance to hear Gramps tell his stories?”
I hope so.
But if not, she can read them…
