Drawn by memories, many of us made visits to cemeteries over the Memorial Day holiday.
I watch as members of my family pause by the graves of relatives they never knew. I hear what they say to their children. At some point my stories became theirs to tell.
Older guys rarely pass up an opportunity to tell a story. So, I tell my stories. I heard somewhere, “They are never lost until no one remembers them.” This wisdom is credit to many. I deeply believe this.
Now, most of those I knew and loved when I was young are gone. I can stand by their graves and recall them as I knew them in my youth. I recently discovered a photograph of my mother taken shortly before she married by father. I shared it.
I have often encouraged friends to record their family stories for their children and grandchildren. There is something about words on a page. The recorder can revisit the words. Even lines that are handwritten in cursive.
David Martin of Sallisaw, a great-nephew, posted a video he made while visiting the Sallisaw Cemetery. He was providing directions to grave locations to his middle school age sons. He was including a brief description of each individual. Good for you, David.
The preservation of our family history can be a deeply personal endeavor. There is an uncomfortable element of self-discovery involved.
Like many things in life, family histories are best shared. Your local historical society provides a wonderful vehicle for the preservation of a family history. Historical societies collect life’s small parts. Small parts that become consequential when viewed as parts of a larger whole.
The front-page headline in Tulsa World screamed, “Trump Guilty.” It seems likely that each of us have formed an opinion on this subject and on this outcome. The professional political prognosticators have voiced their opinions and recorded their thoughts. But have you written it down?
Erik Larsen’s book, The Splendid and the Vile, contains repeated references to the recordings of diarist. Diarist were a group of diverse folks who recorded in a diary their observations of the events occurring in Great Britian in1941. 1941, their country was at war and Nazi Germany conducting almost nightly bombings of British towns and cities.
I want to submit there are two types of history books, the read and unread. I am currently reading Stephen Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage. I have read more detailed histories on Lewis and Clark, but none that so humanized Meriweather Lewis and William Clark. Ambrose possessed that knack.
Wars are raging around the world. If we are to speak of war, we should gain a familiarity with war through the words of people who have been there. If you have not read Eugene Sledge’s personal accounting of Peleliu and Okinawa, With the Old Breed, you should. Years after the war he wrote this book from notes he made in a small Bible he kept in his pocket. His book is required reading for Naval Academy graduates who are going to serve in the Marine Corps.
History is malleable. A new cache of diaries can shed new light. – Ken Burns
