Family Tree

Our eldest son and his wife are expecting our first grandchildren in March!

He recently climbed around in our family tree as they consider names for two little boys.

He used an online service and shared the login so we could take a look. The truth be told, soon I was printing various graphic organizers and assigning ancestors' names, birth dates, and places of birth to various branches and limbs.

High up on one branch I met his great, great, great grandfather. Joseph was born in England in 1825 and passed away in Tennessee . . .  on July 12, 1864 . . . on Lookout Mountain. It's amazing what you can find. Soon I was searching old newspaper articles naming Civil War battles and rosters of soldiers. I found a historic photo of Lookout Mountain, the site of more than one battle.

Just a few weeks earlier I had discovered a holiday gift tag below the cardboard liner of the box that has forever held my mother's pinking sheers. It is one of the objects that secures my memory of her. The hand-written note said,

 "Merry Christmas, Mabel! Love, Mom and Dad"

And now, here they were, my mom's mom and dad, looking at me from my computer screen. Seeing photographs of my maternal grandparents midst the virtual pages of the site took me by surprise. It was suddenly personal.

It is our story . . . our family tree  . . .  with two new little budding branches!