"Nice to Meet You!"
By, Cheryl Harwell Bailey
By, Cheryl Harwell Bailey
My Mother Carolyn with her blond ringlets.
What if we could see people in a different perspective.
If we could meet, our family members, as strangers,
in a situation outside of family dynamics.
What would it be like to have been a teacher to let's say my own mother,
when she was a girl?
How well do we know those closest to us?
They have done so much, we are completely unaware of.
I learned this at my maternal grandmother's funeral.
What kept going on over and over in my mind?
Who are they talking about?
Grandma did what?
Getting to know family the way others do,
is impossible when we are so close to them.
We've never known them from that perspective.
in a situation outside of family dynamics.
What would it be like to have been a teacher to let's say my own mother,
when she was a girl?
How well do we know those closest to us?
They have done so much, we are completely unaware of.
I learned this at my maternal grandmother's funeral.
What kept going on over and over in my mind?
Who are they talking about?
Grandma did what?
Getting to know family the way others do,
is impossible when we are so close to them.
We've never known them from that perspective.
I have been our family preservationist for years.
Writing and video taping the stories.
Trying to quilt the pieces together is not easy.
It is a massive undertaking, but I am trying to get them down,
before they are lost.
To strengthen that which remains.
In this task, I am getting to know them for the first time.
Even the ones I thought I knew.
Years ago with tape deck on my lap,
I recorded my grandmothers telling the stories in their own voice.
Now we can do it with an iPhone.
Modern technology, is a great asset for the archivist.
Some stories were hand written before electricity was invented.
The antique stories are verified through documentation.
The "movie worthy" stories sound to good to be true,
but they are, as the legal paper trail shows.
The one thing I often hear,
"Oh, that can't be true,"
While holding documented proof in my hand.
While seeing it with their own eyes on video.
Some still don't believe it.
They never will.
Our stories are for those who dare to believe what they see and read.
Who have faith in the carefully gathered history of those who have gone before.
Remember what "Jesus," said?
"A prophet is without honor in his own country."
He knew it was human nature.
They were too close to Him
to see who He was.
We may be too close to Mom and Dad.
to see who they are.
Vivian Bowen Donaldson,
my grandmother holding her daughter
Carolyn, my mother in 1937.
Writing and video taping the stories.
Trying to quilt the pieces together is not easy.
It is a massive undertaking, but I am trying to get them down,
before they are lost.
To strengthen that which remains.
In this task, I am getting to know them for the first time.
Even the ones I thought I knew.
Years ago with tape deck on my lap,
I recorded my grandmothers telling the stories in their own voice.
Now we can do it with an iPhone.
Modern technology, is a great asset for the archivist.
Some stories were hand written before electricity was invented.
The antique stories are verified through documentation.
The "movie worthy" stories sound to good to be true,
but they are, as the legal paper trail shows.
The one thing I often hear,
"Oh, that can't be true,"
While holding documented proof in my hand.
While seeing it with their own eyes on video.
Some still don't believe it.
They never will.
Our stories are for those who dare to believe what they see and read.
Who have faith in the carefully gathered history of those who have gone before.
Remember what "Jesus," said?
"A prophet is without honor in his own country."
He knew it was human nature.
They were too close to Him
to see who He was.
We may be too close to Mom and Dad.
to see who they are.
my grandmother holding her daughter
Carolyn, my mother in 1937.
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