A Penny For Your Thoughts~

 

“A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell 'em for a dollar
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner
And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singing
Funny, when you're dead how people start listening”

     ~ “If I Die Young” Band Perry

I heard this song for the first time and I started thinking about my family…

My sister Heather and I have been researching our family history for over a year now.

Me & Heather in 1977~

Heather & Me now~

We found out part of our family came from Ireland, landed in NSW Australia, to leave soon after, to California, possibly for the infamous Gold Rush. Then, they ultimately ended up in the Hawaiian Islands, where five generations continued to live there, & so on…

                 {My Grandmother (Tutu) at age 2}

Then, my memories came flowing back of my two sets of wonderful, doting Grandparents. One set in the Hawaiian Islands & still living.  My Grandparents that lived in Arizona half the year & Colorado the other half. They rest in peace now, at the base of Greenhorn mountain next to their favorite little Catholic Church, in the town of Rye, Colorado that they called home. 

My beautiful Grandparents, in the back row, after my christening in Honolulu October 1973.

Their final resting place, to the lower left, in Rye, Colorado. I Love you & miss you both, more than you know…

My wonderful Great Grandmother’s TWO of them, from Hawaii, that I was lucky enough to have in my life into my late teens.

      

My Great-Grandmother, (Tutu F.), who loved to shop with us, played the ukulele for us while we danced & somehow made everything magical. My Great Grandmother B., Nana, (holding me), who spoiled us with homemade cookies, homemade doll clothes and lots of hugs and colorful stories of old Hawaii.

How do we keep those memories alive for our children? Pictures, stories, letters…

Bridgette (our little Westie), Landen (9) & Preston (11), my boys~

I felt so overwhelmed with the idea that I might forget, so many things, to share with my boys.

The stories of all their childhoods, things they did with me that meant so much, the way my Great Grandmother, Nana, smelled of Estee’ & made the best cinnamon toast, & how my Grandpa always whistled old tunes, when he combed his hair. 

Then, I realized all I can do is share with my boys as much as I can and as often as I can.  Then, somehow those wonderful, caring, beautiful people, I called Grandparents & Great-Grandmothers, will be here with me & my boys.

{The whaling ship’s, Barque Nile, log book, we got to see in person, from my Great-Great-Great Grandfather’s last voyage that he lost his life on; Captain Dennis Kelly}

I started a binder for each of the boys, of things I found online, about all their lives in historical newspapers, pictures, notes, etc.

Then, one day, I gathered all the letters they had written to me , that I had saved from childhood to present. I bundled them together and placed them in my living room, so everyday they are with me…and my boys.

Family is so important. In times where so many things seem uncertain and you are trying to teach your children what’s REALLY important. Family is a great place to start!

I have shared stories of hardship, success, adventure of uncertainty, & wives with children whose husbands passed away too soon. Somehow, things like not getting their favorite toy RIGHT NOW, or how homework everyday is “so unfair”…doesn’t seem so important or unfair anymore.

Now, the stories of whaling in arctic and south pacific oceans seem more, “aweeesome!”, than the latest video game!

So, like the song…” Funny, when you're dead how people start listening”.

So bring out the pictures, the letters, the stories stored away in memories and SHARE!!! That’s what life is all about. Life goes on & so will the memories…

Thank you for letting me share & to you…Happy Sharing~