Friday, June 22, 2018 – First Cousins, and Second Cousins, and Third Cousins, Oh My!

Every succeeding generation has the opportunity to heal the wounds of the past.

Laurence Overmire, A Revolutionary American Family

And now there are many.

Tired, a little overwhelmed, and profoundly grateful, I’m still trying to sort it all out in my mind this morning. She, who once had no family, now has much family and, at almost sixty years of age, has finally had the experience of sitting in a room with many who share the same DNA laughing and talking about parents and grandparents and connections and figuring out how it all fits together. Absolutely priceless.

(I also have an appreciation for the tasty Mennonite treat, roll kuchen, and a hankering to try wareneki and schmauntfat and other high caloric, but-if-they’re-as-delicious-as-roll-kuchen-worth-some-laps-around-the-neighbourhood-to-work-them-off-occasionally, Mennonite favourites.)

This morning I’m imagining secrets that were buried, and shame that was cast, all coming into the light and truth finally prevailing. I’m seeing the frayed ends of threads that were broken long ago coming together and weaving themselves into something new.

As we speak of that which was for too long unspoken, a new future is being written.

And it is good. And it is right. And it is about time.

Ultimately, the great truths of family history don’t live in any book. They live in the hearts and minds of the living descendants. They live in the way we conduct our lives, in the passing of traditions and values to those who will follow.

Laurence Overmire, A Revolutionary American Family