This last year has been a strange mix of time and blinks.
We had a pandemic that shut down the entire world, and time passed so slowly, much more slowly than the lives lost to COVID. Those loved ones were gone in a blink.
A tornado tore up my hometown. Lives lost. Parts of my childhood erased. It all happened in a blink, but the recovery takes so much time.
So many friends lost family and loved ones. My loved ones turned another year older. Thankfully, so did I.
I lost Titan. He was with me for over 12 years, and then he was gone in a blink.
Because I'm disabled, I'm home, a lot. One day drags into the next. Then, in a blink, my health changed. I had a stroke on Nov. 1, and it really didn't take long, but those days in the hospital drug on, especially that first night, when I couldn't use my leg or hand. My recovery was actually very rapid, but it seemed that it took forever. I'm still recovering, months later.
And all of these eons and blinks this last year have had me thinking. Deep thinking.
Except for a few exceptions, my family is generally blessed with decent health and long lives. I'm going to be one of those exceptions.
Many women dread turning a year older. They may even lie about their age. I celebrate. It means I've survived another year, a year that allowed me to enjoy time with my family, watch my grandchildren grow, and just relish life. Another year of experiences, not as exciting as they used to be, but experiences just the same.
In 1976 a school assignment changed my life. We were given two weeks to take our family tree back as far as possible, and the one thing we had to include was each individual's profession. I thought it sounded pretty boring, but I was always good about doing my school work, so I quickly set about discovering my history. Mom was of great help with her family, and a phone call to my grandparents filled in a few of the blanks. Dad, however, wasn't as clear on his side, so he had me call two of his aunts. Lola Bell McCormick was incredible. She gave me a notebook, family charts, and all sorts of fun little things, as well as a great deal of information. Then Lurlene McCormick spent an entire day with Mom and me, traveling all over Putnam and Overton Counties to introduce me to ancestors I'd never heard of before that day. She was a fountain of family lore and stories and truly seemed to enjoy the day we all spent together.
I was hooked. What I thought would be a fairly boring assignment turned out to be a huge jigsaw puzzle that I'm still plugging pieces into over 40 years later. I've compiled centuries of data.
But what if there's another blink, and I'm gone? What happens to all of that history? I want to gather the leaves of this family tree that I've raked up over the last few decades and make sure I get it all together in one spot. I want to get the stories down, record the family recipes, and leave it for my sons and grandchildren, as well as the nieces, nephews, and cousins. I want them to discover this incredible family we share and know their history. I truly believe that we learn from our past. I know I did.
I don't want it all to disappear in a blink. Don't be surprised if you begin to see more frequent blog posts as I start compiling it all. I want my children and grandchildren to know some of my stories. Yvonne is tired of hearing them! Perhaps I'll write them now. Save them for posterity.
Or maybe there will be another blink, and I'll just fade away.
We'll just have to see...
