I suppose a number of my faithful readers have wondered why I haven't posted for a while. I hope neither of you were worried I was leaving you. I have been hard at work finishing up my family genealogy and history book This project has been 20 years in the making.
Much of it was researched and written in the late nineties. Then I went through about 15 years of procrastination. Actually, assembling and editing have been the hardest part. I am happy to say, however, that today it went to the printers. 210 pages, 93,000 words.
Why so long? My family lines all came to America before the Revolutionary War, so that's a hell of a lot of folks and families. My first immigrants came to the colonies settling in Massuachusetts in about 1635. Early birds. The rest came in the early 1700s through Philadelphia. In other words my family all became British citizens at one time, even though they mostly came from Germany.
In addition I researched and wrote about the major events that were occurring during their time. Genealogy and family history are more than dates and numbers. These were real people with real stories. Ever life is a story, not a born, died and buried statistic. It has been a long and rewarding journey.
In the opening paragraph of Vladamir Nobakov’s memoir, he states, “There is a common sense that tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. In the context of cosmic and human history, each life is but the briefest flash of an eternal strobe light -- so brief that it may be little noted nor long remembered.”
However, when each crack of human light is linked with other little cracks of human light, they illuminate the history of the world, the history of America and the histories of our families. Our own little crack of light is the sum of all those little cracks of light that have flashed before.
Finding where you came from helps you find who you are.
Have a Nice day!
Sam
