I never got to know my great grandparents, or my paternal grandparents, lost my maternal grandma when I was twelve, and my maternal granddad when I was 18...
I have very few memories of my maternal grandparents, as we didn't get to see them as often as I would have loved, so now I do all I can to allow my children to build memories with their grandparents, and even more with their great grandparents...
With a pencil and some paper, I started asking them about the day they met, how they fell in love, the job they did, the places they lived in, and much more.
I wish I had asked my husband to record the whole interview in a video format, because my words can barely describe what I was blessed to experience.
Great grand dad Hall suffered from a stroke many years ago, so he is not able to fully and clearly express himself, so it was very difficult to understand everything, but that didn't discourage him from trying to share his memories, and me from making more questions and listening even harder.
When he was telling me of how his sweetheart was always riding the bus and he would notice her while walking, and how one day he just decided to hop on the bus and sit by her so that he could know her, his eyes started to sparkle, and his smile was just priceless...
Grandma Hall would fill in where he couldn't express himself, and I found out so much about them, and also found so many reasons to love them even more, if possible...
They might not be my grandparents by blood, but I love them so much, and I yearn to have more moments like this in the future.
I realized even more how our spirits are so alike...
That interview is going to be part of a Family history book that will be printed in as many copies as needed for all the descendants interested in knowing their story.
While the purpose of it was so that I could preserve their story for generations to come, I realized that that simply sitting with them and asking those questions was fulfilling an higher purpose: making my children' great grand parents feel loved, know that they are important to us, and that they are going to be remembered.
I am so grateful for this passion to know about my family that I was born with, and for the joy it brings not only to me, but to many others.
I hope and pray that my children might develop the same passion, and that they will preserve all the family memories I am putting together.
They pretty much will have it easy, as their parents' love story is already in a book, completed with pictures and they each of them will have a copy of it, plus they will have the whole family history storybook, once it is completed.
I hope they will be able to understand the passion and the efforts made so that they would really know who they come from, and learn to love each and every one of their ancestors, and in so doing, love and have more confidence in themselves too.
If you are blessed to have still great grandparents, if you have grandparents that you can still ask questions to, don't wait, it will be one of the best times of your life when you will see that sparkle in their eyes.
One of the greatest desires of every human being is to be remembered.
It doesn't take much. If you have 5 minutes, use them to call your grandma, and tell her how much you love her, and maybe ask even one question.
If you have 1/2 hour, ask her about her youth, how she met her husband, how they fell in love...
If you have more time, go to visit your grandparents, and sit with them, and enjoy and keep sacred those moments in which you know you are giving them one of the best gifts of all: your time, and the opportunity for them to be remembered.
You will be glad you did it, I promise you!
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