What is it that makes a life remarkable?
I was just listening to an excellent musical compilation called The Ghosts of Gardener Village and one of the lyrics goes "the tales I tell are meaningless if there's not a soul around." I began to think - what is it that makes us pass on the tales of our predecessors? And, how do we do it in a way that will continue past our children? For example, why do all Bassetts know the stories about Ephraim K. Hanks but very few even know who Archibald McPhail is? Is it because other people besides our family tell the stories of Ephraim K. Hanks or made a painting of him...or was he just that remarkable of a man?
I think there is no doubt that he was an incredible man - but somehow his stories have lived on. Why? Sure, his life had some awesome stories - like saving the Martin and Willey handcart companies with a miraculously lost buffalo or shaving his whole face upon request from Brigham Young. But, I would guess most people have at least a few such amazing tales from their lives. So, the question is what kind of stories get passed on and how do we record them? The other day I told the story about Dad feeding an Australian dog a kangaroo steak laced with M80. I also told the story of Aunt Jann almost killing off my mother (accidentally on purpose) when they were kids. These are some great stories about MY family. But, will these stories make it past me? Or will they end with my telling of them?
How do we immortalize the amazing stories of our ancestors so that our kids don’t just know where to find them but they actually know them? By telling them more often? By writing them in a book? As the last song on the Ghosts of Gardener Village goes “Don’t let them be forgotten. Don’t let their memories fade away. If we let them be forgotten we’re denying their tomorrows and our yesterdays.”
Maybe Artscow was invented just for this reason. I think telling them often to our kids is a great way, but the reason so many people knew Eph's stories was because they were written down in a book. The question becomes, will our kids read them? That's why Grandma is so often telling us that we need to read these books that are written. After all, I did write a book with some great stories about Grandpa Franklin. Have you or any of the other kids read it? My case in point...You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. And if he doesn't drink, he will die. This is the same thing...if these stories aren't relived as a bedtime story or other, they end up dying with each generation because our kids won't know these stories to pass on...loved these comments, Richie.
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