Today was a day of rest. I enjoyed my morning coffee while sitting out on the deck listening to the birds and smelling all the flowers. It was a quiet day. My cousin and I spent time sharing stories and laughing about growing up together. She had a box that she wanted to go through together. It was my mother’s youngest sisters. She passed away a year ago and my cousin was given this box among a few other family treasures. As we begin to go through the items piece by piece, I didn’t realize my aunt was such a family historian. I remember when I was young asking my Grandmother about the family lineage and she couldn’t tell me anything. I don’t remember my mother sharing any details when she was asked also. It seemed to me know one knew. But this little box turned out to be a treasure trove of pictures, historical dates, and family lineage that went back generations. My cousin, growing up had a different experience. She seemed to know all about the family history of my mother’s side. She shared many stories of Aunts, Uncles, and family I had never heard.
She pulled out her computer and we looked at a family tree that I did not even knew existed. To my surprise my grandmother of the 10th generation, “Grandma X” (Mary Allerton) actually was a passenger on the Mayflower. How crazy is that. Spending some more time going through the family tree I realize I need to get access and dig into it after I’m done with my journey. This was so much fun seeing pictures of relatives I didn’t even know existed. Learning of family names and seeing family resemblances was such a surprise I wasn’t expecting today. My journey has already taken me along the historical Lewis and Clark exploration and even along the Oregon Trail West. So on Father’s Day, to go back in history even farther was fun. I enjoyed all the different texts and phone calls wishing a happy Father’s Day from family and friends. It was great to have some good old-fashioned home cooking. (My cousin is a good cook) In fact for dessert came out the famous Sanders bumpy cake. Somewhere she found a large lot at a store and had them stashed in her basement for such occasions. Growing up in Detroit, Sanders was always apart a family celebrations.
