(no subject)
This morning's discussion on Faulkner led us to the question: Do you understand your relationship with your family's past? As I think about it, I don't think I do. And, sadly, I don't know if I ever will fully understand that relationship.
The stories that make up my family's history begin in my parents' generation. My sisters and I know all about how my dad used to build tunnels in the snow banks outside his house and how my mom used to collect butterflies. We know all about our parents and the stories that make up their lives, but the stories (and the history that goes along with them) from generations beyond are few and far between. Beyond my parents' generation we are faced with silence instead of stories - the silence surrounding alcoholism and suicide on one side of the family and divorce and lost fortunes on the other. No one who knows the stories that make up my family history ever talks about anything that would shed light on how my family became what it is today. Perhaps mingled pride and shame prevent them from sharing. Perhaps I haven't asked the right way, or enough times. I want to understand my relationship with my family's past, but I'm faced with the possibility that I will never be able to connect with a past that wants to stay hidden. Many of the stories that make up my heritage may remain untold.
The stories that make up my family's history begin in my parents' generation. My sisters and I know all about how my dad used to build tunnels in the snow banks outside his house and how my mom used to collect butterflies. We know all about our parents and the stories that make up their lives, but the stories (and the history that goes along with them) from generations beyond are few and far between. Beyond my parents' generation we are faced with silence instead of stories - the silence surrounding alcoholism and suicide on one side of the family and divorce and lost fortunes on the other. No one who knows the stories that make up my family history ever talks about anything that would shed light on how my family became what it is today. Perhaps mingled pride and shame prevent them from sharing. Perhaps I haven't asked the right way, or enough times. I want to understand my relationship with my family's past, but I'm faced with the possibility that I will never be able to connect with a past that wants to stay hidden. Many of the stories that make up my heritage may remain untold.