TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Descendants Will Treasure Your Journal

ADVERTISEMENT

By SHARON TATE MOODY

Tribune correspondent

Published: July 13, 2008

Imagine how crushed I was when my granddaughter told me recently that she isn't interested in "all the stuff that happened in the past." She's only 10. I still hope to win her over.

But her comments gave me pause. They made me wonder if any of our descendants a century from now will care about how we lived in 2008. I try to imagine what could intrigue them: Did you really drive cars that ran on gasoline? What was it like for Granddaddy to fight in Vietnam? What was it like to be the first woman on the police force? Did you vote for the first black man nominated for president?

There are many questions I could have asked my own grandmother before she died. I could kick myself for not asking her about being a child in Oklahoma Indian Territory or what the train trip back to Georgia was like for an 8-year-old. If she had kept a journal, these details would have been priceless not only to me but also to future generations.

As family historians, maybe we should all be keeping journals. I know what you're thinking - who would want to read about mundane details of our everyday lives? It's a thought I've had, too, and what has kept me from starting my own journal.
1860s Journal Was Fascinating

But I recently read the journal kept by a woman from 1860 to 1868. She wrote daily about her bad headaches and the items of clothing she was sewing for herself, her children or her slaves (who later became her hired servants). She referred to her life as monotonous. I found it fascinating.

That's when I tried to look at my life and times through eyes not yet born. We're living through historic times - expensive gasoline and not knowing how that will eventually change our lives, gloomy predictions about global warming, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We've just witnessed the first presidential primary race between a white woman and black man.

Our descendants can study or read about these events, but the personal account of a great-grandparent would be invaluable.

So we just might owe our descendants a record of our thoughts, hopes and fears. Imagine the joy of a future great-grandchild discovering your journal and coming to an understanding of your life. That's an inspiration no family historian should be able to resist.

Yes, I think the time has arrived for me to keep a daily journal - perhaps it's time for you to do the same?

If you're still wondering what you could write in your journal, remember that details about ordinary life could be invaluable to future family historians.

One of the lectures I give is "If Living Were a Crime ... Evidence Your Ancestor Left at the Scene." Its major point is that our ancestors did not live in vacuums. Family historians need to explore the lives of their ancestors' friends and neighbors to understand the lives of their ancestors.

I use as illustrations several journals and letters that have been printed from the Civil War era. In them, the writers recorded who had married, given birth, died or committed a dastardly deed.

Neighbor Dies With Bible In Lap

An old journal kept by one of my collateral relatives tells how his neighbor John Bolt had died the day before while sitting in his chair and holding his Bible in his lap. That's the kind of detail any descendant would treasure. The scribe of this journal wasn't above writing a little gossip, too. He included the story of a Mr. Blasingane leaving for Oklahoma after being accused of fornication by the neighbors.

You can take this type of detail as encouragement. Go ahead and write about what your friends and relatives are doing. It probably will fascinate readers many decades from now.

Another thing to do for descendants is to keep information in our files about the items we've collected. I have an old handmade walking stick propped in a corner of my house. The story of who made it and used it would help my great-grandchildren understand its value when rumbling through boxes in the attic.

Even little things can be worth documenting. Surprisingly, I'm not a pack rat and toss mementos with little regret. But one thing that survives every cleaning spree is a funky little soft-bodied bear with ceramic head, feet and hands. He is dressed in red, white and blue and holding an American flag.

I call him Freddie the Freedom Bear and he sits in my bookcase and watches me work at my desk.

My descendants might laugh at how I gave a name to this little stuffed bear and other bears I've collected over the years. Then again, if I write about where I got Freddie and why I've kept him, he might be sitting on someone else's bookcase in 2108.

Write to Sharon Tate Moody in care of The Tampa Tribune, 200 S. Parker St., Tampa FL 33606; or stmoody0720@mac.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT