Grandpa's Hands

    

  
Bernice and Kenneth Boicourt were my husband's parents, Madeline and Leo Dobrovolny were my parents, MarieCaklova Dobrovolny was my Dad's mother, my grandmother and Julia Ann Miller was my mom's mother, my grandmother.
      

Sometimes, a poem or story causes me to remember and miss my parents and grandparents who have passed away. Tears begin to fall as I think of the love that filled their homes. And I cry because my own children and grandchildren never had the chance to love and be loved by them.

GRANDPA'S HANDS
By Melinda Clements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Grandpa, some ninety plus years, sat feebly on the patio bench. He didn't move, just sat with his head down staring at his hands.

When I sat down beside him he didn't acknowledge my presence and the longer I sat the more I wondered if he was OK. not wanting to disturb him but wanting to check on him at the same time, I asked him if he was OK.

He raised his head and looked at me and smiled. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking," he said in a clear strong voice.

"I didn't mean to disturb you, grandpa, but you were just sitting here staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were OK" I explained to him.

"Have you ever looked at your hands" he asked. I mean really looked at your hands?"

I slowly opened my hands and stared down at them. I turned them over, palms up and then palms down. No, I guess I had never really looked at my hands as I tried to figure out the point he was making.

Grandpa smiled and related this story:

"Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, how they have served you well throughout your years. These hands, though wrinkled, shriveled and weak have been the tools I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life. "

"They braced and caught my fall when as a toddler and I crashed upon the floor. They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. As a child my mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots."

"They dried the tears of my children and caressed the love of my life. They held my rifle and wiped my tears when I went off to war.They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent. "

"They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn son."

"Decorated with my wedding band they showed the world that I was married and loved someone special. They wrote the letters home and trembled and shook when I buried my parents and spouse and walked my daughter down the aisle."

"Yet, they were strong and sure when I dug my buddy out of a foxhole and lifted a plow off of my best friend's foot."

"They have held children, consoled neighbors, and shook in fists of anger when I didn't understand."

"They have covered my face, combed my hair, and washed and cleansed the rest of my body. They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken, dried and raw. And to this day when not much of anything else of me works real well these hands hold me up, lay me down, and again continue to fold in prayer."

"These hands are the mark of where I've been and the ruggedness of my life. But more importantly it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when he leads me home. And with my hands He will lift me to His side and there I will use these hands to touch the face of Christ."

I will never look at my hands the same again.

But I remember God reached out and took my grandpa's hands and led him home.
When my hands are hurt or sore or when I stroke the face of my children and wife I think of grandpa. I know he has been stroked and caressed and held by the hands of God.

I, too, want to touch the face of God and feel his hands upon my face.

Trace Your Family Tree

Soooo, you're curious about your ancestors.....or aunts, uncles and cousins who you didn't know you had. Or, maybe you think you're linked to a politician, gangster, millionaire or a movie star (look for their real names, not something made up by a publicity agent)

Since you're at step #1, we'll begin very easily.….this is the way I started and the procedures and steps are my own….others search in different ways, but I tend to hop around a little in my searches……(so, if you are a dedicated, professional searcher, don’t yell at me….but, you can add your ideas and techniques)

1. Ask your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins or any living relatives to tell you about your family. Where did they live? Where did the family originally come from? Try to get dates or approximately when they were born.

Any family bibles laying around? You know, that big, bound book, sometimes closing with a clasp. They're not as popular now, but in the past, you'd find children listed with birth dates, parents, marriages, and deaths. There are many genealogy programs available on CDs and they are easy to understand.

I use Ancestral Quest but Family Tree Maker , and many others are available.
About Genealogy can give you ideas about a good beginner program.

Visit WorldConnect, type in your family name and see if anyone is searching or has searched for it. World Connect will not list anyone who was born after 1930 unless that person has a death date, so start with your oldest relative.

Keep in mind however, that this information is submitted by individuals, sometimes through word of mouth from family members. It does not always contain entire families and sometime contains errors. If you know something that the submitter doesn’t….contact them! They will love hearing from a new “cousin”.

Find A Grave has 9 MILLION grave sites listed. Maybe one of your ancestors is listed. The listings are submitted by genealogists or just plain ole people who want others to know where people are buried.

Many ancestors arrived in America and were processed through Ellis Island. This information will tell you what ship they arrived on, the date, and who was traveling with them.

Gen Forum - look for your family name…..someone may be asking questions about YOUR ancestor….or….may have the information you’ve been looking for.

LDS Family Search – this is a wonderful site created by the Mormon Church. You neither have to be Mormon nor have Mormon ancestors to search it. (my ancestry is heavily Catholic, and they are listed)

Social Security – lists deaths from about 1940 to present. Gives birth dates and dates of death. Approximates the place of death by using the zip code of where the last benefit was sent.

Contact me.....we might be related!

Genealogy

GENEALOGY AND WHY WE DO IT

I thought I would share this with all of you. For if you are reading this then you are the Storyteller. Enjoy as I did.

We are the chosen. My feelings are in each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve. To me, doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before.

We are the storytellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to "Tell our story". So, we do.

In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors
"you have a wonderful family, you would be proud of us"

How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say.

It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do? It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying I can't let this happen.

The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish. How they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their Family.

It goes to deep pride that they fought to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are them and they are us. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family.

It is up to you, the next generation to answer the call and take my place in the long line of family storytellers.



(Unknown Author)

Are we related?

Come'on over to WorldConnect and see if you are connected to any of my "cousins".

Start with names beginning with "A" --- then proceed through the rest of the alphabet.

If you find a name you recognize, click on it. You'll find all the people of that name listed. Click on any of them and you'll be taken to their page. Many of the listees are closely related to me!! but some are "married into the family" ones.

Create your own family tree. (if you have a child or grandchild in elementary school, I guarantee that they'll be asking about their family history)

My 11 year old grandson queried me over Thanksgiving "where did my ancestors come from?" "When did they come to America?", etc.........guess what! Grandma could answer ALL of those things. Plus a whole lot more (which he probably didn't really want to know but was too polite to stop me)

Here we goooooooooooooo!

WORLDCONNECT search

If you want more help, email me:

jeanjb@cox.net

Starting the search #1

Genealogy (from Greek: genea, "family"; and logos, "knowledge") is the study and tracing of family pedigrees. This involves the collection of the names of relatives, both living and deceased, and establishing the relationships among them.

Genealogists, amateur and professional, collect oral and written histories and preserve family stories to discover ancestors and living relatives. Genealogists also attempt to understand not just where and when people lived but also their lifestyle, biography, and motivations. This often requires — or leads to — knowledge of antique law, old political boundaries, immigration trends, and historical social conditions.

The search for living relatives often leads to family reunions.

I began my hobby of genealogy in 1980. I had been playing in amateur tennis tournaments in the Missouri Valley District and had been successful in winning titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. My name was in the paper quite a bit, and that lead to being contacted by a family in Iowa. They wondered if we could be related since we had the same last name. (actually my husband’s last name)

My father-in-law was sure that he and his siblings were the only families of our last name in the United States, but was willing to have the Iowa family over to discuss it. To make a long story short, yep, we sure were related. But it took a lot of searching to find it out how.

We started with a manuscript that had been written in the 1920’s giving the name of the “immigrant” and the story of how he arrived in America. Unfortunately, none of this can be proven. The “immigrant” Jean Marie LaProne Boiscourt’s final resting place is a mystery, but three of his sons were listed on the 1800 Washington County, Kentucky census. So we started our search there.

Through the census records, a family can be traced from town to town, state to state. The census records from 1790 to 1840 only list the head of household by name. The children are listed as male or female, with a general age span. His wife would probably be the oldest female in the household. But not always.

In the 1850 census, the entire family was listed. Name, age, occupation and place of birth. What a great improvement. But, now we are faced with misspellings - remember, the census takers were literate people but occasionally had to deal with people who were not. Many were from other countries and many couldn’t read or write. So, once in a while, the census taker would just give up and list initials instead of given names.

Thanks a lot guys!

In every family, there is a person who keeps track of the family history...be it grandma, grandpa, Uncle Fester, Aunt Aggie or one of the kids. They are the ones who know who married Grandma Ida and when.

Take a little time and become the "family historian" Its fun and you'll come across a lot of interesting people, both alive and those who have passed away.

If you'd like me to help with your search, I would be pleased to look up some things for you.

Genealogy help