Fire Flies

Hannah, there have been stories shared. There is more than Lola Lowly Foot and William Potter in our family stories. I remember you listening to Grandpa’s stories about his wild escapades. Perhaps you mistook them as the ramblings of an old man who was extremely creative. Honey, most of what Grandpa talked about really happened. He did dress up as Baby Huey, took a trip to Gravios Mills Missouri and ended up in Mexico, and yes he was a little bit of a hell raiser.

What about Grandma and Granddaddy Peavyhouse? Perhaps there are not as many stories about them but when you reach for the cookbook I made you, you hold a part of Grandma Peavyhouse. Do you remember Grandma talking about her family? How she chased her sister all over the yard, into the house, and finally trapping her in the attic with a dead chicken. About two Peavyhouse men that served in the Navy? Surely you haven’t forgotten how Francis P married his step sister and they moved from the hills of Tennessee to the hills of Kentucky? They were your g grandfather’s parents and that in itself was a love story.

The Herndon family. How Jacob decided to become a Baptist and that in itself almost drove the family apart. How Sallie met Jacob in Chicago. Remember the stories that Aunt Betsy told? How fortunate we were that she gave those stories and her story to us?

Remember when I told you about the Woodson family. I believe you are the Potato Hole Woodson.

I remember telling you how Nauvoo Illinois played an important role in our family’s history. How our ancestors lost everything near and dear to them when were ran out of Nauvoo. How sad it must have been for them to sit on the banks of Montrose Iowa and see their beloved city, their homes destroyed and how they heard the cries of their loved ones who chose to stay behind being murdered. Lola and her husband, Josiah chose to stay behind, because of their age, and they saw their family leaving and witness the destruction of their town.

You come from ordinary people with ordinary lives that never changed history but they touched the lives of their families, their neighbors, and friends. Their story lives on in the words that I have written and they live on in you. You come from fine stock my dear. Farmers, Bankers, Lawyers, Doctors, An Indian Princess… You are German, English, Irish, Scottish, Spanish, Indian, French, German and Russian. You are you, a very unique individual with a short memory. Perhaps I fed you too much information.

I know I shared with you some of the stories of my childhood, what I can remember. I hope you treasure and share these stories with your children. I also remember sitting with you going through some of the names in our family tree and picking out the ones we liked the most such Mourning, Theodosia, Sallie… I also gave you the name Hannah Jane Elizabeth your gg grandmother’s name, the lady that married Francis P and I shared her story and her pictures with you.

As far as your father is concerned… That can be the start of you becoming the family historian for his side of the family.