Something I wanted to share

[Liffrea]

It's a passage from a book I'm currently reading:

When you look in the mirror you see not just your face but a museum.
Although your face, in one sense, is your own, it is composed of a collage
of features you have inherited from your parents, grandparents, greatgrandparents, and so on. The lips and eyes that either bother or please you are not yours alone but are also features of your ancestors, long dead perhaps as individuals but still very much alive as fragments in you. Even
complex qualities such as your sense of balance, musical abilities, shyness
in crowds, or susceptibility to sickness have been lived before. We carry
the past around with us all the time, and not just in our bodies. It lives also
in OUf customs, including the way we speak. The past is a set of invisible
lenses we wear constantly, and through these we perceive the world and
the world perceives us. We stand always on the shoulders of our ancestors,
whether or not we look down to acknowledge them.
It is disconcerting to realize how few of our ancestors most of us can
recognize or even name. You have four great-grandmothers, women sufficiently close to you genetically that you see elements of their faces, and
skin, and hair each time you see your reflection. Each had a maiden
name she heard spoken thousands of times, and yet you probably cannot
recall anyone of their maiden names. If we are lucky, we may find their
birth names in genealogies or documents, although war, migration, and
destroyed records have made that impossible for many Americans. Our
four great-grandmothers had full lives, families, and bequeathed to us
many of our most personal qualities, but we have lost these ancestors so
completely that we cannot even name them. How many of us can imagine
being so utterly forgotten just three generations from now by our own descendents that they remember nothing of us-oot even our names?

[Aemma]

Beautiful and touching Liffrea and oh so very true. Thank you.

[Osweo]

Superb stuff. I just saw it in SuuT's new signature.

But by the way:
Mary Gleeson - I briefly knew her, and may have something of her inclinations in some spheres.
Mary Jane Varley - I've heard all about her from her daughter, and get my wicked intolerant streak from this superbly hard old Matriarch.
Minnie Watson - just the name and her disability in old age are known to me.
Jenny Walton - Just a name from a letter sent me from my Great Uncle one time.

:

[Jarl]

and touching Liffrea and oh so very true. Thank you.

Who is touching Liffrea? and oh???

How many of us can imagine being so utterly forgotten just three generations from now by our own descendents that they remember nothing of us-oot even our names?[/I]

Yup. That is why it is very beneficial to keep family records and memoirs. Construct trees, do some genealogical research, and most of all keep in touch with the rest of the family. If anybody has grandparents who are still alive he/she should make a good use of them They are living historical sources.

[Aemma]

Who is touching Liffrea? and oh???

LOL, Jarl you rascal! I meant "...touching, Liffrea..." Yikes! I must watch how I say things! LOL

Yup. That is why it is very beneficial to keep family records and memoirs. Construct trees, do some genealogical research, and most of all keep in touch with the rest of the family. If anybody has grandparents who are still alive he/she should make a good use of them They are living historical sources.

[Liffrea]

Originally Posted by Jarl
Who is touching Liffrea? and oh???

Usually just me....

Things really become low brow round here fast...that's usually me as well....

[Allenson]

It's a good book. I read it back in the fall:

[Svanhild]

What a fetching passage. Forgive my curiosity, but what's the name of the book?

It's very true. A long time ago, I've seen a painting in a German lifestyle magazine. There was a man walking down a street who was supposed to reflect the journey through life from birth till death. Behind the man were shadowy representations of other people: Men, women. Old people, young people.

They were his ancestors. The description of the painting was that, regardless of what you do in your life, you never walk alone. You're a mosaic of features, traits and characteristics of all of your ancestors. They're an eternal, indissociable part of you. Your body, your mind and your soul are the result of a combination of their strengths and weaknesses. Valuable knowledge. While going my own way, while having success in life, I know I have my ancestors behind me every tiny little second of my time on earth. My success is their success, my success is the product of their legacy to me. It makes me proud. The best way to honour your ancestors is to have success in life because your blood is their blood.

[Liffrea]

Originally Posted by Svanhild
What a fetching passage. Forgive my curiosity, but what's the name of the book?

Allenson’s posted it above…..if you google it you can find a pdf torrent to download….

My ancestors were pretty easy to trace…surprising the records that asylums and prisons keep….