History

Only two of my four grandparents are living- my maternal grandparents. I see my grandmother weekly, she comes to my home or I got to hers. My grandfather, unfortunately, is not present very often and when he is it’s only for short periods of time. I’d love to really speak with him and hear stories about his life. I wish I could hear all of my grandparents’ stories. This is suddenly important to me because my paternal Grandmother passed-away in February and I wish more than anything that I’d spent more time with her and more time asking questions to really get to know who she was. I know some things about her, but not nearly as much as I would like. Tears fill my eyes as I write this because it's too late to hear her story. I’ll have to ask my father about some things which is fine but I’ll be getting his version of her instead. I want to know who are my great-grandparents? I’ve never heard my father speak about my great grandparents. He’s mentioned cousins, aunts, and uncles but I do not recall him ever mentioning them.

My maternal grandmother is not shy about orating her childhood and life as a young woman from South Carolina. She’s be blessed with an excellent memory and at 79 she can recall her youth with great detail. I’ve always enjoyed hearing about how she group up and what life was like in the 1950s, 60s etc. She said something last week that really hit home. She said her father had sixteen children and that there are only 4 of them left. Two days after she made that sobering revelation one of  her sisters died; now there are 3.

I don’t want to wonder who my elders where. I want to know their names and what they were like. I know I want get details about all of them but i will take whatever I can get. I want my children and grandchildren to know who their great great great grandparents were; at least their names and where they were from. Black people don’t have the all the privileges that came with knowing who their ancestors were. Our beginnings were taken away with the onset of slavery. There will always be a piece of my history shrouded in mystery. That’s why I am taking responsibility for my story and documenting my life for future generations. They will know who I am and even have a few of my life stories to tell.