Do my kids know "What kids should know about their family's history?"

Last night we had parent invite night at my kids school, where you go and meet the teachers, see their rooms and the school, and they also had a silent auction as a fundraiser.  I love going to these things with my kids.  While in Maddie's room, I noticed hanging on the wall a story she wrote titled "How I got my name.".  It was beautiful and well written...the problem was that it was a mix of how she got her name and how her brother got his name.  As I walked away, I thought I really need to tell her how she got her name.  Intentions right....

I spend a lot of time working on my family history and that of my husband's, but this morning it occurred to me that very rarely do I share those stories with my children.  I share with my husband especially if I am needing feedback or find something really cool.  But very rarely do I share with my kids.

One of the things that frustrates me to no end, is the fact that my Grandma & Grandpa Adamson didn't talk to my Dad and his brothers about well hardly anything relating to the family.  Case in point, my Dad and Uncle's had no clue that my Grandpa had an older brother named Elmer Adamson that died when he was just 11.  It is possible that my Grandpa didn't know about his brother as he was young when he passed BUT his older brother's and sister had to remember him as they were all so close in age.  Why didn't my family talk about these things?!?!  Could be a sign of the times or could be that it was painful to talk about...the point is they didn't talk.  Sad?...why yes! very sad to me. 

So why if I am constantly frustrated by the lack of story telling in my family am I NOT telling my kids about their family history.  I am just keeping that circle of non communication going.  I know somewhere in the back of my mind I think "oh when they are older I will tell them".  The thing is that life is not guaranteed.  I could be sent back to my Heavenly Father at any time and any place.  And all those stories will be stuck in my very unorganized research and in my mind.  I should not be waiting to tell these stories.

Well this morning I read a blog post on the Lifehacker blog about "What kids should know about their family's history?".  This post talks about how important it is for children to know about their family history and how it affects their self esteem, depression and anxiety levels and how they interact with their family members.  There is a set of 20 questions that make up the "Do You Know scale" created by Emory University and University of North Carolina researchers.  Here is a link to the 20 questions on The House Mustardseed blog.  As I was reading through this list of questions, I realized I am not sure just how many my kids could answer.  What!?!? How can that be!! How can such a big family history person have children that can't answer 20 pretty simple questions!!

I can tell you that I am going to be a lot better about sharing all this wonderful knowledge with my kids...and no I won't wait till they are older! Now is the time to talk with my kids.  Life is short...love your family enough to talk about them.  Find them and share them.  And not just with the older member's but the younger generation.  Someday we will be the older generation...don't wait.... 

They are going to know who these people were before they were "Mom & Dad"!

                                             Theron & Mindy Oct 2002

Sibling Saturday: Gerald K Adamson

My poor Grandma had a handful raising my Dad and his two brothers.  But there was always someone missing in their lives.  My Dad has two older brothers and is a twin.  Sadly, their oldest brother, Gerald passed away when he was just a month old. 

Talking about Gerald was always hard for my Grandparents.  But he was never far from their thoughts.  At the time Gerald was born my Grandparents were living in Granite, OR.  Gerald was born in Portland though where my Grandma's family lived.  And he was buried in Portland, OR.  You can see a picture of his tombstone at find a grave.  Poor little guy didn't really have a chance, he was born premature and weighed only 4lbs 4 1/2 oz. His death certificate listed he died from Bronchopneumonia and that the contributing factor was his premature birth.  Gerald was born on Mar 11, 1939 and passed on April 14, 1939.  Just one short month they had him.  But it's comforting to know that they are in Heaven with him now.

Oregonian 15 Apr 1939 

Funeral Card Friday: Grandpa Bill

Well sticking with my theme of writing about my Grandparents, thought I would share with you the funeral card from my Grandpa Bill's funeral and his obit.  I was in 5th grade when my Grandpa passed and I don't remember much about him.  So I treasure the few memories I have of him.  And anything I can find or learn about him is so precious.

Reno Gazette Journal 26 Feb 1990

Those places Thursday: Look to your Community

Today, driving home from town we seen something that is not all that odd here in our mining town in Nevada.  But I got to thinking that for someone that wasn't from the area, it would have been something to see.  We were driving on the freeway and on the lower road was the bed of a dump truck with police escort headed to the rebuild place down the road.  And like the good blogger I am I seen an opportunity and got ahead in time to take pictures.

This may not be a regular thing but certainly not an unusual site for us here in Elko, NV.  It got me thinking about what kind of things our ancestors might have done or seen where they were from.  So what are you sitting her reading this for....go look!

OK, so your still here and you what me to share a little something about one of my ancestors...well, your wish is my command.  In 1964, Nevada celebrated it's 100  years of statehood.  One of the things we do to celebrate our statehood every year is have a Nevada Day Parade in Carson City.  There were 230 entries in the parade in 1964.  You can read more about the Nevada Day Parade here at Nevada Day.  My Grandpa Bill (Kenneth Vern Adamson) and a couple friends made a float for the parade that year, while living in Empire which is near Gerlach.

Unknown, Bill Adamson, Unknown

Bill Adamson,Walt Caravan

This is a look at the float in process of being built...looks like they were having a good time.  I think this is a very cool look into something that my Grandpa was a part of.  Because of his work on this float my Grandma and him were invited to the Centennial Ball.  Don't know if they went but I would like to think that maybe they did.

When searching for your family and trying to learn about them, look to their community.  It's amazing the things you can find and learn about them.  They weren't just teachers, farmers  or miners.  They had other interests too....just like you do! :)

The finished project!

And yes, those rings were spinning! ;)

A visit with Grandparents

Yesterday, I spent the day with my Dad.  It was a good day.  We had breakfast..rocked out to some good ol' country on the way to Reno....and went shopping. :)  While at Costco we seen some beautiful Crazy Daisies.  And I asked Dad if we could go see Grandma & Grandpa Adamson on our way home.  :)

It was so beautiful outside.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been if the grass had been so green but other than that you couldn't have asked for a better day. While there we realized that Grandpa Bill has been passed away for 22 years and Grandma Wavel has been gone for 25 years.  And that was sad to realize.  Here is a picture of their headstones with our Crazy Daisies.