Don't Leave Now, There Is Much To Tell

There are three nice sets of words appearing here right now. First of all, on last Veterans Day, November 12, 2012, little five years old Ava recited to Grammie and Grandpa, the Pledge of Allegiance. She said it with her sweet little girl voice and Grammie had tears in her eyes hearing this. Grandpa was proud as could be, because he served in the Korean War long before Ava and her brother Ethan were as they say a “thought from Heaven.”  So all these years later, about fifty-nine years, Grandpa got to hear his only granddaughter orate these eloquent words to him and Grammie over the phone.

There is a phone commercial and in it a woman talks about the good, economical service she gets from them by saying this. She says “don’t leave me yet, I have a lot to tell you.” These are her mom’s words, she lives in another country. She is able to hear from this daughter, because of the inexpensive way of calling her on the phone. Her senior Mom wants to hear from this daughter and because of the not costly fees; the daughter will call her more often. I called my Mom three times a day, just to see how she was. I called her at nine a.m. to see if she arrived at work ok and then at six  in the evening to make sure she arrived home from work and then again around ten p.m. to chat and make sure she was fine going to sleep. This was my way and not everyone’s way. It made her feel loved and me too, because I loved her so much. At work for the state of Maryland, the ladies would say “Lea it is your darling daughter making sure you arrived here safely.”

There are two other sayings I will combine together as one. One is “visible from space” and the other one is “God vine, not grapevine.” Visible from space I would say in my mind means good vision in seeing great things happening and God vine would mean accomplishing excellent and almost divine happenings during our lives. I would imagine that means helping others, doing for others and keeping others in our hearts. Perhaps, there is a vine from us to God and vice versa.

It is said that memories live in our hearts forever and always will be there. I feel that I am the only one and I know I am, to relive, reveal and review all the events from my little family, which consisted of me, my brother who was five years older than me, Mom and Dad. They are all gone and I am here to write some of these things down. My son said that through reading my stories on The Patch; he is finding out interesting facts he never knew about his Mom. He never knew Mom had been a model, or how she left her last job, or about some of her “boyfriends”, about his Grandmother and Grandfather on my side and their lives, their desires, their happenings. He did know how his Mom and Dad met on a blind date. He did not know how his grandparents met and all about their siblings, his cousins and how we lived during World War II when my husband and I were kids. There is much to be said about memories, good and not so good. Now he knows much more about all of this in my family. He will pass it along to his two children.

A friend asked me how I get my ideas for my story subjects. Some of them are from my past, some of my hopefully future, even at age seventy-nine, and also from lines or sayings I see on the Internet or books. I always give credit to wherever they came from.

My nephew once told me he would like me to write a family history story. He does not know lots of things from his father’s side which is my side too. I told him I would; I never got around to doing it. I did tell him some about my father, his grandfather since he shares the family name and will be the surviving member along with his son and his sister, my niece, who uses her maiden name to keep the family name going.

My friend Steven Behr in Washington State said to me “we pass along things that we experience in life.” “Children may not always obey, but children will listen.” This from a Broadway play, Sunday In The Park With George. Children when they are old enough now want to know things about the past. In Ethan’s second grade class last year, they learned about the wars their families may have participated in. Some of their grandfathers came who had been in the Korean or Vietnam wars. Ethan’s grandfather would have come too, if we lived not so far away. The kids were hearing of their experiences and this brought the past to the present. Seeing things in person is more effective than just book learning.

Memories given in person like the kids in the second grade heard last year memories from the remaining people left, memories made now, reciting pride in country and the phrase of do not leave me now, I have a lot to tell you, can play a great part in our current lives.

They say we learn from our experiences and I can add we comprehend with the moments we have now and that enables us to grow as children grow in height; we adults can grow from awareness, observation, experience and sensitivity.

Remember, you do not leave now, because you have a lot to still tell. There are many who want to hear it all.

As you tell it from your prospective, you too are reliving the time and space it happened.

The power of believing in something is very effective. There are fewer and fewer people living now that were Holocaust survivors. There are a few here in Baltimore who are in the nineties and they try to tell their stories of what happened then. They tell it to their children and grandchildren in order that it will never be forgotten or that it never happens again. Some have written books and others go on the speaker’s journey to speak before Christians, so that everyone knows the true facts. The Holocaust Museum in D.C. is an example of a lasting vision to tell of the horrific actions of others and of the survival of some who will never let the future forget this time or horror.

Many still have the ugly numbers that were put on their arms, numbers that identified them. Up to a few years ago, it could not be removed and then dermatologists learned the technique to remove them.  Some surprisingly did not want the numbers removed; they wanted to see them every day as a reminder of how far they came to have survived the terrible nightmare they went through. Others rushed to get the terrible reminders of a horrific time eliminated.

Let us all remember the good times and relate them to our children and grandchildren. Let all of us never forget the bad times as we realize how lucky we are to be here to relate these stories of bravery, honesty, love and caring about the old days.

We still have a lot to tell and tell it we will. As Steven Behr said “we pass along things we experience in life.”  Steven as of September 11th of this week received a wonderful new gift, his third grandson born to his son and daughter-in-law. He is like me, three grandsons and one granddaughter to tell when they are ready to understand about life a long time ago, so these children know all about their ancestor’s lives and love. This is a wonderful inheritance and we are lucky we are here to still be able to relate this to the new generation.

My friend Jim Dewey Williamson in Savage, Maryland who is nine years younger than me and he has four grandchildren like Steven and I  said when he read one of my former articles on this subject of remembering and talking about it,  “good point about family history. I am amazed at some older folks that don’t really like to talk about life when they were younger; and these are folks that had then and do have now good lives.”

Let us keep remembering and talking about then and now. It is important and vital for our children and grandchildren to be aware of what they have now and they take for granted and all about how it all got here. It shows that life is the best thing that evolves.

Don’t  leave yet, I have a lot to tell.