At an "ultimate" family Thanksgiving table, I'd love to gather all those relatives we've lost as well as those in the present. There are some lost souls I am hoping to gather back up into the family tree. These are the people I haven't been able to work on long enough to complete their picture, their stories.
Timothy Ryan the grand patriarch (so far) is one of those. He's as far back as I've been able to get in the Ryan family line and I don't really know too much about him yet. He's our great great grandfather and I find him very intriguing. His story will be a great challenge but I'm hoping for the best.
Gammy Flynn (Barbara Lippman Flynn) is another. I know quite a bit about her life in the United States but she was born in Germany and I'd love to get a handle on her German life as well as some ideas about her parents and other siblings.
Matthew Fisher is our great great grandfather who settled in the Ellicottville area and I'm exceedingly curious about him. Another lost Irish immigrant.
Of course, there are all those Nevins that supposedly came to work on the Erie Canal and then scattered to the winds. I've never really had any hint that this was the case, but I don't disbelieve the stories Nanny told.
Frank Nevins is a brother to our great grandfather Henry Nevins and he's a lost soul (to me) as well. I believe he went to California at some point but I haven't really been able to pin him down either.
Wouldn't it be grand to gather all these people around a table? I feel a little like I want to scoop them up and sit them down so their stories can have some kind of substance.
1 comment:
You and your "Gathering Dead Relatives"! I will admit that talking to these founders of our family would be interesting, I think it is a little weird thinking of them at a holiday table! I love that you picture it though. We are lucky to have you gathering up our history. We get to lears it while you do all the work of "gathering".
Speaking of gathering... I had a nice visit in Erie for my Thanksgiving. Pam's parents were there too. It was Tim and Pam's first turkey! We managed to keep him upright though. Amy joined us on Saturday, and we played cards and had a few drinks. It reminded me of the many nights we all played cards at Mom and Dad's table.
How old were you when you made your first turkey? It looks like a picture of Ryan in the background. Did you manage to have two children before you ever cooked your first turkey?! Wow!
I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving. Mom preferred Thanksgiving over Christmas. She did love to have us all there, and of course, her football! Amy said that she is an NFL fan "because of Nanny". How did I miss that football gene?
So thankful for our family!
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