It's a book entitled Dear Grandma, from you to me and it's full of questions that LHG might want to ask me at some point in his life. I can write the answers in the book and give it to him when it's complete. What a lovely idea.
Now LHG is particularly fortunate to have a Nonnna who knows more about her family than most do about theirs. In turn, I am lucky to have had relatives who've told me a great deal about our predecessors. Some elderly cousins remain who still have much to tell. And, like Walter de la Mare's phantoms, I have always been a listener, lapping up the stories of my large family from my mother, father and my Welsh great Gran, among others. The wife of a second cousin of mine has spent years putting together a vast family tree for one half of my Italian side, gathering stories from various members. In my possession is a family tree for the other Italian side, compiled over fifty years ago after a cousin died intestate. My father was interested enough to ask for it after they'd finished the case.
It always amazes me when people don't even know the names of their grandparents, let alone anything about them. I pointed out only last night to a writer friend, that the name of her character, John Jenkins, was that of a great great grandfather of mine (the father of the aforementioned great Gran). How many people would know that? All the knowledge I have has been invaluable in finding out even more from ancestry sites. If you have no family knowledge, where do you even begin?
I have lots to tell little LHG. So much so, it won't all fit in his Dear Grandma book so I'll have to make sure I keep a record of the all censuses, birth, death and marriage certificates, and everything else I've amassed.
And when he's grown up, maybe I'll tell him the other family stories. You know, the ones you don't put into a child's book...
