Bonding through family hiSTORY

One thing I’ve noticed within society is a lack of appreciation for other people’s lives. Most of the charity and volunteer work that is done is ONLY able to be done because people care about other people, and open themselves up to hearing and knowing life stories of others. Appreciation for other people’s lives comes from seeing value in their hiSTORY, where they come, what they’ve experienced, what led them to their current place in life. I think it is beneficial to instill this in children when they are young. Within our families it is exactly the same. Until we see the value in our hiSTORIES we won’t ask the questions that lead to answers; and we surely won’t have that appreciation for where we come from that causes us to bond with our elders.

As a child I would love to sit around older people and just listen…listen to what they had to share about what life for them was like. Through my listening and my desire to know it created a special bond between me and them which was amazing. One of my fondest memories will be me sitting and asking my great-grandmother ONE QUESTION which lead to her tracing our family hiSTORY directly to Africa. No one else in my entire family had gotten that wisdom and that knowledge….None of my other relatives had the bond that I created with my great-grandmother that day. I remember the smile on her face and how she felt because I was interested in her, her life, and my roots. It was in-valuable.

Also as a young child I always wanted to know where people came from. I never seen the drunk man, drug addict, prostitute, homeless person, hungry person, or successful person where they were. I wanted to know where and how they got to where they are. People are afraid to tell their hiSTORY because people don’t show a genuine care…they are more prone judge a person based off of these thing than to see value in them. I think one of the tragedies of my generation is that family hiSTORY hasn’t been passed down or preserved so not only do we not know where we come from, but we also lack an appreciation for it.

Knowing family hiSTORIES and the hiSTORIES of others creates human bonds that are important to our life and our survival.

I've included the link to an online academic journal about the Grandparent/Grandchild Relationship: Family Resource in an Era of Voluntary Bonds:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/583572

Brooklyn Arielle,

...A hiSTORY waiting to be told!