How to learn to cherish family

Life teaches us in unexpected ways and I was taught to cherish my family through the unusual medium of researching my family's history. To begin with, research was an academic exercise; 20 years later, this research has created and/or cemented relationships in my family that are quite unexpected. It began this way...

I came across an old volume entitled "'Caribbeana': The History of the Island of Antigua". This volume was one of eight, I believe, and in it are the histories and genealogies of European families who colonized the island of Antigua in the West Indies. To my great surprise, I came across a small genealogical chart of my paternal grandmother's family. The unexpectedness of this is not immediately obvious unless you know a little bit about my family. We are descended primarily from African slaves or so I thought. I knew there was a scattering of Spaniards and Englishmen somewhere, but I thought in terms of the odd sailor or soldier, far away from home, somewhat lonely and fraternizing with the locals more out of curiosity than serious intent. Well, so much for thought.

It turns out that there were numerous Englishmen, in addition to one Scott, and they were settlers from very early on in the history of the island, even sitting on the governing body of the island. The Scotts, not to be overshadowed by the Englishmen, also owned an estate, and the Englishmen, at one point, were in some way involved with the Methodist missionary work on the island. That is the paternal side of the family.

On the maternal side of the family, there was also involvement with a religious body, this time Moravians. The Moravians were originally an Eastern European, protestant denomination, who separated from the mother church some sixty-years before Martin Luther's famous declaration. They were the first to minister to the slaves of the islands.

The first Moravian churches were built on land still owned by 21st century Moravians. My mother remembers attending services in what I believe was the original church building, which was built sometime in the 17th or 18th century. That building has been rebuilt three times now, the second building having been destroyed by a hurricane sometime in the last twenty years. The original Sunday school building was still in use in my childhood, its ancient shingles weathered and worn with age. It too has been replaced by a new building. As far as can be ascertained, I was born a fifth-generation Moravian.

Rifling through old civil records - going back centuries in some cases - family names of people I knew as a child, jump out at me. The connection to these people and to that history is a powerful motivator in awakening, and maintaining, my interest in just who my family members were and are. I created family trees and charts, sharing this knowledge with all who would listen.

It is amazing which family members turned out to be interested in this history. Some, who hardly spoke to me, beyond a friendly, polite "Hello", were soon sending me birthdates and snippets of family information. Family bonds, not previously established, blossomed and still exist to this day. A new generation of family is emerging, and it will be interesting to see if anyone from the younger generation assumes the torch of keeping the family's history.

Learn more about this author, Pat Richards.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about How to learn to cherish family?
We want to hear your view. Write now!