I Will be Away from my Blog for a While

My grandparents on their wedding day in Germany in 1948

I just talked to my dad a little while ago. My grandma passed away yesterday. I need some time to mourn. I will be going to Flint, MI next week to see family and attend the funeral. I will be reading Mike Huckabee news, I don't think I will be able to blog for a while. So wait about a week and I will be back.

I want to take time to talk to y'all for a little while about family and other issues. When there is something you want to do don't say "someday" say "today" and keep up with it. There are a few things I have said that about, and I didn't get them done, or even started.

I started getting into genealogy. I started with my maternal side, using Ancestry.com, following the female line until I got to my great-great-great grandmother from Bohemia, now known as Czech Republic. When I hit a brick wall there I started working on my maternal grandmother's father's side. My mom has been working on her father's side. When I hit brick walls on my grandma's father's side I started working on my dad's side. His father is the one from Arkansas. His mother was born in Germany.

I tried searching on her family. I even found a possible cousin in Germany. They wrote me an e-mail, in German. I started learning Czech last year, didn't keep up with that. Must get back to that. But knowing Czech ain't gonna help me with German emails. On a Czech message board I asked some of them Czech members to help me write an email in German to contact this person. I got help on that, but I haven't written them yet. I wished I hadn't procrastinated on that. I would loved to have gotten a response before my grandma passed, so I could have told her about the info the person gave me. I am still going to contact this person.

About Stella, my six-string, my grandfather gave that to me many years ago. I still haven't been able to stick to my lessons, payed for and self teaching. I can play, but not very good. Now my grandfather has Alzheimer's. Even if I could I don't know if he would be able to pick up on what I was doing and/or remember that he gave it to me.

Please, I urge all you out there to take time to talk the older generation in your family. Learn your family history. They may have more interesting stories to tell than you may think. If you are fortunate enough to receive an instrument from an elder, do all you can to focus on learning how to play it. They would love to hear you play it, even if you aren't that good. Just do these things before it is too late.

I just wish I had gone to Flint last Christmas. If you live far from family try to get to see them as much as possible. Don't let weather be a deterrent. Even if you have a crummy car, take a bus.

Thank you so much to any one who took the time to read this. I will be listening to my Elvis Gospel CD, Amazing Grace, and reading my Bible, and not much else for right now. I have picked up Stella, just to strum chords, no songs. I have to clean house, for my family. I know my dad and brother will be coming up to go fishing, my step mom will probably be coming too. I don't know if I will have any other family who will be up here or not. Thank you for your understanding.

************************************************"Stella", a vintage Kay brand guitar