A CALLING
What calls us to find the ancestors? It goes beyond simple curiosity.
We are taken over, compelled, as if possessed
by something bigger than us begging to be revealed.
There’s one in most every family called to be the scribe,
and I am but one of many in our clan’s long line of storytellers.
We gather and assemble the ancestors
and breathe life into them again as far back as we can reach.
We take what we find and chronicle the facts of their existence,
remembering their names, who they were, and what they did.
They are the sum of who we are as without them, we would not exist.
We greet those who came before us, restoring their place in line.
And in finding them, we find ourselves.
Catherine (Clemens) Sevenau, Sep 2009.
(Inspired by “We Are the Chosen” written by Della M. Cummings, ca 1943)
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This is why I’ve only researched my lines back to the time they emigrated to this county.
And why I’d be dead before I could possibly finish:
Chatfield: 10 generations back
Chamberlin: 7 generations back
Hoy: 5 generations back
Clemens: 4 generations back
Sevenau: 5 generations back
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Since my first Find A Grave entry in late December of 2008,
I’ve added over 3,600 ancestors and related kin to the site,
uploaded 4,550 photos, and currently manage
nearly 8,000 posts which I’ve created, worked on, or linked.
So many dead, so little time.