The reason I chose the name Ancestral Gems is because of my daughter's reaction to her grandmother's funeral.
October 26th is a special day in the Lichtner family. Our mother, Margaret Louise Porter Lichtner was born on 26 October 1915 and went home on her birthday 26 October 2006. We knew Mother was special, but dying on her birthday made her exceptional.
The gem of this day.
The funeral was to take place on the 30th of October. Kevin was sick and wasn't able to attend the funeral. We were concerned about him and what the outcome of his illness was going to be, and I was worried about getting everyone out the door on time to attend the funeral. I HATE to be late and our youngest daughter Leslie is a huge procrastinator.
We were in the car with the exception of Leslie. I was complaining to the others about her tardiness and then I looked out the window. I saw a beautiful blonde woman dressed in a flowing black dress, her perfectly manicured hair blowing in the wind and her hand touching her neck. Just as I started to scold her for her tardiness, she exclaimed, "Grandma's pearls". What could I say? My heart filled with pride that she would think of those old pearls to honor her grandmother.
I had given Leslie the pearls when she was younger and to be honest, I'd forgotten about them. What would make a twenty something young woman want to wear an old set of costume pearls? Love, respect, honor. This young lady used a set of pearls to pay tribute to her Grandmother. She remembered the pearls and brought them 250 miles home for the funeral. She honored her grandmother in this small silent way which no one would realize. This understated gesture made me realize what an impact Mother had on her life. I guess on all our lives. Although it was difficult to say goodbye, our memories of Mother will survive.
We all have family that need to be honored by preserving their memories. So. I'm inviting family to pay tribute to our family by writing little gems about our family members.
My goal is write a little about our family each day. Please help to honor our ancestors by preserving memories.
