We will remember

I love poetry. I used to write not-so-great poetry, once upon a time. LOL 

These days, I like to share other people's good poetry with people who don't ordinarily find themselves anywhere near literature or poetry. This is an exerpt from Joy Harjo's poem "Remember," which I loved right away, because I always talk to my ancestors when I am researching their lives or writing about them. And I always end with "We will remember you."

"Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother's, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you...."

Copyright ©1983 by Joy Harjo from She Had Some Horses

Published on Academy of American Poets (https://www.poets.org)

Joy Harjo

Joy Harjo was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 9, 1951, and is a member of the Mvskoke/Creek Nation.

Photo Credit: Academy of American Poets (https://www.poets.org)

 

A Piece of Civil War History in the Family Tree

I have been working on my family's history for the past 30 years or so. And there have been times when it has been more exciting than others.

The time when I discovered my great-grandfather on a passenger list from the Danish West Indies to the U.S. was particularly exciting, because of the stories I had always heard that he had arrived on a ship. But no one knew exactly where in the Caribbean he came from. I had been looking for him in The Ellis Island Database and eventually discovered that he had come in through another port, Castle Gardens, in New York City.

Honestly, after moving to Central America, I had been primarily focused on adapting to my new home and I had not been doing much research. But things have settled down, and in the last year or so I have gotten back into it.

Since Christmas, I've been having a lot of fun. My brother got both of my parents to do DNA testing through Ancestry. They both got their results back. My mother was really excited about seeing all of the people on Ancestry that were identified as "cousins." That didn't interest me quite as much. As far I was concerned they were still strangers.What got my interest was that now Mom had an ancestry account, which meant we could possibly make more headway with the research.

So, while Mom was visiting over the Easter vacation, we spent hours on Ancestry. And we found the draft registration for one relative and actual enlistment and service documentation of an ancestor who had served as a sailor in the Union Navy during the Civil War.

I was so excited that I called the African American Civil War museum
in Washington D.C. to see if my 2nd great-grandfather's name was listed there. Unfortunately, he is not listed because he was a sailor and not a soldier. That was somewhat disappointing, but one day I will get his name on a brick or something there so that his service and sacrifice will be recognized and remembered.