Heritage...

I'm going through old photos trying to find pictures for our "Heritage" wall - the wall of our ancestors. Over the years, when I would come across an old photo or photo album at my parents or Steve's parents house, or even my grandma's house I would snap a photo of it. I now have a decent collection of photos to pull from when working on projects like a memory book (here) or even my photo wall (here). Some of the pictures our parents had stories that had been passed down to them and some pictures it's a mystery as to who is even in the photo.

But as I flip through old albums I see where my family came from. I see photos of my grandpa that look exactly like my brother. I have some resemblance to these people I've never even met. I have their genes. I have their name. And all I have to remember them by are a few photos and a couple stories that my parents have told me. I want to know more; I want to read their journals and understand the lives they led.

I came across this picture again of my great-grandfather (second to the left) and my great-grandmother (far right): I want to know where the picture was taken - why are they dressed so nice - what are the women carrying in those little purses hanging off their wrists - where did they eat afterwards? I want to know the story - but I don't have that information. Instead, I have this really fun photo and it's pure speculation as to it's history...which often times is much more interesting than the real story!

I'm enjoying the process of going through these old photos to determine what makes the wall and what doesn't. (We had a similar wall in our home in Milwaukee, but we've expanded it) I have one family line that has a ton of interesting photos and others who do not. I need to spend some more time tracking down photos from Steve's ancestors as well, so we have a collage fully representative as to where we came from. I want my children to have a daily visual of their strong heritage and to always remember them.