In the west country, looking out the window on the train from Dublin |
As I write this, I reflect upon how much life has changed since I travelled to Ireland last August, and how much my family has lost this year. We have spent far too much time standing by the bedside of someone we love, counting down to that last breath of life which tells us we are being left behind.
On the corner of my desk one of my mom's favorite scarves envelopes the red tennis ball that our sweet Sarah used to love to chase. Next to it sit two sets of rosary beads, one I brought from Ireland for my mom years ago, and one I held as a seven year old making my first holy communion. It is a little tableau of life which once was, and is no more.
Croagh Patrick: St. Patrick's Mountain, County Mayo |
I believe we are searching for ourselves among the ruins of old homesteads and piles of documentary evidence. We are searching for that marker which says, 'yes', your people have been planted on this earth for a very long time, they mattered and you matter now.
In the film The Hours, when asked why someone has to die in her novel 'Mrs. Dalloway', Virginia Woolf (as portrayed by Nicole Kidman) replies, 'In order that the rest of us might value life more'.
Are those of us who have been left behind valuing our lives more? Are we living the way we want to live, and doing what we want to do? Are we doing our level best to seek and to find, and to hold in remembrance those who have gone before us?
Yes, all serious questions, but worth contemplating I believe.
Some of you have entrusted me with the task of finding some things for you on this trip, and I want to sincerely thank you for your faith in me. I will do my best.
In return I ask that you take the time now to engage in a random act of kindness, genealogical or otherwise. If you are able, offer to help out someone who has sought help. Perhaps they are struggling with their research, or things just aren't clicking for them, and you could be the difference for them. Maybe they write a blog and just need a little encouragement.
Dublin City |
Life isn't perfect. No matter how great someone's life might seem from the outside, little do we know how it looks from the inside. We all face challenges, and we only have each other, so add a little encouragement along the way.
Value your life more.
Until we meet again.
Cheers,
Jennifer
The Long Walk, Mount Jerome Cemetery, Harold's Cross, Dublin. |
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Have a wonderful visit back home, Jennifer. I look forward to reading about your trip, and especially anticipating more of your photographs of the many, varied scenes in Ireland.
ReplyDeleteYour advice on returning the favor of random acts of genealogical kindness is well taken. We have all benefited from the help of others in this line.
Hi Jacqi,
DeleteThank you for your good wishes; they are much appreciated.
Cheers,
Jennifer
Bon voyage Jennifer and may it be the start of new beginnings after a difficult year. What do we hope to achieve from our research? As so often you've hit the pertinent question and answer: to recognise that they lived and leave a memorial of their lives, perhaps in the hope that by doing so we leave our own. Is it ultruistic? Not entirely I fear.
ReplyDeleteAs to RAOGK: project underway ;-)
Safe travelling and happy discoveries. May the Emerald Isle shed its light upon you.
Hi Pauleen,
DeleteThank you for your good wishes; they are much appreciated.
Cheers,
Jennifer
You wrote:
ReplyDeleteValue your life more.
You do, and you remind me to as well.
Thank you, safe voyage, may you find some peace in your beautiful Ireland.
Thank you my friend. It is my fondest hope to find there what I can no longer find here.
DeleteCheers,
Jennifer
What a bittersweet, tender post, Jennifer. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Blessings to you.
ReplyDeleteHello Nancy,
DeleteSorry to be so very late in thanking you for your comments. I really appreciate receiving them.
Cheers,
Jennifer
A beautiful and thought provoking post,Jennifer,thankyou. Enjoy your trip... Catherine
ReplyDeleteHello Catherine,
DeleteThank you for your good wishes. I am sorry to be so long in acknowledging them.
Cheers to you,
Jennifer
Another poignant post, Jennifer - thank you for the reminders. Safe trip home! Jo :-)
ReplyDeleteHello Jo,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your lovely comments. I am sorry to be so late in saying thank you for them.
Cheers,
Jennifer