I am encouraging the family of William and Mattie Oswald to write stories. I believe our stories leave our grandchildren, great-grandchildren, all of those that come after us that had no opportunity to meet us in person, an insight into our lives; the information they will not find on the genealogy websites. What we were like, the things that made us happy or sad, how we spent our days, how the world was different from what they experience. An awesome legacy to leave the family that comes after us. Remember what Art said, “The story doesn’t have to be long. It doesn’t have to be funny, It doesn’t have to recount a traumatic experience. It is information about us that if we don’t write down, will be forgotten.” (My addition: but it should be true.)
My brother Tom is good at telling stories/jokes. Following is a personal story that he wrote about his two oldest boys. Those two boys have since grown up, married with families. Todd (you probably remember meeting him at the Lincoln City WO reunion) lives in Indianapolis with his wife Jaime and 2 children Madison and Tommy. Scott and Dawn live in Kouts, they have 2 children, (Tyler at home still and Kelsey married to Tim Gant) and are about to become grandparents
Quite frequently, my two oldest boys would get involved in a disagreement. Most generally, the younger one would end up on the short end of the stick. So, he started working out, building up his muscles. At school, he went out for track and started throwing the shot.
One evening at supper time he had obviously beaten his own record and he asked me “Dad, when you were in school did you throw the shot?”
I replied that I did,
He asked ”How far did you throw it?”
I said “I don’t know, it hasn’t landed yet”
Tom