Family History

The last big trip to Ireland was for my Granny Stewart’s funeral so it was only fitting that I visit her grave to pay my respects. My four great grandparents on my dad’s side are also buried in the same cemetery. Fortunately I’m not the only one in my family interested in genealogy as two of my uncles have located these old grave sites and are working on fixing them up. This cemetery is quite old and some parts are rather overgrown. I put on some rubber boots and trekked with Granda and Uncle Patrick through the growth to find the sites that other uncles had discovered and marked with a few red capped sticks. The ground is anything but even, with huge dips and holes. The constant Irish rain makes the ground soft, sinking around coffins. I tripped over partially buried metal grates and bumped up to harder bits of ground, hoping it is indeed really just ground. I’m not ready to fall into one of these holes! But, despite the potential for a somewhat uncomfortable environment, trekking through the lumpy grounds and tripping over graves, I felt a profound sense of comfort and serenity to be there with my ancestors. Look where our family has been, look how far we’ve come, and where are we going next? With a pair of bright pink rubber boots on, I was connecting to the past.