An Epiphany

An extraordinary thing happened in our family last week.  My brother was fiddling around on the computer and googled our grandfather’s name – Dr. Joseph A. Packer. He had died when he was in his early fifties and our grandmother, who had health issues, died within a year of his passing.  We have never known much about them;  our father, who was in high school when he lost his parents, didn’t talk about them almost as if it hurt to open that door.

So, here 75 plus years later, my brother fiddled around on the computer.  And up came an article describing our grandfather and his work and life in Alexandria, Lousiana and even a little bit about our grandmother and where they were both from.

Nothing flashy or extraordinary, just a life lived with energy and enthusiasm for his hometown, his family, and his work.

We have been so thrilled by this.  It is as if a piece of a puzzle has been slipped into place in all our lives. I got in touch with one cousin, and our sister reached another one and so we have connected in this generation as well.

I bring this up because I think it really matters that we pass down the stories of our families.  A gift of caregiving could be the opportunity to ask for these stories and to write them down or record them.  I am sorry that I didn’t do more of this with my father before he died and with my mother before she slipped into Alzheimer’s..  But with this out of nowhere story about my grandfather, I am grateful for an amazing discovery coming out of the blue!

Peace, Martha Sterne

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