Author: Wanda

Daily Prompt:  Brassy

Before when I was little
I used to play outside.
My friends and I would lay in grass
Looking for objects in the sky.
We’d see castles with towers
And animals romping free
Then dream of our futures
And what they might be.

My future is now my present
And not quite what I’d dreamed.
It’s better than I had imagined
Filled with joy and family.
We gather often to celebrate
Our accomplishments every one.
The noise, quite deafening
Sounds brassy to us all.

Daily Prompt:  Portion

When we are born into a family, we have no say in who that family is. We depend on this family for all of our needs. As we grow, we develop a relationship with our family and they lovingly teach us everything we need to know about our life.

Soon we learn how to interact with our bigger family. Our cousins, playmates and neighbors. Without realizing it, we are having our personalities shaped by our evolving environment. We learn to make the right choices about who and what we want and like.

Then we begin our formal education. Going to school introduces us to many new influences. Our teachers and classmates all make an impression on us. Sometimes that impression is not acceptable to how our family has raised us. When we share that impression with our parents, they lovingly discipline us.

After learning all of the lessons we have been taught growing up, we are in a position to make decisions on how we wish to spend our lives. What career to choose, who we marry and where we will live. We carve out our portion of life with the knowledge that our family loves and supports us and so we can achieve anything.   This, of course, is the ideal situation.

I realize that we are all not this fortunate. My early family life left a lot to be desired. My grandmother came into the picture and worked hard to give me the love and support I needed to grow into the woman I am today. I do have memories from when I lived with my mother who was not capable of taking care of children due to her issues, but I choose not to permit them to do any more damage to my life. I think that what I can recommend to anyone who has not had the ideal start in life is to not let those circumstances make you bitter and cynical as an adult. Fight to break the chain of unhappiness and reach for happiness and love. It’s not easy, but it’s so worth the struggle.

Wanda

Daily Prompt:  Trace

Several years ago my youngest daughter gave me a genealogy program for Christmas. It was her plan that we would work on our family tree together. I started fooling around with the program myself and immediately got hooked on tracing my ancestors. Unfortunately, my daughter wound up not working on it with me. She had just graduated from college and was getting settled in her career.

After a few years I found that the program she had given me was outdated. It was then that I transferred all of the research I had done to Ancestry. After my daughter married she and her husband joined me in working on our heritage.

There isn’t much more that excites me than tracing my ancestors across Europe. I have gotten back to the eleventh century in England on my father’s side. I find that so exciting. On my mother’s side, I have hit two brick walls one in Germany the other in Ireland. I dream about traveling to those places one day to find my ancestors there.

If you have never tried to trace your ancestors, I highly recommend it. You might be surprised at who you are related to.

Wanda