GARAGE TREASURES
In 2016 while rummaging thru my mother’s garage for old family pictures and records in efforts to build a solid family tree, my concentration was focused on the direct family members that had lived full lives, and left documentation behind making the puzzle pieces easy to assemble.
My Uncle Glenn didn’t fit this category. He was what’s referred to as a “block wall” in the genealogy world. I had basic information, birth / death / family relationships / military service. Beyond that I knew nothing. He was just another leaf on the family tree. Any further information was taken to the grave by my grandparents and father.
I remember very clearly asking my mother “what is this stuff”. She looked directly at me and said, “Those are your uncle’s letters he wrote home before he was killed.” I couldn’t believe what she was saying. Here in my hands was the information “not to be discussed”. The answers to the questions we never knew enough to ask. And so much more. I was shocked. My brother’s and I never knew they existed. I told Mom, “I’m taking these”.
Discovering the letters was only the beginning of this journey. As I look back on it now, it was truly the definition of locating family gems, just lying there in an old footlocker waiting to be discovered.
Typically, when a person passes away all you’re left with are some pictures and personal memories of that person. Predictably, this is where someone’s story ends. You never expect to discover much more. Little did I know, my Uncle, someone that was “not to be discussed”, left more behind than anyone I’ve ever known.
A more accurate statement would be that even though the memories were too painful for my grandparents to share, they made sure to safeguard what he left behind. Perhaps in hopes that someday someone would help him tell his story.
Be Swell
Marty Whitacre
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