Introduction: Why?

Below is our current planned introduction to the book we plan to write for our grandchildren. Once done, we'll have photos and illustrations to accompany each entry, but I'm still working on the photos (as well as trying to get them to work better in the blog -- any help on that would be appreciated). That said, for this entry, we likely would include a photo of Joyce's mom, Elizabeth, mentioned in last bullet item. I'm also searching for a photo -- I've only seen one, and think we still have it -- of my Mom's Mom. I may also include a photo of the calligraphy art mentioned near the end. Stay tuned.

I also appreciate any comments or suggestions, and particularly any "catches" regarding grammar, syntax, and "foggy" writing.

Cheers.

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Introduction

This book is for you.

Grandpa Malcolm and Grandma Joyce wrote the words and included the photos and illustrations because we want you to know about us, and what we know about those who came before us.

There’s a lot we know, and we’ll share much. Regrettably, there’s a lot we don’t know. We have so many questions we wish we’d have asked our parents and grandparents, about them and those who preceded them. For example:

·       Joyce has no idea why she’s named Joyce instead of the original choice her parents had made: Leila Agnes, after her maternal grandmother! For me, my father wanted to name me either Keith or Valerie (I have no idea why), depending on gender, but Mom won that battle – perhaps because they were going through a contentious divorce – by naming me after a good family friend.

·       Why my paternal grandparents, Gerald and Alice (nee Oddie) Gibson, left Bolton, England, with their two children, Doreen and Bernard (my biological father), likely in the mid-1920s, to settle in Attleboro, Mass. And did they leave behind family? We’d like to know a bit about them, too.

·       When and why my maternal grandmother, who bore 10 children with my Grandpa Charlie, died. I don’t even recall meeting her, though I’m sure I did as an infant, or, even, her name. And what about her family?

·       Or details of Joyce’s Dad, Jim, growing up in Albemarle, N.C., and his first marriage before marrying Elizabeth Mayer, Joyce’s Mom. We know that Jim and Elizabeth met while he was staying at her mother’s boarding house in Columbia, S.C., but we have no idea what he was doing there. We presume he was working as a mechanic, but why there and not in North Carolina?

·       Or of the time Grandma Joyce’s mom spent in Washington, D.C., during World War II doing what we don’t really know what? It’s a bit surprising because the Elizabeth we knew was quiet and reserved, not the least bit adventurous. But we have a photo showing her with a group of people at what looks like a D.C. hotel bar obviously having a good time with friends and/or colleagues. Elizabeth!

And so much more!

So, some early advice. Ask questions before there’s no one there to answer them. Because we and those who came before us, in at least some small way, are who you are.

So, we’d like you to know a bit about us and those who came before us, especially our parents, Tommy and Marjorie Aurednick, and James and Elizabeth Lockamy. They were special people and, sadly, most or all were gone before your arrival. They would have loved you beyond measure, and you certainly would have loved them.

We wish we’d known more about them, and those who came before them. We have so many questions we’d like to ask, and we regret not asking before they passed from our presence.

And, too, something on the selfish side: We’d like you to remember us after we’re gone. We just think it would be nice because we’ve lived a life worth living, and we’ve worked hard to make it that way. Though fallible, as with everyone, we’ve done our best to live our lives with honor. So, our wish is that you, too, will make life the best you can make it, and not at the expense of others. Always, trying, at least, to do the right thing.

Finally, we’ve used these words that we wrote many years ago as a guide to all we do and did: “Good words, good spirits, good friends make for a good life.” It was fashioned, a bit, after other words that, too, have served as a guide, from the German poet Goethe (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832):

“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” (We see those words every day because they are part of a piece of calligraphy art that hangs in our bedroom.)

This book is a wish that you’ll take all those words to heart by saying (and doing) good things, seeing and appreciating all that is around you, finding a way to smile and to bring smiles to others, and developing, nurturing and valuing friendship (and family) throughout your life.

Love, Grandpa Malcolm and Grandma Joyce

Notes: The narratives in this book switch from Grandpa Malcolm (particularly, because he’s done most of the writing) and Grandma Joyce to the pronouns “I” or “me” once it’s clear who it is that’s being referred to in the entry, the paragraph, or the sentence. And it’s Grandpa or Grandma because the first target audience is you, a grandchild, though we hope that you’ll pass this along to your children, and they to their children, and so on.