Welcome to another edition of the Weekend Chat, my fellow WikiChatterers. And greetings from a warm Cathey’s Creek where the temps have reached 65F several days. This gave me to opportunity to move several plants from the back to the front (about five), three grasses and two shrubs.
On the Home Front: For a week and a half it was pure exhaustion. We had so many of our relatives up here, on and off, after Mom died. There is just so much to take care of. Mom left it to me to plan all the services. The burial was last Saturday in Charlotte. Mom was laid to rest between my dad and my first stepdad. I was able to contact the pastor of the Paw Creek Presbyterian Church to officiate at the burial. (Paw Creek is where hundreds of my relatives are buried.) He officiated at the funerals of my Aunt Harriet and Uncle Ralph who died a week apart a year ago. Turns out that the Rev is a third cousin of mine. He’s descended from Amelia Lawing Hipp who was the sister of my great-grandmother, Hettie Lawing Underwood.
The memorial service will he held here in Brevard on what would be my mom’s 93rd birthday, January 4th. I have the eulogy to prepare, requested by my stepdad. I will be reading from a prepared text as I don’t trust my emotions enough to wing it. Many of my cousins and other relatives will attend this service. It seems like this is about the only time we get together, at funerals, though I have been pushing for a reunion for a couple of years now. Mom was the reason we (me and a couple of cousins) wanted to work on this as she was the only connection left to the early history of our family.
To say the least, Christmas was simple and quiet. We had my stepdad over on Christmas Day for a wonderful meal prepared by my wife, and we watched some Christmas comedies on TV.
On the Genealogy Front: Aside from getting back on the Greeters’ schedule, I haven’t done much. I’ve been working on my mom’s profile, though I did get some other profiles sourced for some distant cousins. However, I have a plan!! Starting in January, I’m going to start working on all those biographies of veterans I’ve discovered in the two families I’ve been rushing to complete before the end of the year. The list is now around 35 veterans. After I finish those, I want to start getting more biographies completed for those several g-, gg-, and ggg- aunts and uncles who have been whispering in my ear about how their profiles look so weak. (Yes, the dead speak to me.)
I also started a Rhyne Name Study as I was coming across so many of them who married into my Moore family.
Aaaand…. Since my wife bought me a practice chanter for Christmas, I’ll be working on celebrating my heritage by learning to play the bagpipes!
In closing, I want to thank all of you here and on the Greeters and Leaders Google lists for your condolences upon the death of my mom. A heartfelt thanks goes to those of you who helped cover some of my duties during the recent whirlwind of activity. Your care and concern are a part of what makes this community such a special one in which to be a member. You helped me get through this difficult time, and I will still need some coverage during the weekend of Mom’s memorial service.
I hope the New Year brings you much success in your research, brickwalls and all, but more importantly that you find significant time to hug, call, appreciate those you love all the year long.