Week 5 - Challenge

It's been a challenge to come up with an ancestor to write about this week, so I'm taking a , break on stories of my ancestors. I decided, instead, to write about the #52ancestors challenge itself, and the importance of passing along these stories.

My mother taught me to read before I ever started school. Because of books, I lived much of my childhood in my imagination. When I was no more than 6 or 7 years old, I built myself a shack in the backyard made from discarded wood pallets (using skills I picked up working alongside my dad). Daydreaming of "the olden days" I'd read about, at different times my little shack was a Conestoga wagon, or the captain's quarters on my pirate ship (a branch from the huge mimosa tree next to it served as my bowsprit and another as the mast), or a farmhouse, or a castle where I was queen (never a princess), or a train car, or even a hut on a tropical island. I have always loved history stories, just not necessarily family history stories.

Then, as you are all well aware, I became obsessed with learning all I could about the generations that came before me. Since discovering my ancestors, I have always strived to find out as much about them as I could. It's never just about adding a name and a date to my family tree. I've collected birth and death certificates, court records, Bible pages, census, scrapbooks, land deeds, cemetery photos, diaries, newspaper clippings, funeral programs, military records and recollections from older relatives. Most importantly, the stories. They are all neatly filed, by name, in one of my many filing cabinet drawers.

In late 2022, a friend shared a Facebook post about the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. I was intrigued. I mean, I had all this information. It sounded like fun. The participants were to be given a topic each week for 52 weeks. The topics were subjective - the could be wielded to conform to the life of an ancestor in any obscure way the author saw fit. Flew the Coop - could be about a chicken farmer, or about a prison escapee; Light a Candle - might be related to a religious ritual, or a special birthday; This Ancestor Went to Market - an ancestor who owned a grocery store, or one that lived on Market Street. I signed up. How hard could this be?

The sky is the limit, especially those first few weeks. I'd received the topic and could easily pluck an ancestor from their drawer whose story fell right in line. Each week the prompts came, and as they continued, more thought was required. A few of those weeks, I was almost frantic climbing around in my family tree to find a story that I could tell that was somehow related to the topic. I contemplated throwing in the towel on more than one (or ten) occasions, but I was spurred on by a few of the best cheerleaders a writer could ever have (you know who you are, and I thank you). By the end of the 52 weeks, I was spent, my brain was mush and, I was relieved that I didn't have to think about my ancestors, unless I simply wanted to. Those same cheerleaders, who had encouraged me each week, insisted that I continue on and take the challenge again, in 2024, with 52 new topics. Although I signed up, I just couldn't bring myself to get off the starting blocks. The #52ancestors challenge was exactly that...a challenge. 

For 2025, I've accepted the challenge, once more. I'm still at the excited phase and this year I'll focus on, not only my ancestors, but the stories of my descendants' ancestors (climbing the in-laws and out-laws side of their trees), and especially the stories of our combined Revolutionary Patriots as we gear up for the 250th anniversary of our nation.

Reflecting on the #52ancestors, what did I accomplish? I'd like to think I honed my writing craft. My research skills were put to good use and those tidbits of information I'd collected no longer just take up space. Hopefully, I've entertained a few of you with my weekly tales. Most importantly, however, I have 52 stories that my descendants can share for generations to come.

While I didn't have a care about my family history when I was young, I still absorbed the stories that I heard. Passing on these stories is the only way to keep the memories of our forefathers alive. I beseech each of you reading this, regardless, if you take part in a challenge, or do it just for your own enjoyment, write the stories of your ancestors.

My life has come full circle with the telling of my ancestors' stories. Just like my imagination took me places in the little shack in the backyard, with the #52ancestors challenge I've traversed the Oregon Trail with my Tetherow family in a Conestoga wagon; I've sailed the seven seas with my fifth great-grandfather Capt. Joseph Anthony; I've homesteaded with my Pennington clan who came to Oklahoma during the land runs; I've visited the castles shared by my royal ancestors; and I've stowed away in boxcars with my great-grandfather David Patton who helped to build the railroad. I've not yet written about an ancestor who lived on a tropical island, but you'll just have to keep tuning in to see...