May 29 – “Fun Family Facts”

I got a highly unexpected treat late last night.  As I was closing down the computer in my preparation for bed routine, I decided on a whim to check my email.  I usually do that first thing in the morning and sometimes whenever I think about it during the day.  This time, though, I had an email from my older brother, the family genealogist.

I opened it and saw that he had completed a brief biography of my namesake (or am I his namesake?  How does that work, anyway?), Lafayette Kelley.  He was our grandfather, our mom’s father.  I didn’t know him well.  He died when I was around four years old, so it was kind of fun to read about him.  He served in the army during World War I, so getting the biography on Memorial Day was a special treat. 

I learned more than a few things about the guy we affectionately called Grandaddy.  He was one of fifteen children.  His grandparents came to Texas from Georgia in covered wagons over the Natchez Trace.  Kind of gives new meaning to the trek Chris and I took when we drove down that same road.  He was raised a Baptist.  That fits with the stories I was always told about him reading the Bible all the time.  And my grandmother (Nani) always told me that he said I was bound to be a preacher when I grew up because I talked so much.  There you go.  Called to the ministry when I was four years old.  Don’t remember that too well.  Nani was Lutheran, but they bought a house (For just over $2,000.  Paid $25 a month for five years and it was theirs) across the street from an Episcopal church, so convenience won.

One fun story was about when his grandparents were on the way to Texas.  As I said, they made the trek in covered wagons with their parents, each coming from a different part of Georgia.  They apparently met on the wagon train and got married when they finally arrived in Texas.  How’s that for a romantic story?  Furtive glances from the back of a wagon.  Stolen smiles, and perhaps a kiss, just far enough away from the evening firelight to go undetected.  And the best part of all … getting married in God’s Country.  Doesn’t get much better than that.  Well, hey.  It was 1837.  Simpler time.

It’s a pretty impressive little document, Jay.  You did a good job on it.  Thanks.

Psalms 66:8-9 says, “Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.”

Father, thank you for things like blanks filled in and fun family facts.  Amen.