(Written for my parents 61st Wedding Anniversary)

We all love to hear stories
It’s why we read and watch TV.
But not many understand that
The greatest stories are of family.
Relationships with people
Is what life is all about.
The closest ones, our family
Shape us, without a doubt.

Family is so important
It develops our core inside.
Our childhood, growing up
Imprints our lives, far and wide.
How our parents coped with life
Their attitudes to it all,
Did they show their love?
Where did their loyalties fall?

Most people don’t ever realise
The constant voice in their head,
Formed from childhood experiences
All they saw, and what was said.
So understanding our parents
What happened in their early years,
Can give us true inner wisdom
And wipe away any un-needed tears.

Remembering we all do our best
In the only way we know how,
Each generation taking on echoes
From the previous, right up to now.
The only way to find things out
Is talking while they are here,
Relationships grow in love
With empathy everything’s clear.

………………………………………………………..

For many years now, we’ve shared
When I visit, our family news
Who’s done what, why and when
Are they happy or in the blues?
After doing the circle of family
Alive and present today,
We often move to those passed
And their stories of ‘yesterday.’

Also the times of your younger days
The lessons you’ve lived and learned,
Experiences, the good and the bad
The pages of life you’ve turned.
Knowing of your life stories
Helps me in so many ways
Understanding of the past
Brings clarity to all my days.

Becoming Great-Great-Grandparents
Just a few short weeks ago,
A fifth generation begins
The clock of time’s evidence on show,
But how will this new generation
Know of your part of their world?
Unless they are told the stories
The past generation’s lives unfurled.

Family history needs to be shared
Not just for memories sake,
But for all the treasures they hold
From our past, our lives we make.
Each generation feeds the next
Not just on physical food and love,
But all of their experiences mould
And fit, to enfold like a glove.

Trina Graves – 21st March 2019