About 7 years ago some members of my dad’s family put
together an incredible book entitled, “Remember Who You Are: The life stories
of L. Clayton and Elizabeth Bitner Dunford and their forebears.” This hardbound book is the story of my
Dunford ancestors. It includes journal
entries and letters of my Grandma and Grandpa, both of whom I never met because
they passed away before I was born. I
read it when I first received my copy, then put it back on the shelf where it has sat these many years. Recently, I had a question about how one of my
great-grandparents died so I went back and looked in the book. Then once I started reading I couldn’t put it
down. I had forgotten so many of the stories, and reading the letters and journal entries that they wrote in their own words made me feel like I really knew them.
One of my very favorite stories was about my great grandmother Irma. Apparently, one Sunday just before church started, the bishop asked if she could play some prelude music since the organist was late. She only knew how to play a few songs, none of which were appropriate for church. Instead of simply telling the bishop to find someone else, she tried desperately to think of something that she could play, but the only song she could think of was, "There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight." She immediately thought to herself that she couldn't play THAT, but since she couldn't think of anything else, she decided that maybe if she played it very slowly and softly and paused here and there that there was a chance no one would recognize it. So, up she went to the organ and did just that. When she was done, one person who had caught on to what she was doing quietly whispered in her ear, "Well, Irma, I think you got away with it." What a sense of humor she must have had! I wish I had known her.
As I sat and poured over the pages of this book, I felt ashamed that I have not been more diligent in keeping up with my blog lately. Because you see, this blog serves as a glimpse into our lives, and as much as I hope it is enjoyable for you to read, I hope even more that my posterity can one day appreciate it and have a glimpse of what our family was like and who we are. I want them to get a glimpse into my life the way I have gotten to have a glimpse into the lives of my ancestors these past few days. Even though some of the things that I blog about may seem mundane and extremely ordinary, I hope that when all the posts are put together, one might get a feeling for who we are, and, as cliche at it may be, Remember who they are.
Hide-and-seek
The boys love playing hide-and-seek with Joseph. It's even better now that we live in a house instead of an apartment where there were only three places to hide. Today church was cancelled because an ice storm that came through, so we played a marathon round of "seek" as Eli calls it. The boys count to ten while Joseph hides, then they look all over the house for him.
