1. I am related to the founder of Dallas Texas. His name was John Neely Bryant. He is my great, great, great, great, great uncle on my fathers side. I have heard this story since I was young but recently wanted to verify that it was true so I start researching. Oddly enough I was able to google my grandmothers name, and came up with a genealogy that showed me it was true. Through this little endeavor I started an account at Ancestory.com and have found a ton of pictures of my ancestors that even my own father had never seen. I have traced back some family lines to England. I also found out that some of my mothers ancestors and fathers ancestors lived 2 doors down from each other in a small town in Louisiana. There is so much more information I have learned- sometimes I think I should start a blog just on my family history, and probably will.
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| This is part of my fathers family. The oldest man in the chair is John Pryor Durham Sr. He is my fathers great grandfather. |
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| This is Sarah and Edward Ware, they are my mothers maternal grandparents. I am always struck by how pretty Sarah is at a time when many women looked hard and tired. Also I am amazed at how much my mom looks like her grandmother. |
2. In case you have not noticed, I am a huge history buff. Whether it be family history or just history I think it is the single most important thing we can preserve. I know that in the Mormon religion it is common for each person to write the memoirs in order to preserve the family history. I think this is a brilliant idea, and think that everyone should do so. On the other hand, so much of my own personal history was so dark, I can't imagine leaving that legacy behind.
3.I am going to have flowers at my new house in AZ. There are rose bushes and a lot of natural blooming desert plants in the front yard. I am excited, because even though I am not a big gardener, I have always wanted to have something pretty growing in my yard. Of course I can't even keep my front yard green here in WY, so hopefully I don't kill all the flowers.
4. I try to be a spiritual person. I am not a religious person, as in I do not go to church, but I do have a conscious contact with God and I do pray on a daily basis. I do not pray for "things", but I do pray for guidance and understanding of my fellow man, I do like to give thanks for every little thing I have, I do pray for others as well. My grandmother was the most spiritual person I have ever known. She radiated peace and serenity. I never once heard her say a cross word about anyone, even if she did not care for them, she always found something nice to say. I have always wanted to be more like her.
5. I am in love with Vintage British Motorcycles. If I could own any bike in the world it would be a 1938 T500 Speed Twin Triumph. My second choice would be a Vincent Black Shadow or an AJS Matchless. My favorite Harley is a 1948 Panhead. First year of that engine model. I also always thought it would be cool to own and old Servi-car. Yes I do love me some vintage bikes. I should probably stop there, because I could go on for days!
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| 1938 T500 Speed Twin Triumph. Steve Mcqueen used to own one. I believe his sold at auction for 45,000. That is just a tad out of my price range. |
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| Vincent Black Shadow- one of the fastest motorcylces ever made. |
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| AJS Matchless. The name speaks for itself |
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| Harley Pan head. Now that is just cool! |
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| I can totally see me putting around town on this bad boy! |
I like the way you said that your not a religious person, but you are a spiritual person. I think that way of thinking is lost on a lot of people, that believe that by going to church they are 'religious' when it's honestly about a lot more than that.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I know a lot of people who go to church to keep up appearances, but totally miss what it is really all about. My Meemaw, was religious as well as spiritual, but she was a true believer. It is rare to meet someone like that anymore. Mark Keil, my trainer has that exact same trait and it is one of the things I enjoy about him.
DeleteSo much of history is big stuff. For my human it's the little stuff that makes really interesting history. The daily goings on for ordinary folk. So yes get your family to write their memoirs and stop all that history getting lost in the mists of time.
ReplyDeleteMy human loves history too. Poss got some photos of old english motorbikes kicking about in the photo box somewhere too. Humans dad was a motorbike enthusiast as is her brother and now her son.
I totally agree with your human. It is the little things that tell us what life was really like "back in the day" The untrained writing perspective is way more interesting than the spit and polish of the history books.
DeleteOooh Real pictures of the real bikes!!!! That is super exciting!
I, too, love history and genealogy. Motorcycles? Rode one with my dad when I was 7 or 8 to my brother's baseball games that summer....great fun memories. Then my mom and dad both rode one in the early 80's when the first gas crunch was full speed ahead. But to ride one myself? nah. I'd fall and break a bone! :)
ReplyDeleteThat is what training wheels are for!
Deletedo not fear your personal history- its what made you stronger ;)
ReplyDeleteand motorcycles? are you one of those sturgis babes? !! Maybe you do have some personal history that might not best be shared within the first couple of generations LOL
Actually I was a biker chick a long time ago. But Sturgis has turned into such a propaganda side show, I wouldn't go now if you paid me....well maybe if you paid me!
DeleteTruthfully TC is trying to get me to get a bike, now that I sold my jeep. He has one and doesn't care for carting me around on it. I have insisted that I must have one with training wheels in the back because I'm old now and I get scared easier!
Wonderful random 5! I enjoyed it. I think it's great that you're learning so much about family history. I understand the wariness about writing down some of our history, though. But as one commenter said above--it's what made us stronger!
ReplyDeleteI consider myself more spiritual than religious, too, though I am a member of a church (Methodist). I can't believe that any one religion has all the answers, so for me, religion is a tool to use in my spiritual journey.
The above comment is from Tina Barbour--just to let you know!
ReplyDeleteHow neat that you are on a journey to learn more about your family tree. I love history too and a blog would be a great place to log your progress.
ReplyDeleteI too love history and am glad you were able to find such cool pictures. I let my membership with ancestry go by the way side. Thought it was getting to expensive. I would like to caution you about finding a tree on line which proves x y z. That information is only as good as the person was accurate who compiled it. I would suggest you actually check everything for accuracy. I love genealogy and have done research (job on the side for years), for many people. Many things that get passed down story wise turn out to not to be very factual. Another site you might find helpful is Find A Grave. Folks document graveyards and you can find final burial places, dates and sometimes family connections. Best of Luck
ReplyDeleteFriday 5 at Sandy's Space
I nominated you for the Liebster Award!
ReplyDeletehttp://horseshoesandhearts.blogspot.com/2013/06/liebster-blog-award.html
p.s. I am loving trax in your header. So freaking cute.
Wow! Thanks!
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