As I made a “quick” delivery of three-ring binders yesterday, Uncle Lynn told more
stories about Grandfather Russell, most of which I had never heard before. "He was a genius." I don’t recall ever hearing that about my maternal grandfather,
but having learned recently of more of his amazing accomplishments and world
travels, I was not surprised.
Dr.
Lynn, my childhood dentist, has his antique dental chair in the family room,
where their great grandchildren can sit and imagine what a visit to the dentist
was like in the olden days. He showed me
two scientific books written by Grandfather Russell in 1928 and 1931, about
speech pathology and language. Those and many other items make Lynn and Melva’s humble
old home a veritable museum, having priceless sentimental value. They both have sharp memory for family
history, but Lynn is more vocal in sharing stories about his
father-in-law (first-wife Carol’s father.)
I include this because I think the storytellers are just as fascinating
and beloved as my ancestor.
When
I was very young, Grandfather Russell gave me a dictating machine that cuts green vinyl records. His plan was to
facilitate long-distance conversation with his oldest grandson, sort of like
e-mail does today; US mail was a lot slower, of course. In my youth I did not fully appreciate it, as
I was enthralled by model trains, black-and-white TV, hut construction and
horseback riding. I still have the machine with records inside
it, but the key was lost many years ago.
My goal is to unlock it and digitize the recordings for personal and family
history.
Following
Uncle Lynn’s lead, Google searched “journal of speech pathology and g. oscar russell”,
and found “about 123,000 results (0.51 seconds)”. I read several articles written by him and
about him, and learned more about Dr. Russell's life. For me, this gets more
interesting and loving by the minute!
What
might you be surprised to learn about your ancestors? Whom can you interview to hear more about
them? I do believe that families are forever,
and through families God works miracles in our life.
