Ancestors and Hope



I wonder how Hope is transferred through space and time?

Do we find it through the stories of our ancestors?

I am very fortunate in that I belong to a family who puts on not one but two family reunions each year. Those who can make it do so and every year is unique with different people attending. We bring food and look forward to each other's special dishes. Everyone can't wait to eat Grandma's buns. We play baseball and catch up on the lives of our relatives. For me it has become a grounding experience to reconnect to those who share a common ancestry. I have always been curious about the family origins and have opportunities to wonder openly to my aunts and uncles about various stories told. What I have discovered is that my great grandfathers came to Canada due to Hope.

The one Great Grandfather was said to be a foreman of a large farm in Germany prior to WWI and fled to Canada due to a threat on his life from the government. I wonder did he speak up about some injustice to his workers? Why would the government threaten the life of my great grandfather who really at heart was a farmer? When questioned by his children the details of the situation he replied that we only look forward and leave the past in the past. Not only has this story transferred Hopeful knowledge but it also created a connection for me with the many refugees that come to Canada even today. I wonder if that is how they generate Hope in their lives?

The other Great Grandfather experienced WWI as a soldier and came to Canada shortly before WWII. His stories are riddled with hopelessness to hope through courage. This is the grandfather and his family pictured here among the trees of the North Saskatchewan River. He was a man of small stature and great courage. His past was that similar to our modern day foster children who learn resiliency skills through unfortunate circumstance. Although he started with no family he ended with a family large enough to fill up multiple baseball teams and an audience. It is the stories of this man that in some way leads me to a greater capacity towards Hope.

Although I do believe that the capacity towards Hope is found through many stories whether they be in the past or in the present; whether they be of a perceived stranger or a friend, there seems to be a unique connection one makes when Hope is studied through the eyes of an ancestor. In my own life when things begin to feel hopeless I find courage to Hope through the knowing of the stories of my ancestors. Knowing that they overcame more challenging situations in the context of the past. Challenges I would find extremely difficult to meet and thankful that I most probably will never face in my time. If they had not followed their Hope I would not exist.

I wonder if that makes me a creation of Hope?

If my grandfather had no family to transfer Hope, I wonder how he seemed to have such an abundance of it?

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