Roots

Stumbled upon this quote while I was surfing yesterday. Fits me.

" Today people are so disconnected that they feel they are blades of grass, but when they know who their grandparents and great-grandparents were,
they become trees, they have roots, they can no longer be mowed down"
                  Maya Angelou - on the Oprah Show
                                                      January 2003


I have admired Maya Angelou for years. It did not surprise me she could say this truth so beautifully. I can hear her unmistakeable voice saying those words. Actually I met her once - at a White House  Reception  - I knew who she was before I saw her face because I heard her speaking to someone.

In this quote she captures and exactly describes the feeling that working with family history and genealogy has given me for years. The feeling that comes from knowing the long line of people I am connected to. It plants my feet. Makes me stronger.

One of the main impulses for me as a storyteller is to tell family history stories that encourage others to find and water their roots.