Conversations with Grandma

Korrin B.

September 7, 2009 - 6:00 PM

I wish there was a video game

to teach you your ancestors name
I wish there was a phone number
like 1-800-Save-Your-Brother

I'm thankful for the radio station
Not afraid to put the truth in rotation
there are skirts of information
That you can only get in conversation with...

Young People, who talk to
Old People, it would make us
Better People, all around...

And if Old People would talk to
Young People, it would make us
Better People, all around....

                -India Aire "Great Grandmother"

The above passage from India Aire's song, "Great Grandmother," discusses the importance of having conversations with your elders (and vice versa). I have always enjoyed this song's catchy, upbeat melody, but after this past week, I also appreciate this song because of the message it presents.

After flying home on August 31 from New York, I was picked up by my aunt and cousin and driven to where a bunch of my family lives in Napa, California. I spent my first three days with my aunt until my mom drove down from Arcata to pick me up. Once my mom was there, we headed over to stay with my grandma for a couple nights. My grandmother is a very unique woman. She is loving, but she also won't take any nonsense. She watches a lot of QVC and the Home Shopping Network, but she also makes me laugh so hard sometimes with some of the most questionable jokes.

The morning I went over to my grandmother's house, my mom left to go do some grocery shopping for a barbeque we would be having later with my uncles. With my mom gone, it was just me, my grandma, and Michael Bolton left to relax in her cozy home. After the heart wrenching last chords of "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?" sounded, a conversation with my grandma (that turned out to mean a lot to me) began.

We began to discuss our family's ancestry. There have been many times where I have sat and wondered about where my ancestors really came from. Sometimes I feel embarrassed to know so little about my own history. She told me that a lot of my family came over from Germany and described how they changed their last names just slightly once they got here in order to fit in more. I was ecstatic to find out that my own great, great grandpa was a Greek! There is no wonder now why I fell so in love with Greece's beautiful waters - it's in my blood! My grandma told me so much about so many different people I'm related to. She told me information about where they're from and where they are now, when they died, how many children they have, what they do or did. One of my great uncles was a war hero.

Her stories came to life in old pictures she then began to show me. Now, I know what a lot of people may think here. Oh, no, here comes the boring family photo albums, oh geez. However, I assure you, it was not like that. I was so enthralled, looking at these faces of my great past. I felt connected. I wanted to know every detail she could give me. It was important to me to know this information because someday it will be my duty to pass it on. For some reason, I just assumed before that no one knew this kind of information and that to find it out would be a long, hard hassle of hiring some super detective (like the ones you see on PBS programs that snoop through antiques and libraries to unveil the ultimate truths). Why I had never thought to ask my grandma, why I never thought that she knew this kind of information is unknown to me.

Just as my face lit up listening to my grandmother's stories, her face lit up through sharing them with me. I think we both really enjoyed our conversation that morning. I know that it is something that I will take with me forever. I think India Aire is right when she says that if young people and old people would just talk to each other, "It would make us a better people, all around." We were still sharing laughs and smiles over photos when my mother returned. I encourage everyone to go and learn something about your ancestry today. Talk to your elders, they hold the stories!