Middle of the night realization...or was that pregancy heartburn?

I know there was a distinct moment as a child, when I realized that my parents were people before they were parents. I remember being sort of shocked when they talked about their lives, before each other, before marriage, and before kids, even when they were kids themselves. It was like a foreign idea, that there was something before us, and that idea was just so weird! Now of course it makes plenty of sense, and to hear stories about their upbringing, or their lives it often still has a piece of disbelief in it for me. 

I spent a lot of time with my maternal grandmother when I was growing up and heard about her childhood and life before kids and marriage too, and remember many of her stories, that I hope don’t just die with me. I know that while my children will never meet her, nor have the same experiences I did, I am realizing now with our digital age, I have an opportunity like never before. I have a way to leave behind my stories, and the stories that were shared with me growing up. I can give to my children and nieces, my account of things, first hand, and in my own voice. They can get to know the me of now, at a later point. My kids can read about how I feel, what I think, my opinions, and observations before they were even around. It is really remarkable actually, to be able to represent yourself, without the filter of someone else recounting things, or offering their version or opinion on something. It is so unique I think, and thinking back to my own family, how neat would it be to have now. To hear their memories either as they happened or things that you would typically never know, because really conversation is becoming a dying art. I remember some of the best stories just came out of late night conversations with my grandmother, her telling me about her life, my mother’s life, and then us grandchildren. Later of course I would get various versions of some of these stories recounted by my grandmother, that my mother would give me her take on them, and often they matched up surprisingly closer than you would think, but just with a sprinkling of opinions varying the tale. It is thinking back to this, that I am hoping I can keep up blogging, and keep this record going, that I have a chance to put my thoughts, opinions, feelings and observations together, so that my voice is added to the chorus that my children and nieces, (who knows maybe a nephew or two in the future too!), can find perspective in my writing, and they too can come to the realization that we too had pasts, we also had a life, and a story and an opinion well before they were even thought about. That these experiences and histories shaped us as well as molded us into the parents, grandparents, and hopefully great grandparents we might someday become. I think knowing where you came from is just as important as figuring out where you are going. Often it is the past that dictates how we cope, manage, and navigate in the future. I hope that I am diligent enough to keep up with this little project so it might one day be a wonderful gift to my kids and theirs.