When I'm gone ...

[P5se Camelback]

Having just celebrated my 67th, I know that the days behind are far greater in number than the days ahead.
I believe that there is nothing in anyone's "contract" about tomorrow. ... My Sister and I seem to have become the "keepers of the family history". We keep the family heirlooms, and the knowledge of their place, and time. My daughters have expressed little interest in the models, and the family history.
... If one or more, should choose to become the "keepers of family history", there is record of each thing, and its relative importance. If that is meant to be, so be it also.

After the second of my parents passed last February, the subject of mortality slapped me in the face. All of a sudden I came to many of the same realizations that Pete describes above. It's not being morbid ... it looking reality in the face and coming to terms with it.

As I live in Florida (as did my parents) and my brother in Virginia and my sister in Michgan, I became the defacto keeper of the family history and "antiquities." My brother has no apparent interest in family history, my sister is very much involved in her social passion,the gift of music to underpriveledged inner-city Detroit kids in the form of The Detroit Childern's Choir and the lives and careers of ther three daughters, I am the curator all the the important artifacts that were my parents and my grandparents (people don't realize that when they wonder why I have so much "stuff" and why I don't just "toss all of the old stuff" that it's Family History.

As luck would have it, my daughter, who now also lives here in Florida, is very much into family history. (She recently informed me that she wants to go to Nebrasks on an upcoming vacation. Why? Because there is a "ghost town' called "Marsland, NE" that she wants to check out. She thought I might want to go with her as the Google map shows railroad tracks nearby.)

She will become the keeper of Family History. She has been very interested in my model railroading since she was old enough to understand such things, and built several Athearn Bule Box kit as a five year old ... and did a nice job, too! (with Dad's careful supervision.) She will undoubtedy get all my train stuff, and she has at least some small idea of it's worth, knows about Big Blue (monitors it on occasion) and research is something she does well.

On the other hand, her very young son may be able to be influenced by Granddad to get into model railroading ... who knows? I'm still alive and kicking (though not as hard as I once did) and there is still some time to exert some influence ... I exercised such influence on my daughter and that was coming along just fine until her mother and I got divorced and she was taken away from me. Maybe, with her help, Ol' Granddad can influence the little man to enjoy the hobby ... he's already got his own Big Blue "onesy!"