Family History

Tomorrow is the big Centennial Gala for Herb’s family’s dance studio. 100 years ago, his 16-year-old grandmother opened a dance studio in Boston. Little did she know that she would manage that studio for 44 years, and then her youngest daughter would manage it for another 44 years, and then her granddaughter would take over. Not only her children, but her grand-children, great-grandchildren, and even a few great-great-grandchildren would learn to dance there. Some of her students would go on to become professional dancers, others to teach dance and open studios of their own. It is a rich history and I hope that someday Ryan will want to learn about it.

Family history is an important part of every family. The stories we tell of our parents and grandparents when they were young, the tales of family vacations, the goofy things we did ourselves as children – these are all part of the tapestry that a family weaves over time. As Ryan grows up, no doubt we will tell him the story of my dad nailing a pancake to a tree, of his Uncle Glen jumping out of a moving car to retrieve a football, of Bammy knocking Pappy’s trombone off its stand the first time they met, of the mice in the suitcase when my parents went camping, his sister telling Daddy “Someone’s looking at me” on her first encounter with wildlife…and no doubt by the time he’s old enough to want to hear these stories, they’ll be even more to tell.

"Daddy, someone's looking at me..."

And I like to think that someday, he might tell his own children some of those stories. And they’ll tell their children. And so on, and so on…