Sharing Local History

I have been blessed to have friends and family in other states. We get to share the good and the bad that happens to us. This is done faster now with Facebook, Twitter, Skype and texting. These methods along with regular phone calls allowed me to share my local history with those in other states.  We have laughed and cried, sometimes over silly stuff, sometimes the serious matters. In having an internship in Nebraska, I was able to share the local history of Dayton with those I worked with and met in Lincoln

In the 1970s I exchanged letters with a friend in Chicopee, Massashusetts. In our letters we described out homes, the neighborhood and when in school, what we were learning and our thoughts on the teachers. Letters from the grandparents and cousins were different. The letters during the holidays spoke about snow, family traditions and what we hoped we would get for Christmas. When the grandparents were with us for a holiday, there would be stories of where they would shop at for food to make the meals. Family traditions of helping with the church, singing in the choir and going around the neighborhood with Christmas carolers.

Now in this technological age, we find we can share our local history with others. Through friends and new found distant cousins I have come to know more about the history of the places my ancestors lived and how they got around. I have remained friends with past coworkers, keeping in touch with them. I am dedicating this post to Shawn Robeson, a friend who passed away a week before Thanksgiving. We exchanged emails and text messages over the eight years since we first met by working remotely for the same company. He shared his history, talking about how hurricane strength storms impacted him and his family. We shared our class work and championed each other for the papers we wrote and degrees received. We were the first ones to wish each other the appropriate holiday and nudged each other to get out and mingle. He will be missed but will be remembered by the stories he told.