Returning Home with Joy...

     ...the title of my book in 1996. Working in South Carolina then, we wrote about family...parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, cousins...in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, Wyoming and Ohio. They contributed memories and pictures, some of them from the 1800s. Yes, we all wrote the book. 

     None of the relatives are still living, including my younger cousin who made 38 of the 90-page books in his printing shop. He would not take my money. 

     We won't bother you with the content, including a great uncle's service in the Civil War. But, history can teach. Here is a part of my Forward: 

     "Propeller planes begat television, begat jetliners, begat spaceships. Horses and buggies begat trains, begat trolleys, begat cars and trucks, begat radios, begat television. (Imagine how this would read today.) 

     "Character begats optimism, and usually prosperity and peace. People of character believe in a better tomorrow, that obstacles exist to be overcome, and that this country has a strong and beneficial role in the world. In our family stories covering more than 90 years, the reader will find rich memories of warm people who worked together. 

     "Working together. There may be the secret to "family values" we hear about, and some are trying to restore. Somewhere along the line of begats, we overcame the need to pull together. So, this writer won't praise too much the children born among gardens and sowing needles or criticize children born among supermarkets and mega-malls." 

     "G.K. Chesterton: 'The family is the factory that manufactures mankind.' If that is true, we have a problem with those who redefine the family. The magazine goes on to say that 'agreement is rare on what kind of family is better at manufacturing mankind.' America is increasingly a culture that celebrates individualism. Some offer an opinion on what type of family is best. These are social scientists." 

                                       Conclusion tomorrow