h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

That would be a little tricky owing to their creative centre being some 20 years dead. He hung himself from a clothes line

Mudhooks
I get so emotional about those times. Your grandmother looked a lovely bright woman. I see the resemblance in you. Spirit too!

I have not one photograph of many of my key relatives. I really upsets me. Brings tears so I must move on.

A clothes line How horrible.
Perhaps not such a good idea then

F/b

Joy Division are very much not still happening, not since Ian Curtis topped himself in 1980 They've since mutated into New Order.

I said as much back in post 21.

Check yur blobs before posting Gosho

Actually, she was my EX'S grandmother, not mine. She was also the first Native woman in Canada to be trained as a nurse. However, the times being what they were, she had to go to the States to train because no hospital in Canada would train an "Indian".

She was also a direct descendant of Joseph Brant, and a lovely, lovely woman. The first time I met her was on her 100th birthday. She really wasn't "all there" anymore but I hoped to make some impression on her. When we were leaving at the end of the day, she shook my hand and said "Oh! You have such lovely warm hands!"

It wasn't until her funeral that I learned that one of the things she liked about certain people was that they had warm hands, as hers were always chronically cold.

Oh, she was lovely...

Check my blobs?

He did it after watching a Werner Herzog film on BBC 2 - Stroszek, which was shown late one Sunday night. I watched the same film myself, and after learning the next day about his suicide it felt kinda weird that whilst I'd been brushing my teeth and turning off the light, he'd was ending his life

I still like looking at my wife's photos. Only the other day we were talking about this subject. How important it is knowing about your roots. She looks a real character.

If you have them...well, you just have them. Bit like an arm..or an eye..you only miss something so integral when its gone, or you realise everyone has one but you. Not nice, not having photos.

People used to ask my what it was like, not knowing anything about half my family.... brother, two sisters, and most of my aunts, uncles, and cousins.

I used to say I didn't know, as I had never had them to know what it was like without them. When I was put in touch with my next-oldest half-brother and half-sister, it was a revelation to me that I DID miss them and "regretted" that our father had not allowed us the chance to know one another.

After he died, and I finally tracked down his family in Iowa, and went out to meet them, it was like suddenly having a leg. It made knowing that a half-sister was yet to be found, all the more keen. It made me feel the loss of the other leg, so much more noticeable.

I got back from my trip to Iowa to meet the family, and two weeks later, the phone rang, and it was my last sister! When we all met up in Iowa for the first time ever, it was as though I was suddenly whole again, despite not having known I wasn't to begin with.

I still regretted not having had all those years to know my cousins, and having missed the chance to meet our aunts and uncle, the last aunt having died about 6 months nefore I tracked the family down. As a matter of fact, my aunts and uncle knew about all my other siblings (not where they were, though), but my father never mentioned me to them. Nor did he mention me to my siblings, even though my brother lived here in Ottawa for a number of years. I knew about all of them, although I knew nothing about my brother living here.

One day, it dawned on me that I had nothing to regret. Regret is for something you have responsibility for. I could be sad that I never knew them, or angry, but never regret.

My Aunt Dorothy, who is the wife of my Uncle has been wonderful, and told me that, "Yes, it is sad that we lost so much time but we can at least move forward, now that we are in contact...."

Too true!

Nice Mudhooks!

I have one more sibling to find. Although I do not know how or when I cannot imagine it not happening.
I love hearing others success stories, they give me hope.

My Grandfathers both had a role in both world wars - being who they were they never really talked about it - both had found it an apauling experience and found it very painful to talk about.

I do understand their perspective and that they would want to forget it if they could but it would have been good to know more about what they so selflessly did.

As to you Gosho - I think you have done lots of really interesting things and I for one love listening to / reading your stories. I think to those who matter (ie folks round here!) you are pretty famous too.

Life is about living - doing what you know is right when you know its right - learning from the experience and having a whopping great dose of fun!

Sorry I dont remember which of you said it here before but I agree - you have to enjoy what you have when you have it. Unfortunately it takes tragity and sadness (often a death, an accident or serious illness of someone close to us) for us to realise what is really important to us and to focus on it

Those tend to be other fings wot makes me fink

LHG:

I agree wholeheartedly with all of that.. That's exactly my take on life as well...


F/b

Beautifully said, Light.

dont Paul! I am not sure if I am going to be able to explain this well but if you have been in that kind of position where something terrible has happened - dont regret your previous lack of focus on whats important - easy to say I know - but from my perspective wasting energy in this way (and regret takes a lot of mental energy), compounds it - honour the person or thing you should have been focussing on by starting to do so, use that energy in a positive way. Learning from your mistakes is the biggest compliment you can give someone or the best way to cherish someones memory.

I wish I could say I always do this and please if any of you ever catch me regreting things or wallowing in the self pity of a missed oportunity - please remind me that I am compounding the problem!