The importance of your family's unshared narratives may exceed your expectations.
In the quiet suburbs outside of New York City, a young author stumbled upon a treasure trove of family history hidden away in his grandparents' basement. The binder, handwritten by his grandfather, would soon become the first written account of a history that had been passed down orally for generations.
The author, intrigued by the rich tapestry of stories contained within, found himself engrossed in conversations with Abuelo and Abuela, delving deep into topics of language, identity, and history. The discussions often revolved around the why and the how, as the author sought to understand the journey that led his family from Mesopotamia, through medieval Spain and Ottoman Syria, across Latin America, and finally to the United States.
Abuelo, who spent his childhood in working-class neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, began telling the family story from the binder, sharing religious documents from Buenos Aires and personal anecdotes from his youth. The binder contained diaries, travelogues, letters, and news clippings, offering a unique insight into the author's grandfather's life.
The author's great-grandparents, who had left Damascus at the start of the 20th century, had made their way to Argentina. The author's great-grandfather worked as a traveling salesman with a horse-drawn cart in the remote Andes Mountains. Abuela, meanwhile, had her own secret collection of stories, short fictions inspired by her childhood, which she'd filed away.
The author encourages others to ask questions of their parents and grandparents now, before it's too late. Family stories, he believes, are currency for survival and are embedded within the traditions we pick up along the journeys of our lives.
The author leads family history workshops and discusses a book he wrote about his search for traces of Abuelo's father in Argentina. Interestingly, it was discovered that the historical story in the collection was not written by his grandfather, but by the renowned Austrian writer Stefan Zweig.
This discovery serves as a reminder of the importance of preserving and sharing our family histories. The binder, now a cherished possession, contains centuries of the author's family's history, offering a unique glimpse into the past and a connection to the ancestors who came before.
