How Can It Almost Be Over?

And here goes my last week of work in Florida…

I can’t believe that my time here is almost up. It feels like it was just last week that I was bidding Savannah goodbye. I feel like time has just sped by and I haven’t done enough.

Last week, I made some great progress, but it still doesn’t feel like I worked hard enough. One of my projects for this coming week is to scan all the information about my great aunts and uncles. My aunt has made a binder for her and each of her siblings. This will be what I’m scanning next.

Now I realize that I haven’t quite explained the Rahenkamp family. My grandmother was one in ten. She had three brothers and six sisters! Their names in the order of their birth are: Paul, Geneva (who I’m staying with), Ray (Vivian, she goes by Ray), Phebe, Naomi, Lois, Jimmy, Miriam, Eunice (my grandma, who I never got to meet), and Joe.

(Left to Right:)
Back Row: Ray, Paul, Geneva
Middle Row: Lois, Phebe, Naomi, Jimmy
Front Row: Eunice, Miriam, Joe

Phew. That’s a mouthful. I can’t even imagine having that many siblings, or even being the parents of that many kids. That would get exhausting.

Currently, only Geneva, Ray, Phebe, Lois, Jimmy, Miriam, and Joe are alive. We lost my grandma, Eunice, in 1984 (right before my parents got married), Paul in 2010, and Naomi in 2014.

I’ve gotten to hear so many stories about everyone. Mostly little pieces of information are shot my way. Segments that I’m slowly trying to piece together to make a more complete image. Scanning all this stuff is also really helping to give me background on everyone.

The letters are my favorite to scan. I don’t have much time to read them as I’m scanning, but I can’t wait till I get the chance. Sadly, they are all a bit one-sided. So many times I see the reply letters hinting at something, but I have nothing else to tell me what that something was.

All this information is turning into small scraps that I’m trying to finagle together to form a quilt, but they don’t all fit perfectly. I have a huge project ahead of me to try to organize and make something of all this information. I’m excited about it, but it can sure be daunting at the same time.