Heritage: Something somebody is born to, riches of past, something passing from generation to generation, legal inheritance

Inheritance: inherited wealth or title; ownership or succession by heredity; right to inherit; heritage; transmission of genetically controlled characteristics; creation of object with same variables

I do not come from a family rich in a monetary sense; but we are immeasurably wealthy in family & friendships.  Also, basically any one I have ever known professes their own personal relationship with Christ.  That alone is rich.  The older I get, the more I realize how rare this is – not just multiple generations of my family back as far as we know (on both mom & dad’s side), but our friends as well.  I grew up {birth-7 in Anchorage, Alaska; ages 7-14 in Northern Wisconsin; and 14+ back in Alaska} recycling and reusing, before it was “the thing to do” or considered “green”.  We did it out of necessity.  

We didn’t have money to go buy a cute bin to organize things in, we used a cardboard box, empty jar, plastic container, or can of some sort – if you wanted it pretty, you covered it in paint, paper, or material…mostly it was just left as-is.  We had families who blessed us with hand-me downs.  I do remember in later years, after moving back to Alaska, there were more trips to stores.  At that point my dad had a good job and wasn’t going to school.  When in Wisconsin we grew and prepared all our food, it wasn’t packaged, convenience food.  If we went to town, you ate at home before leaving and if you were going to be gone a long time you packed food.  We didn’t go out-to-eat.  It was not even a question.  Simple.  It was the way we did life.  

Once we moved back up to Alaska, we went from living on a 40-acre farm in the country, to a duplex on a cul-de-sac, in a subdivision.  I remember those were a couple of the funniest words I’d ever heard.  We lived there about a year, then mom & dad bought a home out of town and in the “country” we were in a house and had just over 2 acres, in a subdivision.  It is where we live now.

In Wisconsin we ground our wheat berries and mom (or myself) made the bread we ate each week.  We made four loaves of whole wheat bread at a time in the Bosch, at least once and sometimes twice, a week.  This bread was used as payment for my piano lessons, even after moving back up to Alaska – the wheat grinder and Bosch came with us, and this form of payment continued.  Others LOVED mom’s homemade bread.  To us it was normal, we didn’t eat store bought bread.  I always assumed this was because it was too expensive, I don’t really know why.  As much as I’ve wanted to carry on making bread – I don’t, because it’s too expensive to make.  Not when I can get the bread my kids like for $2.50/loaf, and they don’t even eat four loaves in a month.  (they aren’t big sandwich eaters)

In Wisconsin we had a garden the size of a football field.  We stored our produce in the cellar for the winter.  I’m sure we had venison, but I remember our beef cows; they were our “pets” – named Hamburger, Steak, and Meatball.  Guess where our meat came from?  My brothers loved to discuss {while eating dinner} which one we were eating!  It took me many, many years {as in up to about five years ago}to handle raw meat, cook it, and eat the meal in the same day.  I still will NOT eat grilled pieces of moose while we package it though – that is just too gross!

For clothes, we had friends who gave us their hand-me downs.  I don’t know where the clothes for my brothers came from; I do remember my clothes came from a friend.  My most favorite dress came from her.  Her mom made it for a special school program; it was navy, with cream accents – I can still visualize it & it still makes my heart happy. :-), I was so excited when I got it and it fit! {she & I were very different shapes – her tall & lean; me, not so much}  I don’t think I have ever felt as beautiful in anything as that dress.  I’m sure mom got some clothes at thrift stores, but I don’t remember ever shopping for clothes, or even consciously thinking about clothes coming from stores. 

Last weekend was a weekend…  Right now our church is in an eight day stretch of five funerals, five weddings, baby shower(s), and multiple graduations.  Talk about covering every major aspect in life!  Our family had a couple additional events from our two other church family connections.

I only made it to one graduation, one wedding, one funeral, and one graduation open house.  Each of these events were from different eras of my life as well.  The graduation was for a dear girl still struggling to find her solid identity in Christ, she knows, but life events have made it hard for her to hang onto this truth for herself.  This connection is from the last 12 years of my life, I started with teaching her 3^rd & 4^th grade Sunday School somewhere during 2000-2003*.  The wedding was from a family I don’t know life without.  I don’t know if my parents knew them when I was born, or not until I was three – regardless, we are talking 35+ years of their strong friendship.  We had three generations gathered and hanging together – the wedding was for the granddaughter of the other couple [first generation].  The others at the reception were also from the 30+ years of friendship category.  It is the church family from my birth-7 years of living in Anchorage and the first year back in Alaska.  We kids [middle generation] haven’t done as well with connecting – only when the parents plan it….but there were several of our group getting to re-connect, while our kids [third generation] played.  The funeral was from a mom-to-mom connection in Bible Study, again from life during 2000-2003.  Her 22 year old son had passed away.  I also have a connection with teaching her 21 year old daughter in Awana, again back in 2000-2003, and later during my years as a youth group leader in 2007-2010.  So, my reasoning for being there was two fold – mom & daughter.  From the funeral I went downstairs in our church, to get my mom & daughter from a baby shower.  The baby shower was for one of the daughters of my high school piano teacher.  The girl who now cuts my son’s hair.  Again, we are talking three generations, different group of people and 25+ years of connection.  From there we drove to the graduation open house.  The graduation open housewas for the 2^nd son of the same friend I got my clothes from in Wisconsin.  Her parents are here, of course, and again, I was in a gathering of people where we had three generations of connection, we are again talking 35+ years of connection – but a totally different group of people.  Also, her in-laws were people my dad had gone to school with…back in Wisconsin, as a child.  Back to this friend of mine – her daughter & mine are just a couple months apart.  She passes clothes to my daughter; again two different body shapes, but it is the bulk of what my daughter has worn in her whole life.  She also sent clothes for my son (from her three boys) last week. 

We are so very, very blessed!  We have a heritage of family, and life-long family friendships.  This heritage is very costly and I believe in this day and age, highly coveted; making it an extremely rich inheritance.  The cost was paid by the first generation.  The connections my parents chose to foster and sacrifice for.  Obviously, it was a sacrifice with a VERY HIGH return.  With each of those groups I remember having “Friday night home group”.  It was simply, every Friday night was potluck, we rotated the house where we met; after dinner the adults did a study, debriefed their week with each other, prayed together, and we kids played.  No organized childcare; just all of us were expected to get along – if there was blood we were allowed to interrupt the adults. 

I’m sure there were times the adults wondered at their sanity, I’m sure there were several times different ones wished they could do something else.  But, it was what we did.  Not every other week, 1^st& 3^rd, 2^nd & 4^th, once a month – none of that, just simply EACH Friday.  I want to do this for my children.  We have had a few different organized gatherings through church, but it isn’t the same.  It’s for a short time.  I want my kids to have other adults they can turn to; I want them to have relationships, as adults, with people they have essentially known their “whole life”.

Yes, I am exhausted, wiped out from the people connections over the last five days.  I have been with more people over the last five days, than I would normally be around in a couple months time.  For this extreme introvert – that is hard!  Very hard, to the point that the last gathering I could hardly get past the perimeter of the room.  I claimed a sister-friend’s baby and hung on the edge.  After two hours, I did make it about six feet in, but I was still struggling.  I wish I could say I’ve grown out of that, but I can’t.  At the same time, they were such rich times, with the constant flow of memories.  I wouldn’t trade it, just wish they didn’t wipe me out so hard.