POL After 14 yrs and 40,000+ posts, I am 'pulling a Hank Snow.'

Troke

Deceased
We were rather disconcerted to find during our trip down south this winter, that our cruising range has shrunk significantly. Consequently we are unable to attend the graduation of our #1 grandson from the Air Force Academy as we had planned. We will still be able to get to our ancestral homes because the trip consists of a series of short trips between friends or relatives. However, they are our age or older so....

Needless to say, the family disappointment over our missing the graduation focused the attention of our children on our future. That triggered a family meeting on the Mother’s Day weekend, something every family ought to have at least one of.

We made decisions on executors, (our current now lives too far away so a new one is needed and we have volunteers) additional Power of Attorney, (authority to pull the plug) and on other useful items such as funerals and burials.

Most of the family furniture etc was disbursed when we downsized a few years ago. Everybody pretty well got what they wanted. What is left are items easily dispersed because nobody can use them, except for some 10 file drawers of family memorabilia gathered by Grampa over a lifetime. The oldest document (Grandmother’s Bap Cert from Bohemia) is dated 1868, the oldest photo (Grandfather’s wedding) 1888 and then up to the present day.

There was a remarkable lack of enthusiasm to take possession of that material when I no longer have use for it. However, there was unanimous support for having Gramp catalog and annotate all of it, scan it onto a thumb drive and give one to each kid. I expect most of the originals will eventually be preserved but scattered amongst the nine kids and 23 grandchildren.

I have started on the project and have been appalled at the amount of annotation needed so people not familiar with the context of the item have some idea of its significance to our family. I may have a life time task here.

Much of my contribution to this forum (besides driving DO into a fury) has been searching out, and scanning when needed, articles that I thought would be of interest. This is a very tedious and time-consuming process. For reasons noted above, I will be cutting way back on that.

To paraphrase the poet;

Promises have been made that I must keep
So I have miles to go before I sleep.


As for Hank Snow. He was a major country music element in the 1950's and had a signature tune titled “Moving On.”

And the 8th Army in Korea, after the Chinese ran all over them, came up with a parody known as the Bugout Boogie. (aka “Pulling a Hank Snow”)

We’re out of beer and the Chinks are near
We gotta get moving , we can’t stay here
We’re moving on, we’re past Pusan
We’re wasting gas but we’re saving *ss,
We’re moving on.


Then General Matthew B. Ridgeway showed up and the Bugout Boogie died an instant and ignominious death.

As for this forum, I may drop in periodically to comment but my day by day direct participation in this forum has pretty well moved on.
 

Dobbin

Faithful Steed
We'll leave the LED light bulb on for you (and for me!)

Stop by and intellectually graze anytime.

Best to you human!

Dobbin
 

Dozdoats

Deceased
It's good for you to take responsibility for all those things when they can still be dealt with rather than ignoring or postponing them as most folks do. It's better to devote the time to getting the family related things done that only you can still do than to spend it here, as much as you will be missed.

Good luck and Godspeed...
 

My Adonai

Inactive
My Dad, now passed, did the same thing (albeit no flash drive) on DVD and photo albums. A family history like this is priceless!
 

Sammy55

Veteran Member
Oh, Troke!! I understand, I really do! But it doesn't mean I like it!!

Go with God..........You will be missed............But please come back soon...........so many have left......................... :sht: :shk: :confused: :bwl: :bwl: :bwl:
 

night driver

ESFP adrift in INTJ sea
What DOZ said.

Wish mom n dad had done this while dad still had SOME of his memories intact.

Brother has a couple thousand pics going back to Grandparents....

We're not REALLY sure what we're doing with them, but the brothers have the kids....
Bro with the pics is going to do the archive thing...
 

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie
What I wouldn't give for a few words on the photos that came down to me! I have about a dozen that go far back, but I'm clueless as to who some of them are.

Carry on! Drop in when you can.
 

michaelteever

Deceased
Troke, thanks for the heads up, looking forward to when you drop in, as possible.

Good Luck on your self-assumed task, it should be interesting in it's own right.

Michael
 

Flippper

Time Traveler
I'm going to miss your stories Troke! I hope you get lonesome for us and swing by more often than you say.

What does Troke mean?

Happy Trails to you and yours.
 

Brutus

Inactive
All the best to you, Troke.

I agree with the others who've said that what you've tasked yourself with is VERY important. The grandkids may not realize it right now, but they will one day and it will be greatly appreciated.

Don't forget to drop in and say 'howdy' every once in awhile.

:)
 

TexasQF

Senior Member
Good for you Troke!

When my grandma died my grandfather told me he had 2 boxes he was going to get rid of unless I wanted them. I grabbed both. Some I am clueless who they are... but there are pictures in their going back to MY great grandfather as a teen... a letter from my grandpa to my grandma when he was serving in WWII... just shocking the treasures headed for the dump.
 

Siskiyoumom

Veteran Member
What a blessed gift your are creating for your children and grandchildren.

We have photos of dear hubby's family.

No names or dates on the back and it is really sad to not know who these ancestors are.

You may be able to scan the photos in a photo shop type of program and put in text format on the bottom of the front of the photos who the folks are, the date, the location and any other cool facts.

Glad to know you are curtailing your time here for such a worthy endeavor.

And I look forward to your stopping by occasionally to deliver a pithy post.

Sis
 

Jeff Allen

Producer
I'll miss you bud, but, I understand....I've had to cut way back as well with usually less than ten minutes as day...life is just spinning by at lightspeed.

Good luck to you, enjoy your time!

J
 

TerryK

TB Fanatic
I'll miss your posts Troke.
They always brought much needed balance to many issues.
Try to get back here as often as you can.
 

happygrandma

Inactive
It's wonderful you are working on this now for your family! If you were in my family, I would be jumping up & down enthusiastically wanting any family photos, stories or family memorabilia I could get! Hubby & I have also inherited photos with no clue who the people are. Last year I was given an old photo album that had been my grandma's & I'd never seen most of the photos. I had to rescue them out of this non-archival cheap album & was sooo thrilled to find ones that had names on the back. A project like yours takes a lot of time & effort, but will be a blessing to your family. And you never know if someday one of them will rise to being the "family caretaker" of your precious family things. Best wishes to you!
 

Masterchief117

I'm all about the doom
Well, Gee, One more time, wherever you are - Just vote 'em out!

Happy Trails! What you are doing will be treasured by your family. May the Force Be With You!
 

Laurane

Canadian Loonie
When you get all your data amassed and co-ordinated into families, please think about downloading it online so distant relatives can tie into your families and further their research.........

there are several Genealogy sites out there - Rootsweb, Heritage, Ancestry, Family Search where you can put all your information and meet up with new relatives you didn't know you had. And you can help others gather their families - you have done so much, you can understand what others are going through, just trying to confirm that missing link they suspect but cannot prove.

I have 95,000 relatives in my husband's line - wish I had separated them out a long time ago, so the file isn't so humungous.........hope you will share. Maybe we are related LOL.......
 

dissimulo

Membership Revoked
Troke, you have the dubious honor of being one of very few people on the Internet who have ever caused me to rethink my opinions. On the rare occasion that I pop in these days, your name is one of the few that I scan for. I'm glad to hear that your family is clambering for your attention - it seems that you've pulled off quite a success in that department. Cheers!
 

Deena in GA

Administrator
_______________
I hate to see this, Troke! You will be missed! I hope you do pop in from time to time. Your family is blessed to have you taking the time to annotate everything.
 

rugmaker

Veteran Member
I will miss your posts Troke! I hope you accomplish your goal and then come back and tell us all about it.
 

Garryowen

Deceased
Good travels, Troke. I hope you will stop back and share from time to time. A great gift you are giving to your children.
 
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