Thursday, January 31, 2008

The Potato Cellar

I learned some great lessons from my trips into Grandma’s potato cellar. In the beginning of the season, it was fun to crawl down into the dark cellar under the porch because it smelled clean and it was a safe place to be. As the season progressed, however, the task was not so pleasant. The cellar became infested with spider webs and we had to be very careful where we knelt to insure that we were not kneeling in a rotten potato. Those rotten potatoes exuded the most awful smelling liquid and if they weren’t removed from the cellar, the potatoes around them also began to rot.

At the end of the season for storing potatoes, Grandma would have the cellar emptied, the walls and ceiling swept, and the cellar prepared for a new season.

Like potatoes, we do not live in a world alone. Our attitudes and actions have an effect on the people whose lives we touch. If we are living righteously and are wholesome, we can have a positive effect on the lives of those around us. When we are not, our rotten attitudes and actions have a negative effect on the people in our lives.

I have come to see that my life has had an effect on people around me. It has been painful to see the long list of people who have been hurt by my poor choices and unwholeseome behavior. More than anything, I would like to undo some of those effects.

Just as in Grandmother’s cellar, we had to identify the rotting potatoes to remove them from the cellar, I have had to identify my bad habits and attitudes before I can work on removing them from my life.

Fifty nine years of life has left a long list of people whose lives have been touched by mine. I would love to say I’m sorry to them if only I could.

In the process of working on changing my life, I have learned some things about myself. have had a strong need to always be right. This has been so strong, that I have trampled others’ needs in interest of my own. I need to be a better listener. Although I need to be heard occasionally, I need to make a better effort to listening to what others tell me. Maybe that is why I have two ears and only one mouth.

I need to quit rationalizing my behavior and making excuses for the things that I have done wrong in my life. There comes a time that it no longer matters why I made the choices I did. What matters more is what I am doing about it today. As long as I rationalize, I am denying the Lord the opportunity to work in my life to bring about change.

I am trying really hard to prepare for a new season in my life. Grandma's potato cellar has taught me some things to make the preparation easier.

Hazel and Doris visited

Thought I would say Hi. I love all of you. Hazel and Doris were down here last weekend. It was nice to see them. Love Doris Faye

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Larry Vance is here

I am here. I hope that our ranks grow. It has been fun contributing to and reading the other blogs. Maybe this weekend I will make a meaningful contribution to the BlOG.

Until then, TATA for NOW.

Love
Larry.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

It is great to be a part of a good family

Today it is interesting to be a part of a big family where there are people you hardly ever see but feel connected to them. i love my aunts, uncles. and many cousins. Gatha

Family photos

I love this old photo (It's also in the header). It's fun to look at the faces and remember when things were a bit different. I've tried to make a list of the people in the picture but some I can't recognize. I would love it if you could help me complete the list and make corrections where they are needed.




Do you know who the people in this photo are? What year was it taken?

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Welcome

Following Larry's example with his family blog, I thought it would be a nice thing to do to start a blog for our extended family. I started one for my parents, Arlo and Gatha Vance, and one for my grandparents, Ted and Cora Bingham.

I have enjoyed communicating with members of the family through these blogs, there there is another group I would like to reach. Simeon Harmon and Annie Bueletta Dunn, my great grandparents, were the only grandparents I remember. They loved us and taught us and are an important part of my life.

My fondest memories are those of our thanksgiving dinners in Manassa at their home, and at the home of their children in Manassa; Edgar and LaVeryl Dunn, Boyd and Elma Pagett, and Verden and Doris Mortensen. I don't remember ever having a dinner at the homes of Hazel, Ethel, Ina, Loyd or Rex, but they are their families were certainly part of those gatherings.

The years have taken us to different locations and as our families have grown apart. I yearn for an attachment to my family again and ask your help in helping me open the communication between us again.

I have created this blog as an avenue for us to share our memories, lives, and our love. It will be an open post and we welcome posts and comments from any family member who would choose to make entries. My list of email addresses is sadly incomplete. I would appreciate it if you would help me with any email addresses so that I can be sure to invite everyone in the family. If you want to be an author on the Blog, but don’t want your email visible to the world, just send me an email (rkentvance@gmail.com) and I’ll send you an invitation to be a member of the blog.