As we go through life, we will always come up with someone missing. Oh, this may also refer to something as well.
Memories can fill in gaps.
However, at times, our memories will “omit” pieces of details.
Why this is, we may not understand.
Questions will come up for sure.
Are these omissions to protect us from tragic events, sadness or something else?
Omitted.
When I observe my own memories, I haven’t pinpointed exact examples. In saying that, is this due to these being “omitted” so that I can get a better understanding of what’s going on. I look at my family’s pedigree chart; one massive hole is with my father’s mother – no father shown. Again, questions pop up. There are many. As we all know, for a child to be born there has to be a father.
Memories.
There are ways to bring up missing memories. I have travelled extensively. I have written diaries of my adventures. From the beginning in 1976, where I record my arrival in San Francisco expecting to be met by a friend’s family and they are not there. For some reason, I called my parents. Why? No idea! What could they actually do back in Australia? I was in the USA.
First Flight.
I tend to forget about this as, at the time, this situation was extremely stressful. It was my first overseas adventure. My first flight. I’d arrived in a foreign environment. Everything and I mean everything, was so different. People everywhere, so many foreign accents. Cars on the “wrong” side of the road. All the flashing bright lights. This was America. I was fulfilling a childhood dream – seven years in the making.
IDL.
You may ask, what’s missing? Why weren’t the people I had been in touch with, not there to meet me? It is so easily explained. When I think about it, I left Australia on 11 June. The flight was over 24 hours. So, arrival day, you’d think would be 12 June! Ah, no! There’s this imaginary line that divides the Pacific Ocean.
It’s called the International Date Line.
11 June x 2
If you’ve never flown east from Australia, you may not have a clue. Here I am, at the age of 19… My planning was exact except for one major flaw. This was not even considered and so this missing piece is uncovered. It is very rare that I think about this… that line in the Pacific sends time back a day.
Yes, I had two 11 Junes in 1976.
Younger Me.
Since I’m writing my story, I’ve been delving into my writings of my travels around the world.
It’s very much like jumping back in time to a “younger” me. My thoughts. My adventures. My experiences. It can be a strange experience to drop back in time to recount events many years prior. The missing bits come up, regularly. Many of my adventures don’t mention my family history explorations, with one exception – 1983. During this year, I took six months off work to explore and discover more about my ancestors.
Again, I had planned the trip around what I knew at this stage…
The places I found. The people I met. The journeys made from East Anglia to Yorkshire to Scotland, the low and the high roads and then, finally Shropshire.
Footsteps.
I’m sitting here, as I write, with my mind full of all these adventures.
The knowledge gained is immense. Stepping into the towns, villages, churches and graveyards as I followed in my ancestor’s footsteps. The missing pieces unfolding before my eyes.
Oh, to do this again with what I know now…
Go on your adventure. Fill in the missing pieces. You’ll be glad you did.
Explore and Discover.
Acknowledgements.
All photographs were created by ComfyUI using the text in the writing.
Ancestor Family 