The Creation of Our Story
My mom, Kathryn Coyner, and our granddaughter, Emmalynn, shared a special connection of the same birthday.
March 22, 2011, is a memorable date for our family. We celebrated my mom’s 85th birthday and rejoiced in the birth of our fourth grandchild. Tomorrow, Emalynn Grace, will turn 11, and Mom will celebrate her 96th birthday in Heaven.
On the day Emmi’s earthly story commenced, if each day of Mom’s story represented one page, the novel would have been over 31,000 pages long. (A bit of trivia: Tolstoy’s War and Peace contains around 2000 pages.)
A variety of factors and a chorus of voices influence each person’s story.
Birth order. Mom was the youngest of six, born when her mama was going through what was then known as the change of life. Emalynn was her parents’ firstborn.
Era and culture into which we’re born. Mom was born on the cusp of the Great Depression, delivered at home by her father. Deep poverty marked her childhood. Emmi entered the world during an era of plenty. A joyfully anticipated child, her birth occurred in a hospital delivery room with the aid of a well-educated obstetrician. Her adorable nursery was filled with every modern baby accessory and enough stuffed animals to populate a zoo.
Family of origin. The stories of our parents and grandparents help define ours. My mom’s mother—Grandma Emma—was born to Norwegian immigrants who never learned to speak English. Her father was an orphan whose early life was characterized by loss, abuse, and neglect.
Emalynn’s mom and dad had been raised in imperfect but stable homes by parents who doted on their offspring. Emmi’s early memories will probably include two sets of grandparents who loved her deeply, (albeit, perhaps a trifle extravagantly!)
Many other factors contribute to each person’s life story, including:
ethnicity
physical appearance
health
aptitudes
temperament
formal and informal education
cultural experiences
trauma
a plethora of interpersonal relationships
Our stories include happy, sad, long, and short chapters. Story lines are filled with laughter, success, tension, disappointment, failure, and sometimes tragedy. Like a well-written novel, plots and anticipated outcomes are sometimes turned upside down, creating drama and suspense.
What about you?
What factors have influenced your life story?
What traits or patterns of behavior in your family of origin, including your parents, grandparents, and even great grandparents, have helped—or hindered—your story?
How can you perpetuate and preserve the healthy, honorable heritage passed on to you, and conversely, how can you change the trajectory of unhealthy patterns to diminish them in your life and in the lives of your children?
Wishing you a story full of joyful and blessed chapters,
