My eldest cousin recently passed away, and I had the great fortune of sitting with him about a month ago. During my visit he and I shared family stories, and my cousin had a reputation for being a great storyteller. He did not disappoint me, as he spun quite a few stories about our family during my visit with him.

Here is a story he told me about his grandfather.

His grandfather worked (many years ago) as an engineer for the Reading Railroad. This was a very secure job at a time when jobs were scarce and his grandfather enjoyed his work. Around the same time there were a couple of immigrants who had come to the Reading area, and they were in the process of starting a factory that was producing various kinds of clothing and related materials. The immigrants were seeking to expand, but they needed some technical assistance to expand their factory. They approached my cousin’s grandfather because of his engineering knowledge and (as I recall the story) offered him the chance to join them as a partner.

My cousin’s grandfather thought for a long time about this offer, but he ultimately turned them down. The financial times were very difficult, and it was too big a risk to leave the railroad where he could insure the support of his growing family.

The immigrants found their technical support elsewhere, and they went on the establish what would become known as the Berkshire Mills. The Mills grew larger and were very successful. Today the Berkshire Mall is named after their enterprise.

My cousin and I had a good laugh – had his grandfather made a different decision, we all may be able to go shopping at a mall called the Bowers Mall!!!!

My cousin included many details in this story that I have not included here. The story lasted for almost 30 minutes and I was constantly peppering him with question after question.

How is this connected to the importance of family stories?

It is through family stories that we are able to rekindle the spirit and memory of members of our family that have passed away. This was a lesson that I did not learn until I was in my fifties and sixties. When I was younger, and there were family members who had stories to tell, I did not value the stories, and I did not ask a lot of questions about family history. Now I am hungry for those stories, and when I am with people like my eldest cousin, I ask for stories to be told.

For those of you who are reading this blog entry, I ask you to look around to family members, friends, and elders, and begin asking questions of them. Find out what has happened in the past, so that you can pass on these stories now and in the future. The rewards will be a blessing to all.