In the Beginning

 I'm taking on Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge 

"In the Beginning" Week One 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

My interest in ancestry began around the fifth grade when our teacher assigned us a project: create a family tree and write a family history report. The instructions were clear—interview the oldest relative we knew. As luck would have it, my dad was planning to visit his Aunt Hester’s house to help with some yard work, and I tagged along.

Aunt Hester lived in a tiny house nestled off Wears Valley. She was my grandmother’s sister, and I remember her vividly—her beautiful hair always swept up in a neat bun and the sweet scent of homemade sugar cookies. She shaped them with an old metal cookie press and always had baggies full of them ready to hand out to kids and adults alike.

While Dad worked in the yard, I settled at Aunt Hester’s kitchen table, nibbling on one of her cookies and clutching my notebook. I eagerly began asking her questions about our family history, expecting warm stories and treasured memories. But instead, she looked at me firmly and said, in no uncertain terms, that it was none of my business. Whether she just tired of my endless questions, or she didn't want our family in a public eye I don't know. I was young though and hushed and just enjoyed my cookie. 

For a moment, I was stunned. This wasn’t how the assignment was supposed to go—this wasn’t how I’d imagined the conversation at all. Her response left me with more questions than answers. What was it that I wasn’t supposed to know? Why was our history something to keep hidden? My little mind searched for who else I could interview. Right then and there, I made a silent promise to myself: I would uncover our family history, no matter how long it took or what secrets lay hidden in the past.