I've been considering a lot of things about the family and the idea of writing something concerning them all. I think, in the final effort, it will focus on Grandpa Chaney, but the twist will be something which none of them could expect. I'm not sure, but I think Bert figures on some sort of touching eulogy to her father; possibly a fictionalized account of his life. But I don't think that would be very interesting. There are plenty of anecdotes floating around with the various members of the family, but I would be surprised if there was any real dialogue remembered. I think some of Grandpa Chaney's sermons may have been saved and there are bound to have been letters and records and such, but I just don't know if I want to fictionalize my grandfather.

Instead, I'm thinking of concentrating on the existing family, on their remembrances and their personalities. I'm thinking of making a record of the collecting of all this material. Of their faces. Of their laughter. Of them. As an eulogy for my grandparents. After all, the family you leave behind is your truest legacy, right? The memories you instill in each of them. The people they became because of you.

I'd talk to people outside of the family, too. Bert was telling me about someone at the cafe who was talking about grandma and how he used to watch her comb her long hair standing in front of the kitchen window. He told her about how there was some sort of fuss at the church because so many children would stay out of church to visit grandma, because she was so sweet and everyone loved her so much. That story gave me a vision of my grandmother that I would never have known otherwise, and it made me wonder how many stories there are out there.

So ... I think I would rather concentrate on the memories they left behind them, rather than try to reconstruct people I never knew. I think the Alex Hailey novel, Roots, was something similar to this. He found himself in finding his past, or something like that.

I suppose I just want to preserve the past. I don't know where I came from. I've collected a lot of information on the immediate family, on all the aunts, uncles and cousins, but I know nothing much before my grandparent. I don't have my great-grandmother's name on my grandfather's side, and comparable information on grandma's side is incomplete.

And there is so much I could do now. I could bring everyone's memories together to form a record of this family. With a digital camera I could make copies of everyone's photographs and albums. I could take pictures of state records and such which I locate in libraries and in the courthouses, eventually combining all this information on optical disk for archiving. If I can get my hands on a Korg T-1 I could record Edith playing piano. I could collect Sis' poetry, Bert's recipes, and anything else I could think of which the family produces. And if I could get a DAT
deck, I could record their voices as well.

The neat thing about recording Edith would be that it would be MIDI'd. I would have her performance, not just a recording of it, and I could manipulate that in a thousand different ways. I could have Edith appear on a record sometime, maybe.

Jesus. The things I could do.

I would, however, just like to chronicle all these wonderful people. I know I bitch and groan and whine about the family, but they're damn nice people. I love them, each and every one, and I would hate to let them slip though my fingers like they've just about let their pasts slip through their's. If I can get my hands on the technology, I could capture their essences, if not their souls, and that would be something worth saving. It might not prove of much interest to anyone else, but it would be a complete record of who and what we are, and that, I think, would be the
truest and most profound homage to Robert Lattie Chaney, Jr.

Of course, all this information would be collected and used to help bring forth some sense of who Grandma and Grandpa were, and that would be the entire purpose of writing a book, but it would be nice to give a little taste of those whom they influenced and loved, who loved them and the wonderful memories they left behind.