Hello? Hello? Is anyone still there? YES THERE IS!

The title for this post is one that few can appreciate. I'll leave it to the comments to see if he wants to claim the quote as his own.

Anyway, it's been too long since I last wrote in here. You see, I've moved to a different venue (and I've been a bit lazy on this front). I was checking into the LDS family history site a few months ago, and was pleasantly surprized to find the revamped site.

A Hug for Grandma Nicholls

This is a small experience of mine involving Great Grandma Nicholls. A confession, really. This happened several years ago, I was probably between 10 and 12. I went on a trip with Dad and Kara to Canada where we spent time in St Thomas, Ontario with Grandpa and Grandma Wilson. Grandma's mom was well advanced in years, at least 85, and was living with them.

One morning, Kara and I gave Grandma Wilson hugs. Great Grandma Nicholls then turned to me and said "Grandma wants a hug too." At the time, my little 10-yr old brain thought "Hug Grandma? I just DID hug Grandma less than 5 seconds ago. Her age must be getting the best of her mind, poor Great Grandma." So...what did I do? Nothing. I just stood there awkwardly smiling at her. Didn't budge. I didn't know the best way to respond to a request that didn't make sense. A request that, as far as a little kid like me could tell, suggested mild dementia. 

Kara looked at me and said "Bryan," a bit reprovingly, suggesting that I do as she requested. In a moment I suddenly realized that SHE was asking for the hug...because, of course, she is Grandma too. But I still didn't budge, and she just waited there. To the best of her understanding, she was simply rejected by her great grandson. But, in reality, my poor self conscious and awkward self got the best of me! I felt embarrassed about my mistake, felt embarrassed about being reproved, and didn't know how to acknowledge my mistake and right the wrong. 

Later that day or maybe the next, someone mentioned to me how sad it made Great Grandma that I never gave her a hug. Again I felt embarrassed by the situation and didn't know how to respond.

She passed away in 2003, and I don't think I ever took the chance to give her a hug since the time of the incident. I'm very sorry Grandma! I didn't mean to make you feel rejected. I am grateful for you, what you've done for me, especially for raising such a magnificent daughters, my Grandma and Aunt Betty. I like to think that you can understand some of my feelings now and recognize how bad I feel about the situation. I want to make it right. I am sorry for causing you that grief. So from the virtual world into the spiritual world, here is a heartfelt hug from your great grandson Bryan. I love you very much. I can't wait to see you again! I look forward to giving you a real hug then!

Sincerely

-Bryan

PS, Dad or Kara, if I've got my age wrong in this story, please let me know. I'm thinking it was between 1994 and 1996.

Family names for our boy

Aisling and I are expecting a baby boy in April. Our first, Carter, was named after Aisling's side of the family (Grandma's maiden name). Now it's my turn to come up with a name (or at least propose something that Ais doesn't veto.) So I was looking through names in on my side of the family from Family Search. Here's a big list of male names I found starting with myself and siblings, then going back several generation. These lists aren't comprehensive by any means, so I'm sorry to the many people I missed.

Personal favorites....Theodorn, Mahlon, Drake, Wilmont, Milton, VanCannon, Dunbar. I joke about naming our boy after these guys but Aisling doesn't appreciate it much.

Re: Why I'm Starting a Blog.

Let me share an experience I had while I was in the Carolina's for Grandpa Garner's funeral. At Grandpa's viewing and funeral service, all the extended family members and my mom and her siblings had unique perspectives of Grandpa. They shared several family stories that I had never heard before, and I knew that I might never hear them again. I doubt that my siblings/cousins knew any of them, and it would be just a matter of time before all this information was lost. If only I could write these experiences down! But the stories were coming out so quickly and I didn't have a pen and paper on hand. Pretty soon, my mind was a big jumble of names and dates, and I couldn't keep straight who was connected to who. My brain felt like a tangled up ball of yarn with a couple of loose ends sticking out...but the task of unknotting the whole mess was daunting, to say the least.

Photos of my family

I added some random photos of my family that were taken in 2004 and 2005. I am almost nowhere to be seen; I was on my mission in Milano, Italy. I'm glad that my family didn't wait around for me to have fun (but obviously it would have been even more fun if I were there.)

FYI, these might seem pretty random. I don't know the context of many of them. They are just pictures that Aisling and I liked while we were looking through them late at night.

Enjoy. What I need to do it track down the older Wilson family pictures and start scanning those (not a small task!)

-Bryan

Letter to my Grandpa

Thomas Harold Garner, - July 4, 1930 to October 14, 2012

Dear Grandpa,

Saints amid War: Mormon Colonies during the Mexican Revolution

Bryan Wilson

Rel C393R - Saints at War

March 26, 2008

Saints in Northern Mexican Colonies during the Mexican Revolution

            My great-great grandfather was Joseph C. Bentley (1859-1942).  He was born in Salt Lake City and lived for a time in southern Utah but is known for his love of Mexico where he spent over 50 years of his life.  He resided in Colonial Juarez, situated in the northern state of Chihuahua, and held the office of Bishop for the Juarez Ward and later of Stake and Mission President over the colonies. Grandfather Bentley was known to be a peaceable and pleasant man.  This character proved itself especially important during the Mexican Revolution (1910 – 1920), and in his interactions with the infamous rebel leader/hero Pancho Villa.  This paper addresses a few of the saints’ experiences during the unsettling times of the Mexican Revolution illustrating how obedience to God’s commandments yields protection and peace.

Mexican Artilery.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/mexican-artillery.htm