September 6, 2012
Two sisters and a niece
Two sisters and a cousin
All from Appalachia-all my people
The photos show two generations of my family. My generation is sandwiched between them. I took advice from the first three and I gave advice to the second three. I guess you could say I’m a conduit. I bet you are too even if you don’t know it. We all are in one way or another.
Tipper
Appalachia Through My Eyes – A series of photographs from my life in Southern Appalachia.
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I like this Tipper..It’s the same with my family..Thanks for sharing.
Great . Just a few thoughts.
Life is to short to wake up with regrets.
So love the people who treat you right, Forget the one’s who don’t.
Believe everything happens for a reason.
If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it…
Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it!
Friends are like balloons, once you let them go, you can’t get them back..
So I’m going to tie you to my heart so I never lose you.
Listen and you will hear the whisper of GOD.
Life isn’t measured by the breaths you take,
but by the moments that take your breath away!!!
Guess we all are conduits. God bless yall.
Those are interesting comments about the pictures. I think that we all have something to share with friends and society in general. Some will like what we have to share; others may not. At least you voiced the ability to listen and the ability to share. Good traits!
Tipper,
I guess we all leave an effect on
someone. You’ve sure ‘reached’ a
lot of people through the Blind
Pig and the Acorn. We Thank You
for all the hard work and touching
stories over the years…Ken
I like that. Realizing you are a conduit sort of makes you feel responsible for what you are passing along, doesn’t it? Love the pictures.
Great post!
That is a beautiful thing, Tipper! And that is how it’s supposed to be. I guess it doesn’t always happen that way and that is a shame. You are blessed to have such strong family bonds.
The continuity of the generations is a beautiful and awesome thing to contemplate!
How many ‘bits’ of you have been absorbed by the second three? How many of those bits did you absorb from the first three? The same bits they absorbed from an even earlier trio? On and on back to the very begining. It is comforting to know that some bit of us will go on and on. The closest we will ever come to immortality!
We seem to be philosophical today. I considered an acrostic from CONDUIT. The results of my thoughts are:
C – Carrying traits and teachings from the past;
O – Opting for my own path, but with remembrances that bind and guide;
N – Noticing “the ties that bind” but carefully navigating my own way, too;
D – “Doing my own thing” but deterred still by guiding principles learned from elders;
U – Utilizing past experiences and at the same time uniting past to present to future to learn from all;
I – I am not “the master of my fate, the captain of my soul,” Too much depends on such a personal, narrow view.
T – Taking life as it comes requires courage and insight to harmonize the past, balance the present, and face the future unafraid.
Yes, each of us is a conduit.
Once a number of years ago I had the opportunity to be in charge of several kids doing an art project. Being a poor boy when I was little (and still am) I learned that if I wanted to have a toy I would try to make it out of whatever was at hand.
To make a long story short, we had some fifty weight poster board and Elmers glue and scissors and some old left over cans of paint. I showed the little boys how to make airplanes from this. We got the dimensions from books and we made WWII Fighter planes. As I remember they were all carrier based planes (All we had was Navy blue). There was Corsairs (You know Baa Baa Blacksheep type) and Grumman Hellcats. We even had a Mitsubishi Zero Sen (Zero).
Reading Tippers statement about how we affect others and don’t even realize it made me think of these little boys. I helped the boys assemble their parts and we painted them the navy blue. They turned out good. Well, I ended up making several just to show the boys. They learned and did great. I gave the planes to some when we were finished. Some could make theirs and didn’t need or want mine. One Sunday morning at church one of the little boys I had given a plane came up to my wife with his Mother. He was taller now and somewhat grown up. His Dad was a pilot himself and they wanted my wife and I to know that he would soon be going off to college. His Mother said that since the day I had given him that Corsair that time he decided he wanted to become a pilot. I have lost contact with his family now. I suppose he did become a pilot. Seems like I heard that he did. At any rate It sure made my day. I did do one thing right!
Tipper, it’s not only you, but also Miss Cindy and B.Ruth that are “heaven sent.” Did all of y’all come down together?
When you have children, nieces and nephews of your own it sheds a whole new light on things. Advice and direction you begrudgingly took or ignored from your parents, aunts and uncles you are now passing on to the next generation. You hope and pray they are smart enough to listen to good advice. I’m afraid that in most cases I was not…I’ve always had to learn things the hard way. B. Ruth was spot on with her advice to be kind, that is something you won’t ever have to look back and regret.
What a beautiful way to put it!
Ideally each generation should be like a history text passing learned and aquired knowledge to the next generation. As the old adage states “Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat the same mistakes”. Recently my youngest daughter who always informed me that she had the right to her opinion on almost everything and that everyone had to learn from their own mistakes apologized to me. She now has a teenager and a very opinionated ten year old, both of whom want to debate every direction she offers them, I was forced to laugh when she advised them that they earned the right to have an opinion when they were able to support themselves and live on their own. Being a bit of a “smart aleck” I just smiled and told her “it’s called Payback”.
Tipper,
I am guessing that the first picture is Granny and sister? Of course the second are the Banshee sisters and their cuz, ? Steve’s son?
You are right we are all connected in some way or other..Whether it be related or just a chance meeting in our lives.
There is always, I believe, a reason for such aquaintances or chance meetings that change our lives. Like you say whether you know it or not..,We also are a conduit..a connection to other lives through each of us.
The book that relates to this fact that I love is…”The Five People You Meet In Heaven” by Mitch Albom…After he dies he experiences the enlightenment of his life long chance meetings and aquaintances with people…Why that particular person came into his life…very interesting…nothing is a coincidence..all a master plan!
I have pondered this fact on occasion…and try to look back and wonder and sometimes can see how people change our lives.
Sometimes the reasoning is clear sometimes not…
It always pays to be kind and good to people..even to the simple smile in the store…even that act could change a life…
Very hard to do sometimes. Be kind! I know I have had my trials…especially if someone I thought to be rude…but maybe like me they were having a bad day…no good excuse though…LOL
Thanks Tipper, I will step down off my soap box…and crawl back under my rock…
Oh, those three Indian Princesses are a beautiful trio!
Yes, I agree we are all a conduit, from the past to the present, as Ed says, but also from us to every one with whom we come in contact.
You, my dear Angel Tipper are one of the purest conduits I’ve ever seen.
We all have a choice what we pour through that conduit, it is one of the responsibilities we are born with.
Good to remember that people are watching us to learn from us, good and bad, all the time. I am sure I am not as good an example as I saw in adults when I was young.
Cute pics. Guess we are all conduits. Never thought about it before.
we often need to be reminded that we are conduits — my family has such overlapping generations that the lines get blurred, but the love and life experience still trickles down
I don’t totally agree with you. When kids are little like the 2nd three, they don’t need advice they need direction.
When they are old enough to make decisions for themselves, you relate your experiences or those of your elders and explain “this is how I/they handled it.” That takes part of the burden off you if your “advice” fails.
There is a time in between when nothing works sometimes. You start with “advice” and end up with “Just do I like I told you!”
I do agree totally that we are a conduit between the past and the future. Too many people don’t take that role seriously. What you do today effects not only today but forever.
Yeah, I need to lighten up a little!
That’s what family is and does
Those are the sweetest pictures. You still look the same.