Family Tree: A Stump

Family Tree: A Stump

Part of Jill's Family Tree

For most of her life Jill in Baggage burdens. had a peephole view of her family tree. The opportunity to gain strength from the values that her family tree could impart was absent thanks to her grandmother’s well-intentioned meddling and her father’s inferiority complex. Ambivalent feelings about her mother resulted in an anemic impression of Jill's family tree legacy. Picture this tree rooted in a parched sandy ground.

The deeds that could have lead to Jill believing that people are good, are loveable became diluted by her father’s self-serving high expectations and frequent criticism. Jill's failure to meet his standards during her elementary school years left her with the impression that she wasn’t worthy of love. Nourished by her father’s inferiority root, Jill concluded that her school friends could not love her either. Critical teen eyes concluded her frequently intoxicated father deserved no love. When her peace-loving mother attempted to salvage some redeeming feature of her father (Frank Rezley), Jill dismissed her mother’s love as foolish. For Jill the love nutrient had little value.

The dormant gene of love, love for children, parked itself deep in Jill’s psyche, emerging when she had her own children. Unable to settle for a half hearted-love, what Jill mistakenly suspected of her mother, Jill became troubled when she suspected her children did not see her as the most loving parent. Had Jill known her grandmother, Josey, (Josey couldn’t have any thing to do with her children or grandchildren––Frank’s order), Jill would have learned that loving mother’s make mistakes.

For decades Jill’s family tree legacy, little appreciation for loving others, or for being loved, is rooted too deep to cause her to change. The love and trust freely given to her by Mrs. Maxwell and Josey after Jill ran away from home, Joseph, Ben, and Mary surprised her.

Can a greater knowledge of your family change how you see yourself? For Jill it takes time and the revelations from her grandmother, her sister, and her mother’s final words before the branches on Jill tree produce fruit.

How has information about the life of other members of your family helped you?

Aren’t grandmother’s wonderful? With such a question you can imagine the nature of next week’s blog that focuses on Josey, Jill’s grandmother.