Theme Song: A Familly Reunion by the O’Jays
I wish grandma could see
The whole family
I sure miss her face
And her warm and tender embrace
I just came from my Aunt Geneva’s house. She had a slight (mild) stroke that has made the right side of her face slightly paralyzed. It was odd seeing one side of her face so slack. It’s disturbing really. I still see her the way I did when I was a little girl and now to look at her and realize she’s getting old, I mean really old…
It hurts.
I have been trying to get in contact with her for the last couple of weeks. Her and Hazel. Hazel called me back and then I called her back but then that was it. Aunt Geneva hadn’t called me back because she was sick. I will call my mother to night to inform her what is going on with her older sister, although I didn’t tell my Aunt that my mother had surgery for cataracts about a week or so ago.
But I went there and tried to get more information about what my Grandmother Cynthia and Grandfather Jack was like. My Aunt just said they were nice, but she described what the house looked like that they lived in when they were in Rogersville back in the late 40s/early 50s. At first I found myself tuning out, because its not what I asked but then I realized that was a bit of information I may be able to use someday. She described a house with a tin roof and two big rooms she said the rooms were connected by a hallway that was more like a porch. In one room her uncles slept and in the other room the girls and grandparents slept. That room contained a big fireplace and (I think) the stove or furnace… I forget.
(sigh) I’m getting like my Aunt Geneva. She said that Grandma Cynthia used to talk about her family all the time: her uncles, her aunts, her grandparents and such. She named names but my Aunt Geneva didn’t pay attention because she didn’t know who the people were. I wish I could go back in time and ask the questions of my Grandmother that I was afraid to ask but never did because I was scared: like who were her grandparents and how she got the welts on her back. But now I will never know.
Seven years ago there was a family reunion in Huntsville, AL. I couldn’t go because I didn’t have a ride down; my uncle that was going to drive me (was if Clifton? was it Connie?) had a heart attack and so I couldn’t go. I went to see him in the hospital and he thought that I was my mother. But anyway, the reunion down in AL was the Bowens-Fuqua reunion. My aunt bought the video tape and I just now got a chance to watch it. It was interesting viewing the tape. I watched a good portion of the video where people were just saying their names and what person they were related to that brought them there. The sound was bad on that part. They came from different parts of the country Louisville, Tampa, Chicago and Lima (Oh). And of course Cincinnati. I got the feeling that Rogersville is a very, very small town. My aunt said everyone knew almost everyone when she was there and everyone was related to everyone. It seems that way because she pointed out a relative with the last name of Watkins (a Watkins married a Roberson) and I was like, Hey! That’s my grandfather’s surname. So know I have to dig around and see who this guy is in relation to my grandfather.
But anyway, I finally got to view some of the part where someone did a bit of genealogy on the family. All I can say is “Thank you, Jesus” that someone did some stuff because searching on Ancestry.com is a b. Today I played around with it and played around with it and still nothing with the last name of Bowens or Roberson (or anything similar). The cousin who did it I need to find and say thanks to because maybe now I can do a bit more.
She got back to 1910. There were three brothers: Simms Bowens, William Bowens, and Charlie (Charley) Bowens. They were living in Rogersville, AL (and I swear, I searched that). On the 1910 they just have it as Bowen (sans S).
Simms Bowen is married to Mary and they have two children named Catherine and Alberta.
William Bowen (my great-great grandfather) is married to Matt (my great-great grandmother) and their children are Sinthia (my grandmother Cynthia) Charlie, Lesley, Lilly, William, and Caroline.
Charlie Bowen is married to Loretta and they have two sons named William and Lucien (spelled Lushion).
Simms and William are living close to one another and another name on there looks like and Alfred Bowen and Fannie Bowen. Alfred is 71 and Fannie is 63 which is old enough to be my the brother’s parents. If that is them (please let it be) maybe I can move further back. I’m thinking it has to be. My family has a penchant for naming people after other family members and my grandmother’s name was Fannie.
So I have to search back further. Get my names together and the birth years right. Maybe I can finally make some headway on this family tree.
But where is that dark horse Jack Roberson?
While watching the video tape I asked my Aunt when the next family reunion was. I felt ashamed about never attending and sending my daughter as my proxy with my mother. My Aunt said she didn’t know, the older generation is too old to plan it and its now for the younger generation to carry it on. I mentioned that perhaps we should and said something to the effect that I could help plan and when we went to see Aunt Anna she told her I was interested in doing it.
“You can’t do it by yourself, its too much,” Aunt Anna said. “You need a committee, they need to meet once a week, every Friday night…” She then began to tell me how it was to be done, if its to be done properly and offered herself as a member of the board, although she thinks it should be done by the young people. She mentioned how the last time she helped to organize it a cousin called her bossy.
“Naw, really” I thought sarcastically.
“You need to know who your people are,” Aunt Geneva said. “You need to know your family.”
I thought about the people I saw on the tape and the names I jotted down. Years ago I would have dismissed this charge from her and thought I am who I am regardless of who came before me or what blood relations I might have. Older now, I see I was wrong. I’m curious about these people who share a similar bloodline, if only if its just to make sure my daughter doesn’t marry a close relation.
I’m also curious to see what I will find.
