GATE KEEPERS...

Last weekend we visited my father and step-mother up in the wilds of Wangaratta. It was great to catch up, to relax and talk. To add to the enjoyment of the weekend, we went to the 2014 Patricia Vintage Launch at the Brown Brothers winery. An enjoyable blend of great food and wines.

Yes, wines in plural.

It began innocently with this and ended with...

(afraid I'm not a red wine drinker)

The day was to launch the 2014 Patricia wines, and the chef had created some wonderful food to complement and enhance these wines.

Brown Brothers is a family winery- began by the original John Brown and his son, it is now run by the 3rd and 4th generations of the family. Interestingly enough, mostly girls in the up coming generation.

And it was family that was celebrated along with the food and wine. The menu was divided into what four boys brought up on the farm enjoyed....fishing, hunting, farming

How to make fish look sublime.

But what really interested me was the stories told at this event. The event was MC'd by Katherine Brown, grand daughter of Patricia. She did a great job of telling stories of her grandmother, who did say if they were going to name a wine after her 'it should be bloody great'. 

All family members told stories. Not only of the early days when the winery was just beginning, but also personal stories of the two brothers no longer present. Tales of dead snakes left for teachers to find, of entrepreneurial yabbying, of building helicopters and bumpy airplane flights, of the allegiance of Ding the dingo. 

And of course grandmother Patricia's famous carrot cake.

It was a lovely afternoon. Not only because I was with family, but because of these stories. With two of the four brothers remaining, it is up to the next generation to remember these stories and to keep them alive.

We are all gate keepers of our family. If we don't recall the stories of our parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles...then who will?

And so many stories are not merely funny or emotional for the family...they are a large part of our social history.

My friend Tiggy has turned her passion for family history into fodder for her writing. A fantastic way to keep her family stories alive. Even creating an opportunity for more research while cruising.

You don't have to write a poem though, how many novels are part auto-biographical and based on family history?   Imagine a short story based on a family incident? An article...a script...children's book.

The weekend was a reminder that family history is something that can be so easily lost....

and to wonder what, if anything, will people remember about me.

Interesting thought isn't it?

But it's not too late to write about your memories of your grandparents, your parents...even your own story. Even if it is just for yourself.

Vicki
http://vickithornton.weebly.com/