Deep breath, and then a sigh. I have been so busy lately with so much stuff. I have now been working with the Historical Society for 2 years now. And I have been volunteering weekly and enjoy it more than I probably should. A lady that came in the museum the other day said something as I was telling her about what we had we started talking and she said, "I don't know if I want to look around or sit and talk to you." That was a great compliment for a person who likes to tell stories about this place that I grew up. Another lady I met one day wrote a book about Dunedin and the Fenway Hotel. It was a very slow day at the museum but as soon as she said she was published I was fascinated by every word she said. She was so nice once I told her of my interest in writing she asked me to join her writing group.
This bunch of ladies are so smart. They all have experience I don't as far as writing. To me writing is me and a piece of paper and pen or a blank screen and a keyboard. My brain barely engaged. My fingers know what to type sometimes when I have no idea what I need to say. So this group of ladies has not only inspired me to work on getting something I have written published but in the back of my head I have always wanted to get my Aunt Jan's manuscript published. It is about the Civil War.
She wrote about being a soldier and my great-great-great grandfather's part in the war. Speaking of battles and brigades and things I remember her researching when I was a kid. After travelling to Perryville, Kentucky she came home with a civil war button and a bullet for each of my brother and sisters.
The last couple weeks I started typing word for word her words. Matching her comma for comma. I had never sat down and read the whole thing until I finished last night. And as I got to the end I wondered how she would end it. I mean the battle that in that day was known to be one of the bloodiest battles the shear number of men lost just made me stop when you say 54,000 Union soldiers.Over 4,000 left on the battlefield is just so many people. For a comparison in 1860 in Louisville, Kentucky which is where my relative was from the population was only 100,000. Then I think about Bardstown Road probably the path they took marching from Louisville to Bardstown and then to Perryville. Well thanks to Google I know that walking that far would take about 24 hours. Now imagine being thirsty because they were short of water and the water they had was contaminated. It is October and probably cool at night again Google says 45 for a low and 68 for a high.
About 14 years ago Brian and I went to a re-enactment there at Perryville. The battlefield is now a park. There was a house that was still standing at that time that had been used by a doctor to try to help the injured. While we were there that day they had what they called a ghost walk in the evening it was like walking through a cemetery and having the ghosts stop and tell you how it was for him. They read letters that were written from the battlefield and told accounts of the battle. Then there is a part of me that was there that day. Edmond didn't know that over a hundred years later someone would write about him. Or that I would travel to the place one day. Or that I would come back years later with two more generations of his descendants. He didn't know any of that back then. I am not even sure why he was there. He had only been here in the US less than 10 years. Was he just trying to make money or did he believe in the cause or did he not want to deal with the death of his wife and his two small daughters at home. Whichever way it was for Edmond. I know it seems strange but I know some bit of me was there. Even though these are not places that I have ever lived I have visited many times in my life that somehow I am connected to that place. My mother's side of the family lived in Louisville since before the Civil War until 1962 when her family moved to Florida.
As usual I got a little off but someday 100 years from now one of my great great nieces or nephews may read these words and know that some part of them was here with me tonight. There is a part of my heart that is old as the sun and the moon. And it is in that old soul that I connect with things most don't.
My aunt ended with a short family tree and some of the documents from Edmond's time as a Union soldier. So I am getting closer to my goal of getting it published. I need to scan her images, maps and documents then I am going to try to send an excerpt to a publisher. I know when I do Edmond and Jan will be there. Wish them luck.
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