In the last blog we followed the flow of water from the Rocky Mountain National Park down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon to a cruise with Nate and Kathy on the river near Bullhead, Arizona. Only a very small percentage of the water on which we cruised came from the park, if any. The original waters had been augmented by waters from many smaller streams and rivulets along the way to Arizona. Imagine it.
Nate and I have the same grandfather Lehman. His name was David. He married our grandmother Sarah Hege. Her Hege genes began to broaden and deepen the flow of genes in their children.
The genes contributed by Sarah seem strong to me. Sarah’s mother was Susanna Eshleman Lesher Hege Eby. Strong, because she had attracted and out-lived three husbands! To the family she was known as “Grossmommy”. Oral tradition says that when she ate cherrys she swallowed the pits.
J. Irvin and Ruth Lehman
Irvin was the oldest of David and Sarah’s children and he became my father. He married Ruth Martin who introduced Martin genes and reinforced the Eby genes in the genetic. The Martins were taller and the Ebys tended to be shorter. My mother was taller and her sister Lizzie who appears at times in this blog was shorter.
Rhoda and I on our wedding day
I married Rhoda Krady. Her immigrant ancestor came to America as a Hessian soldier to assist the British in the revolutionary war. He remainedd in America and was “grafted” into the German speaking Brethren and Mennonites of PA. When Rhoda and I parented Rachel, the Krady genes helped to deepen and broaden the genetic flow.
Eldon Stoltzfus wooed and won Rachel and when they gave birth to two sons the Stoltzfus genes caused the genetic stream to flow deeper and wider
When Rhoda and I welcomed a baby boy into our home and adopted him into our family we found a new way to deepen and widen the flow of influence. Conrad had a wife and a son, and after a divorce he married another wife and had another son and a daughter. Now he has another wife who is helping to parent the last two children. The genetic contributions of Conrad and his spouses deepen and broaden the stream of influence.
A part of the flow
Each of Rachel’s two sons have children. Now Rachel is a grandmother and I am a great grandfather. The genetic flow and the influences of many lives may be likened to a river that begins with rain drops, melted snow, and other small sources in high mountains. As the stream flows it broadens and deepens into a river powerful enough to erode canyons, generate power, irrigate farms and provide water for cities.
Rachel’s and Conrad’s and mine
So it is with the flow of genes. The stream that began with my grandfather includes farmers, entrepreneurs, salesmen, mechanics, pastors, Bible teachers, church administrators, educators, mutual aid and MCC country representatives, a personnel director, and more. My grandchildren, my great grandchildren and their children are like all others, uniquely gifted. How they will impact their world is unknown.
Javier and parents
On the left is a picture of Javier Stoltzfus. He is the most recent recipient of a genetic gene flow which includes Lehman, Martin, Miller, Krady and many more genetic strains unknown to me. Who he is, who he will become and what he will do is a wonderful wonder to his parents, to his grandparents and to me. There, I have told you . . .
My grandfather’s genes
though deminished are not lost
Javier owns them
I’m thinking, Martin. Thank you!