Five years ago, one of my Woodruff first cousins was married
and I struggled with an appropriate wedding gift. I am the oldest of my generation by many years, with a
whopping span of 32 years’ age gap between me and my youngest first
cousin! Our Woodruff grandfather
died before I was born, and our Woodruff grandmother died when I was ten and my
younger brother was six. None of
our Woodruff first cousins had yet been born, so he and I are the only two (out
of eight of us) who have any memory of our grandmother.
Due to family circumstances, none of my first cousins had
much exposure to our family history, but most of them have expressed an
interest in learning more over the years.
I decided that I would create something for this cousin’s wedding that
could act as an introduction to some of our shared past.