Passed Down

Growing up my mom would sing, what my family calls, "The Sailor Song". I didn't think twice about the significance of the song when I was young and just went with it. I learned the words quickly because my family sings it all the time as well as my extended family so it was easy for me to pick it up. 

As I got older I wanted to know the meaning of "The Sailor Song". It turns out that my great grandpa learned the song from his mom. The song explains the memory that she and my great great grandpa had. The people involved in the song were my great great grandparents, and now the song is still being sung today. The song goes as follows.

Around the corner and under the tree

A Yankee sailor said he loved me

He kissed me once

He kissed me twice

It really wasn't the thing to do

But gee it was nice!

The song was a part of the family ever since it was sung for the first time. It's fun because it is something that my family shares. When I have a family, I plan on singing it to my kids to carry on the history. We sing the song because if my great great grandparents didn't meet than I wouldn't be here today as well as the rest of my family. From stories that I hear, they loved each other very much and fought for their love. It is just an example to me of how cute they were. All my family members know the song and to this day have shared it with new members of the family and continue to do so, so that the memory and story never fades.

Sharing a Story

The cabin in the picture below means so much to me and my extended family. I have had so many memories here. My grandma, Judy, told me the story of why the cabin was built. It all started with my great grandpa. He is from Montana and has lived there for many years. His first wife died when he was in his forties. He only had one girl as a child. He remarried to a girl who had four other kids. My great grandpa built this cabin so the family could use and enjoy it. He wanted to do something for his children so that they could go there and have fun and be able to want to go there. My great grandpa wanted to connect to his new children as well as create closer relationships with his new family.

As you can see in the picture, there is a tree house in the back corner of the picture, so you can expect that young children played here. There is a swing that connects to the top of the tree house. He built it that way so that even when the young children grew up, they could still swing on the swing when they became older. Looking at the picture you can see that the cabin is in the middle of a lot of trees. This cabin is deep in the mountains of Montana. There is a lot of wildlife there and if you notice the cabin isn't very fancy. My great grandpa loves everything about nature, mountains, hard labor, and making it family friendly. Although, the workmanship on the cabin is neat and organized. That's because my grandpa has built many things in his life so he has had experience building cabins and homes. The driveway is long so there is room for a large group of people to stay.

It was so fun to listen to my grandma tell this story and I feel very blessed to be able to use the cabin. I hope that the traditions continue of going to the cabin twice a year with as much of my family possible. There is so much history there that goes back to when my great grandpa build it this beautiful place.