This work, ANCESTORS & DESCENDANTS OF BROWNIE MACKIE has been "in progress" for over twenty years.  It  is not finished and probably never will be finished.  On the other hand, if you try to change anything or mess with it without  permission....I may have to pull the whole site , because I'm paying a fee yearly to keep it safe.  And I might do it without  notice. SEE BELOW;  READ ALL OF THIS PAGE, BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN CHANGED.

It is an act of love.  We have such colorful and interesting ancestors.  People whom I would have liked to have  known, but I think that I've come to know them by doing research on them.  I've definitely developed an  appreciation for history.  I also pay a fee to keep the site in good shape.  IF YOU ARE NOT ON MY OR JUANITA'S FAMILY  TREE CHART, and have not obtained permission from one of the two of us to "visit" the site (which DOES NOT INCLUDE  CHANGING ANYTHING NOR ADDING ANYTHING) please refrain from making additions and corrections.  You may e-mail  me to do so....or you may e-mail Nita.  We two only can make changes.  I pay a fee yearly for this site, because I think it's  the best one for the whole family.  And it's hard to keep a family tree.  So, don't mess with it.  :-)  Love, Brownie





THE STORY TELLERS

We are the chosen.
 My feelings are in each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again.
 To tell the family story to feel that somehow they know and approve. To me, doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, Breathing life into all who have gone before.

We are the story tellers of the tribe.  All tribes have one. We have been called as it were by our genes.
 Those who have gone before cry out to us, “Tell our story.
 So, we do.
 In findng them, we somehow find ourselves.
 How many graves have I stood before now and cried?  I have lost count.

How many times have I told the ancestors, you have a wonderful family, you would be proud. How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say.
 It goes beyond just documenting facts.  It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do? It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference And saying, I can’t let this happen.

The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh.
 It goes to doing something about it.
 It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish. How they contributed to what we are today.
 It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, Their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family.

It goes to deep pride that they fought to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. That we might be born who we are.
 That we might remember them.  So we do.
 With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, Because we are them and they are us.

So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family.
 It is up to that one called in the next generation,
 To answer the call and take their place in the long line of family storytellers. That is why I do my family genealogy,
 And that is what calls those you and old to step up 
 And put flesh on the bones.

(AUTHOR UNKNOWN)