Letter to Unknown Great Grandkids

This letter might seem a bit strange at first but please bear with me. Yes, I am writing to great grandkids who have not yet been born. I have previously written letters to our 14 grandkids in response to their questions… with more letters are yet to come. But the following letter might be reading material for great grandchildren when they are 50 years old…in the year 2075!

February 16, 2021

Dear great grandchild:

Since we do not have any great grandchildren as of now, I will assume that a some of you will start arriving circa year 2025. Further, you will begin to have your own children somewhere around year 2050. 

When you reach the age of 50 (about year 2075) and will have had children who will have become independent, it may be of interest to read about your ancestors and to conduct your own genealogy research. Our sole connection – beside of our possible shared DNA – may be through the stories I have written and saved for you to read someday when you are older.

As I write this letter in 2021, our nation is going through a challenging time. The pandemic of 2020 already has been responsible for nearly 450,000 deaths and continues to take approximately 4,000 deaths each day. Your great grandfather and great grandmother are now 80 and 79 years old and we just received a vaccine inoculation that is supposed to reduce our risk of this plague. Unfortunately, too many people have not taken this deadly virus infection seriously.

But, hey! Your great grandmother and I have lived through World War II, the Korean War, Viet Nam, wars in the Middle East, assassinations, the Red Scare of McCarthyism, the 1960s, and 14 presidents so far. Until I was 12 years old, our toilet was outside the house, telephones had party lines (look that one up; nothing to do about joyous gatherings), and we knew how to write cursive with a pencil or use a manual typewriter.  We must be pretty tough, eh?

It is my hope that you might have a personal glimpse into a great grandparent who happened to live between 1940 and an expiration date yet be determined. This personal preview – including multiple essays, poetry, and pictures – should encapsulate what one American life was like during international crises, economic peaks and valleys, social conflicts, and the technological and scientific advances for our time. 

A Few Words about the Current National and International Scene

We are in the throes of a national virus epidemic which should subside in a few months. Of far more serious concern is a crisis of social unrest and conflict. We recently survived an insurrection by white supremacists in the nation’s capital prompting the second impeachment of the 45th president. My opinion is that shades of skin, nationalism, and tribalism are the root causes of most of our problems. (And has been for the past 400 years.) The history books will have more on this in the future but I will be giving you my opinions in a separate letter.

A Sketch of Ancestors

You will see in various accumulated documents more about our family histories. I have printed copies as well as electronic information that I hope will survive over the next 50 years. In case you are not so inclined to conduct heavy research, the following brief sketch of my direct ancestors follows.

Although I have researched my ancestors, the Kennedys (1800) and the Ginters (1700), as far back as I could, the names and dates have lacked stories in their own words. I have a few letters written by grandmother Ginter and by my uncle Ray Kennedy, and my mother left a series of poems. How I wish that more of their own words would have been available.

• My 4 grandparents were Daniel Kennedy & Margaret (Klover) Kennedy; Oscar Ginter & Minnie (Becker) Ginter. 

• My 8 great grandparents were James Kennedy & Margaret (Barrett) Kennedy; Margaret Klover & unknown; Augustus Ginter & Dorothea (Bierman) Ginter; William Becker & Katherine (Foster) Becker.

• Although I don’t have information on all 16 great, great grandparents, here are a few names: Becker & Knoblik; Joseph Foster & Katherine (Koerner) Foster; Johann Guenther & Caroline (Wolkenhauer) Guenther; John Kennedy & Catherine (Corcoran) Kennedy; John Barrett & Mary (Walsh) Barrett. Immigration dates can be found in several research documents.

The great grandparents did not write any letters to me and I am not aware of any existing personal notes or documents that might have informed me about their lives and their thoughts. Had they done so, their few pictures and statistics would have taken on so much more meaning. In a way, I would have gotten to know them without seeing or being with them. And that is the reason that I have written this letter and many stories for you to read.

A Final Note

You will see that my ancestors came from a variety of European nationalities: German, Irish, Dutch, and perhaps Swedish. Your great grandmother’s ancestors were Croatian and Slovenian. I doubt that you will ever be identified as anything other than “American” absent any other nationality tags. Tribal labels have caused many of our troubles and we sometimes forget that our common traits under the rubric of “human” is all inclusive.

But, congratulations on your entry into life on this planet. Your descendants may have the opportunity to arrive on a distant planet to be named later, but let’s assume that you will enjoy their arrivals on terra firma. Please remember to take care of this planet better than my generation did. Be kind and love all things, especially people less fortunate than you. Be good and do good! You are my hope that things will be better because of you and your parents.

Our children (Tom, Jacquie, John, Bob, and Eric and their spouses) are your grandparents. I am sure that they will someday tell you tales about me and Dolores (known as Grandma Goose). Use your own judgment as to the viability and credibility of such stories. Their own stories are much more interesting.

Sorry if I missed you this round but I will be with you in the future.

Love,

Great Grand Poppy Kennedy