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| Bitty the Historian (and me) making silly faces |
As some of you may know, my sweet husband and I have six children. This past weekend, our eight-year-old, Bitty, informed us that he spent all morning researching "history" on his phone. Then, proceeded to teach us all he learned . . . that Hitler's first name was Adolph (which was obviously short for Dolphin). Then, he moved on to the Civil War. The places the soldiers fought in this war were battlegrounds!
As Bitty was giving us a very inspired history lesson, his ten-year-old brother Dawson chimed in. "History is boring," he said. "Why does it matter what happened in the past? We are never going backwards, we are going forwards. We need a class that looks into the future."
This same sentiment was echoed in several of my classes when I taught history to middle schoolers. Why bother looking backwards?
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| Dawson, the Future-torian |
I sat my boys down and shared a piece of my heart with them. "Looking to the past is the best way to look to the future. It's especially fun (yes, I actually said fun) to look to the past and look at other people's mistakes and what happened because of them. That way, us in the future, don't make those same mistakes. We can do better than they did."
Maybe something hit home. I know it did with Bitty and most all of my middle schoolers through the years. However it got me to thinking about people lost to history. The ones who did not make the headlines, but who lived remarkable lives and had heroic tales nonetheless.
A Heart on Hold, my debut novel and book one of four, is one such tale. It follows the life of Confederate Captain E.A. Adams from Arkansas. As I was researching him, I couldn't find anything about him after his wartime days came
A Heart on Hold, book one of my Everlasting Heart Series!
to an end, even in his hometown newspapers, or any mention of family that lived after him. However, his story lives on in
Sara, I really loved your Everlasting Heart series. OMG, your imagination just ran all over and took the reader to some wonderful emotional ups and downs. I have often thought, too, of the people who were just every-day people whose lives were remarkable (many because they were just able to SURVIVE the times!) but who have been lost to history and are not even noted. It's sad, isn't it, but maybe that's what inspires us to write and create stories about people who are composites of those who actually did live in the past!
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Cheryl, and I feel the same way! They deserve kudos for being able to survive! Just like thinking, somewhere down the line in medieval Europe, nobody alive today had a direct grandparent descendant die of the Black Death. Mind boggling!!
DeleteSo exciting to see you expand and grow, Sara! I loved every one of your books, and to think it all started years ago with me winning a book, Little Spoon for my two "not so little anymore" Native kiddos!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Of course history is the bets way to look at the future, because (as my mother always used to say), "People never change, only times change." SO give us similar problems to face as our ancestors, and people will respond in the same way. Some will be brave, some will be cowardly, some will try to profit, some will be kind. So great to see you inspiring a love of history in others.
ReplyDeleteI loved your post. Children can be so fun and inspiring. Doris
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