Something very interersting happened to me today.  My aunt has been bugging me for months to give me the family bible.  I was in no hurry because what would I do with?  I can't put it on the coffee table because the animals, myself included, would do something inadvertant to damage it.  Where will it go?  To be honest, I did not know anything about it and it had no appeal to me.  Today she finally gave it to me and wow was I shocked.  This bible will have to go into a weather type safe or safety lock box at the bank. 

This bible is 140 years old!  The earliest record in it is a marraige certificate between Samuel and Susan Maples on the 10th day of October, 1865 and that is when we think it was purchased by my Great, Great Grandfather!  This bible has the family tree dating back to when Samuel Maples was born in 1846 and Susie in 1851 and sisters and brothers from that point on until about and around 1970.  I was listed in it when I was born and my late sister when she was born and passed away.  So this artifact will have to be preserved for generations to come.  I guess this means I need to find a wife and get "busy" and have some kids.

To tell you the truth I do not ever remember seeing this bible before.  My mom got it restored in 1965 so it is in remarkable condition for how old it is.  When I showed it to some people at work I must admit I got a bit choked up while looking at it.  But since men don't do that kind of thing I had to be discreet about that.  Thinking about it though, I have a picture of a family member when he was in the Civil War and I bet he is in it as well as other pictures of family members from back in the day.  I need to go and find those pictures because I bet they are listed in the family tree as well!

Isn't this awesome?  Carolyn at work could not believe it.  She said she had been looking for her family tree for years to no avail (and then someone like me who never even had a care about it gets it handed to him!).  Patty was in shock.  She told me that I was extremely lucky to have this.  Maybe so.  All I know is that it has been passed down to me and now it is my responsiblity to take care of.  Right now I have it in a dark closet that none of my animals can get to it.  Tomorrow I am going to call the bank to check on how much a safety deposit box will cost.  To tell you the truth, I would rather buy a cover for it, store it in a safe and build the safe into one of the walls in the house.  That way I could bring it out and look at it as well as the pictures from back in the 1800's.  So this was an unexpected, intersting turn to my day today.