The Beaman Sibling Project

 remembering a great generation

a first cousin proposes a project:

somehow we should get our generation together

to share and hold stories that speak of our parents,

that hold them well enough that the wonder of who they were

shines brightly enough that they still somehow live in our hearts,

maybe we and our cousins can write up what we remember?

instead, we choose Zoom visits,

though the logistical challenge of that endeavor

has my cousins ruefully laughing of herding cats,

my first cousin's mother and my mother were best friends,

so we start with his parents;

the children and grandchildren 

of Glenn Edwards Jeffries and Margaret Lois Beaman

come together the afternoon of the celebration of the 70th birthday

of Margie and Bus's middle child,

the stories, the smiles, the laughs, bubble forth,

through memory and love this couple fleshes out in the telling,

enough of them lived true and full in the sharing of our words,

and in the reaching out of our hearts,

that we remember, cherish, remind each other of the ways each lived,

stories that can help us and others live 

to be the best of ourselves even more fully,

now there are five more siblings and their partners

for us to reach to hold and appreciate,

may we do so, and do it well.

by Henry H. Walker

November 23, ‘25