Headstone Hunting

Driving into our past would be another appropriate title. Some would consider this a very strange pastime, but for my cousin and I we found it a great way to pass a day reminiscing and collaborating on what we could remember about our grandparents' family. Unfortunately, our grandfather in particular did not willingly share much about his family, and we have decided we want to take the wee bit of information we have and expand. Just for fun, we spent a day this week exploring cemeteries in the vicinity of where our grandparents grew up. Who would know that among those county roads in rural Kansas, there are a boatload of small to medium sized cemeteries. Although we met with some success and had a great warm fuzzy time piecing together what our collective memories could retrieve, my appetite has been whetted for more adventures (okay - I know ADVENTURES is a stretch for sure) trolling along the country roads - it is beautiful countryside as well - in search of the family headstones that yield first names and dates. It's also a kick to read some of the inscriptions as we look for our own flesh and blood - obviously long departed, I rather doubt the bones would still be there. My adult daughter accompanied us - just to keep us out of trouble I am sure - but she enjoyed many of the stories and got to straighten out some of the family history that she had heard in bits and pieces as she grew up.
Of course, the best part of the trip was spending time with my cousin, who is also a dear friend, driving around beautiful countryside. Relatives (the ones I truly love AND like) are special - you share all that common upbringing, they already know the plot of my life - usually the good, the bad, and the ugly - so I don't have to dance around any issues or elephants in the room. Makes for tranquility...
There is a story (who knows of its truth) that someone in the family did some genealogy many years ago and stopped when they discovered some ancestor had been hanged as a horse thief. Both my uncle and my father are capable of fabricating that one just for effect - but who knows?? And at this point, who cares? It might be rather exhilarating to be the descendant of a notorious villain. hmmmmmm