in search of dorothy's roots

Every human being searches for his place in the universe. His unique position in the puzzle of existence. That yearning for meaning draws some of us to trace the outline of our family tree. Today Dorothy and I, her brother Bill and cousin Shirley spent the day in north west Arkansas looking at the old home places and cemeteries where her people lived their lives and were laid to rest. I listened to their family stories, looked at the gravestones that have been in place since before the Civil War, and imagined what life was like for people that lived in a different era than my own. We talked about how people lived in an almost cashless society, growing their own food and building their own houses, enduring sickness without modern medicine. People of that time were made of tougher stuff than those of later generations.

Look at the size of that oak tree. We drove through some pretty country

The Dunaway homestead near Wesley, AR. This house is over a hundred years old.

We were driving from the old house to the cemetery and encountered this washed out bridge. We were able to take a longer way around.

Dorothy, Shirley, and Bill look for family headstones.

This is the Confederate Cemetery in Fayetteville, AR.

The municipal buildings of downtown Fayetteville can be seen in the background.

On the way home we stopped by the Sugar Hill Cemetery near Lincoln, AR.