Generations

Another interesting show I watched this morning was Generations on the BYU Channel. Presented today was a Hawaiian lady who researched the validity of the oral history on her grandmother and with help from others found some things which were true and some that were not.

In the 1800s the Hawaiians were subject to diseases brought from other places as they had not built up immunities.  Thousands were sent to an island with leprosy.  One of these was her grandmother who lived there from the time she was 24.  She married one of the other lepers and they bore five children.  The laws at that time had the babies immediately sent to relatives or a orphanage away from the island.  They were married some time after arriving on the island in 1894.  He was declared cured in 1908 but he did not leave until after she died in 1917.  Then he went to Hawaii, reunited with his children, worked as an architect, married again and bore two more children.  It was quite a love story and a reminder of the sadness and happiness we live in this earthly life.

The lady had written and sung a beautiful love song about this couple and of course, she has recorded for future generations the history of this ancestor.  It is quite amazing the tools that are available for research on our families.  Interesting program!