Your History is Calling.

This month I’m taking an intensive writing course in an attempt to quickly knock 3 grad credits out of the way. This weekend I had class on Friday from 1-5pm and Saturday from 8am – 5pm, as has been and will be the pattern this whole month. I am completely dead. What seemed like a grand idea is slowly wearing on my psyche. I had approximately 10 minutes to myself this weekend!

During my course on Saturday, my professor (the amazing Terry Tempest Williams) took us to the family history library downtown… to know ourselves and write our story, we must know our past and heritage she maintains. This is what I found about my 7th great grandfather, Matthew Lyon, the fiery Irish-born congressman from Vermont. He was a revolutionary war hero. He was the only congressman ever elected while in jail, for so-called defamation. He then fought the sedition act and worked to reverse it. The result? Free speech and the ability to lawfully dispute and remark on the government. I am so proud of his heritage! Why aren’t we like this today? Why don’t we fervently fight for what we want? I resolve to be more passionate about my beliefs. Belief 1: your family history is probably amazing and should be researched. Go to familysearch.org to start looking.