Farewell
Short Works of Fiction by Okey L. King
Introduction
April 3, 2010
Introduction
April 3, 2010
.....On November 12, 1986, I began to write a work about my family from Thirteenmile Creek in Mason County. At that time, I knew very little of the geanelogy or history of my family. Just the other day, I found the small note book that contains what little I had managed to write. I decided that I would like to install these writings on my website. I will probably find it necessary to amend some of what I wrote then. I had intended to include these stories in a Collection that I had intended to call The Stones of Thirteenmile. But that never materialized. However, I do have a number of factual tributes to some family members on my site.
.....Some of these stories are not fiction at all but things that actually happened and of which I was a witness. Some are pure produsts of my immagination built around actual events. I wrote the following on November 12, 1986. When I read what I had written back then, I realized how little I knew then.
.....I was shaving when Wayne Stone (now deceased) called to say that Uncle Tom Stone had died early this morning about four o'clock. After I completed my shaving I went to by desk to finish writing a letter to Wayne that I had started the evening before.
.....As I was writing, I began to think about the others of our parents generation who have already gone on before us. Except for Aunt Myrtle Jacobs and Uncle John Labon Sayre, they have all gone. (John and Myrtle are now also gone.)
.....I began to think about this family that I am a part of. I thought about Grandpa Reuben Stone, who I never knew. I thought about Grandma Iantha who was close to me. I thought about all of their grandchildren, their great grandchildren, and all of the 2nd great grandchildren with names and faces that I would not recognize. Although the world might not considers us great by their terms, the saying, "They're Good People," would apply to all all of the older generation that I knew and to many of the younger generations. I know that there are skeletons in every closet, because no family is perfect. I am proud to a part of this family and to be one with so many good people.
.....I claim no talent as a writer, but, when I realized that that the memory of these loved ones who have gone on before might someday be lost, I became upset.. Everyone of these good people deserve to be remembered and not have descendent say, "Aunt who...!?" Or, to have someone say, "I have no idea who Uncle Tom, or Uncle John, or Uncle Vernon, or Uncle Okey is." Will there be great grandchildren who don't know who their great grandmother was? That just seemed to be just too sad of thought to entertain, so I thought that maybe I could write what little I knew about each one.
.....I an not doing it to put on airs or to act too big for my britches. I would like to think of it as a work of love. Without imput from others, this would be mostly from my viewpoint, so I welcome help and knowledge from those who know it a lot more than I do. It is my intention to offend anyone. Also, I expect to make many changes and additions as I learn more. (little did I know how much more I would learn.)
.....I would like to refer to the family as the "Stones of Thirteenmile" even though the family is scattered fraom Alaska to California and from New Jersey to Florida. I would like to tell of some of the joys and some of the heartaches, as well some of the humorous things.
.....Included in the work, because they are entertwined with the Stones, will be the Sayres, the Dunhams, the Hill, the Kings, and others. (I didn't know then how many families there were.)
.....I do not know if this will become a full fledged work or just a disjointed account. I don't know how long it will take me or if it will ever be finished. But, I would like to dedicate it to God and the Stone family. (Today, I dedicate it to all of our families.)
