Calling All Kelly Pack Rats

 

I've been thinking a lot lately about all the family history details I would never have known, if it weren't for the family's pack rats. If it weren't for the pack rats in my father-in-law's extended family, for instance, I would likely never have found confirmation—and then corroboration—of his maternal grandfather John Tully's origin in County Tipperary. Or the last sign of his maternal grandmother's missing father, Stephen Malloy. I can think of so many other instances where labels on the back of old, saved, family photographs explained connections I would otherwise not have known.

In an age when the anti-pack rat mantras crescendo to an unavoidable shriek, I can't help but wonder what will become of those bits of "trivial" paper stored in desk drawers or boxes in the closet or file folders in the attic. Those are the scraps of paper that hold the secrets to those brick wall ancestors we can't seem to trace.

Imagine, for instance, what might have been the fate—if not for family pack rats—of that last letter from Stephen Malloy, unfolded and re-read so many times by his wife that its edges frayed and shredded. Would a third- or fourth-great-grandchild hold it close and ask, "Does this spark joy?" What if the answer was no?

I keep hoping I will find someone in this Kelly line of my father-in-law who inherited a letter, or a photograph, or even a baptismal verification from back in Ireland. But then I wonder: what if that distant cousin decided it was time to declutter? Adopt a minimalist lifestyle? Follow the advice: if you haven't used this item in -- months, toss it?

I get it that life is so much more difficult when living in disorganization. That, however, doesn't necessarily mean to toss everything. Sometimes we become the keepers of irreplaceable family items, the guardians whose job it is to ensure that the next generation will one day receive what was entrusted to us.

When it comes to my father-in-law's Kelly ancestors, such keepsakes may be the only bridge to allow us to cross over to the place in Ireland which they once called their home.