Page 4 - KOG Glory & Grace Issue 6 June 2022

PAGE 4
"To Be Honored
With the Stories"
"We are all a part of something bigger... You are a tree, with roots!" ~Barb Brady
A photo of Barb's Father, Stanley
Barb Brady
As a little girl in Beresford, South Dakota, Barb Brady remembers that there was a trunk "of war stuff" in her bedroom closet. "We didn't talk about it or open it, but I knew it was important."
The trunk belonged to Barb's father, Stanley Jensen, who served in WWII as a Bomber Pilot. When Stanley returned from war he carried with him unsettling stories, especially relating to the sinking of his carrier while he was in the air. "Dad never talked about the war, except with the Seed Salesman," Barb remembers, "but I knew Dad needed to talk."
As Barb grew up, she was taught that she was part of a larger story. The very land she lived on, the church she worshiped in, and the country school she attended were all thanks to her great-grandparents who immigrated from Denmark. "I can hardly imagine getting on a boat in Denmark, knowing you will never see your family again," Barb says in awe. Today, Barb appreciates the rich stories from her family's past. She even carries in her cell phone case a piece of the old homestead house that her great-grandfather helped to build.
"I know it can be hard to appreciate heritage," Barb admits. She's heard people say that they always thought time would be there or that someone would always know the story. Barb's experience is that this is not always true and that not all stories are uplifting. "My Dad died 34 years ago and we still try to piece together all that we know."
To help her kids to appreciate the stories of the past, Barb's son-in-law, Joe, carries a piece of Barb's father's flight book, sewn under Joe's Air National Guard patch. "I want my kids to know that there is a whole support system they can't see and that we are being looked out for," Barb explains.
If her upbringing didn't convince her of this, her relationships with people over the years certainly have. To each of her varying roles over the years, Barb brought her gift of listening and began collecting stories from the people she encountered. Her passion for story-collecting, or "fearlessly catching life's blessings" as Barb explains it, reached its peak when she started working with low-income senior citizens as part of a "Foster Grandparent Program." Through this program she was reminded that some people have a need to tell their story, just like her Dad.
"We are the story collectors now," Barb urges.
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