Why I write
I spent some time reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society last night and came across a passage that perfectly showcases why I want to devote my energy and time to writing.
The following passage is from one of the literary society members in letter which he said that he had not really touched a book since he was in school, but in the literary society discovered Shakespeare. He realized the power of words, especially a famous quote from Antony & Cleopatra.
“I wish I’d known those words on the day I watched those German troops land, plane-load after plane-load of them – and come off ships down in the harbor! All I could think of was damn them, damn them, over and over. If I could have thought the words, ‘the bright day is done and we are for the dark’, I’d have been consoled somehow and ready to go out and contend with circumstance – instead of my heart sinking to my shoes.”
Yes, I know, that Shakespeare guy was sort of a genius at storytelling and quite the wordsmith. But, I sill have hope that my words may find the right person, at the right time and give them hope.
Hi Alicia!
That sounds like a fantastic book! Here’s a (very) tenuous link with the Farrell family – my Mother was from Jersey, the neighbouring Channel Island, and was a child at the time of the German occupation.
I love reading your blog.
Hope all is well with you!
Julie (probably some distant cousin)
Julie,
Thanks for the comment. The book was wonderful! I just finished it and loved every bit of it! I highly recommend it!
Alicia, thanks for alerting me to the writing from a distant cousin. We’ll never know for sure how that works but we can accept Julie into our branch of the tree – welcome!
Our line of the Farrell’s are believed to have immigrated to America in the late 1600′s or early 1700′s. We have not found records to verify the immigration but conjecture that the immigrant was an indentured servant bound to a free immigrant into Maryland.
Our Farrell line comes from Southern MD. They show up in records in the area of St. Mary’s City in military, court and census records. When indentured servants finished their service, they were given land and materials to start an independent life and gained their own identity. The oldest reference I found for a Farrell in the area is listed in the military records of the Revolutionary War of 1776. Local records were kept in the churches, which periodically burned down along with all the parish records.
Hi Alicia’s FIL
Thank you for inviting me into your part of the Farrell clan.
I find family history fascinating but have not done any research into it. My Dad, now deceased, was born in London and as far as I am aware his branch may have originated in Ireland and gone over to Scotland. Unfortunately he had very little to do with his family. I am aware of a couple of cousins I have here in the UK and an uncle but very little else.
I don’t know if you go onto facebook but there is a Farrell Clan group there. I am not too sure which branch they belong to though but they may be able to help with more family tracing.
Please feel free to drop me an email . Alicia has it.
Best wishes
Julie