I have worked on my family history over 30 years. Some of my ancestor surnames are Bailey, Tull, Fessenden, Davis, Hastings, Brooks, and Fiedler.
Also my husbands; Darland, Roberts, Clark, Hart and Minnick. Most of my lines have been in Iowa, Davis or Wapello Counties since the 1850's. I have been active in my local genealogy society over 30 years. If you have additions or corrections let me know.

Life is just a stopping place, A pause in what's to be, A resting place along the road to sweet eternity. We all have different journeys, Different paths along the way, We all were meant to learn some things, but we were never meant to stay. Our destination is a place, Far greater than we know. For some the journey's quicker, For some the journey's slow. And when the journey finally ends, We'll claim a great reward, And find an everlasting peace, Together with the Lord.

A Blessing for the Brokenhearted
Let us agree
for now
that we will not say
the breaking
makes us stronger
or that it is better
to have this pain
than to have done
without this love.

Let us promise
we will not
tell ourselves
time will heal
the wound
when every day
our waking
opens it anew.

Perhaps for now
it can be enough
to simply marvel
at the mystery
of how a heart
so broken
can go on beating,
as if it were made
for precisely this—

as if it knows
the only cure for love
is more of it

as if it sees
the heart’s sole remedy
for breaking
is to love still

as if it trusts
that its own stubborn
and persistent pulse
is the rhythm
of a blessing
we cannot
begin to fathom
but will save us
nonetheless.

– Jan Richardson

I have worked on my family history over 30 years. Some of my ancestor surnames are Bailey, Tull, Fessenden, Davis, Hastings, Brooks, and Fiedler.
Also my husbands; Darland, Roberts, Clark, Hart and Minnick. Most of my lines have been in Iowa, Davis or Wapello Counties since the 1850's. I have been active in my local genealogy society over 30 years. If you have additions or corrections let me know.

Life is just a stopping place, A pause in what's to be, A resting place along the road to sweet eternity. We all have different journeys, Different paths along the way, We all were meant to learn some things, but we were never meant to stay. Our destination is a place, Far greater than we know. For some the journey's quicker, For some the journey's slow. And when the journey finally ends, We'll claim a great reward, And find an everlasting peace, Together with the Lord.

A Blessing for the Brokenhearted
Let us agree
for now
that we will not say
the breaking
makes us stronger
or that it is better
to have this pain
than to have done
without this love.

Let us promise
we will not
tell ourselves
time will heal
the wound
when every day
our waking
opens it anew.

Perhaps for now
it can be enough
to simply marvel
at the mystery
of how a heart
so broken
can go on beating,
as if it were made
for precisely this—

as if it knows
the only cure for love
is more of it

as if it sees
the heart’s sole remedy
for breaking
is to love still

as if it trusts
that its own stubborn
and persistent pulse
is the rhythm
of a blessing
we cannot
begin to fathom
but will save us
nonetheless.

– Jan Richardson