Honoring the ancestors is about building a meaningful connection with the people who came before you. It grounds your identity in the present by keeping the memory, resilience, and stories of your lineage alive. It is a deeply personal practice that can take many forms and helps families stay connected to their loved ones across generations.
Alberta Truss Merritt was, and still is, the glue that holds our family together. Here is my way of staying connected to Grandma Alberta and honoring her legacy.
Practical ways I honor my ancestors include:
- Speaking Their Names: I say her name out loud. This is a simple but powerful practice. There is an old saying that if we do not speak of our dead, they die twice. Big Mama Alberta and her children are all still very much with us through memory, love, and legacy.
- Dedicated Space To Them: I have a beautiful area in my home dedicated to my loved ones who came before me, with photos, candles, flowers, and a fresh glass of clean water in their honor. I do not feel like they are gone—I feel like they are with me, watching over all of us.
- Alberta’s Recipes: I still have Grandma Alberta’s cookbook, along with recipes my sister Betty Joyce Edwards left behind, including her delicious homemade egg pie. This pie will be one of the desserts offered at Alberta’s Takeout Kitchen, which we plan to open in 2028. This restaurant will give others a chance to enjoy the traditional recipes and favorite dishes of our family’s heritage.
- Learning our Lineage: Research your family tree. Our cousin Tyrone Merritt has spent years working on our family tree, which has been designed and installed on our reunion website under the heading “Generations.” You can visit there to view your branch and the loved ones you come from.
- Talk To Yourself: I speak kindly and offer words of encouragement to myself because I carry the genetics and experiences of my forebears. Practicing positive self-talk and personal healing is a way of blessing my entire lineage. Because of this, I am choosing to build forward in a way that strengthens our legacy, so that we can continue what our parents and grandparents envisioned for us, even when opportunities were limited in the past.
Thank you,
I’m Regina, and I’m from the Edwards branch.
