The Ingalls family saw the end of an era last week. Another generation of the Ingalls family has left us and would normally fade into our nations past without any fanfare. Our family is part of the largest segment of our society and too often the most underappreciated and forgotten part, the working class. The photos I have posted with this are of my Great Grandparents Samuel and Libby and their children and my Grandparents Monty and Marie and their children. All of them sadly now have left us but that does not mean they shouldn’t or won’t be remembered, and the details of their lives discussed. My Great Grandfather Samuel is the cousin of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I had the good fortune of spending time with all of the kids except the oldest son James. If I did spend time with him and his family, I do not remember it. My Grandparents family, however, I was able to spend a lot of time with all of them and knew them very well. When we were a young family we would get together once or twice a month. As we got older that was not so much the case but because we spent so much time together when we were young we still feel more like friends than family. In October of 1990 my Grandmother Marie passed away which was very impactful for me. I went home for the holidays that year and it all seemed so odd until I realized, my grandmother had always been at our house for the holidays and now she was gone. There was an emptiness that was unmistakable. I thought we should have an empty chair at the table to remember our family members that are no longer here to celebrate with us, and honor them. It didn’t happen but I still think it is a good idea. I have known for a long time what the loss of a generation means and I am doing what I can to capture the lives and events of those previous generations. It makes me feel good to write about them, post their photos sharing the memories I have with them or the memories of others that was shared with me. They left their mark, without a doubt, and now the stories of their lives should be told. I intend to do that as long as I can.