EPILOGUE

Every word, every action of our life-times was shared and shaped by the people involved, most of all by the drives and desires of C. Allen, sometimes by mine, and, as each of you grew towards maturity, you added the gift of your own personality.

As to the matters recounted in these papers, these memories are mine for I can only record what I thought or what I thought had happened; you each may have a different point of view, a different memory. My information was, frequently, incomplete. To C. Allen, it was his life and his decision as to what was to be reported, when important enough, when remembered, from among the myriad of things that made his days. He brought home his angers, his frustrations, and his animosities; in a contentious world, he needed support at home. His pleasure in his accomplishments we shared with him. The animosities, I have minimized or forgotten; there is very little to be gained by recording the emotion of frustration. The accomplishments were expected; each was, as we were certain, the forerunner of a greater.

We, the members of this family, are bound by genes, by blood, by memories, by a shared history of goals disparate and similar.

Memory is the strongest bond. To be remembered, tales must be retold, reread, and repeated.

Now you will add your memories of the lives of your families. Together they will make a history for your children and your children's children to read, to enjoy. It is my hope that they will add their tales of family lives and accomplishments.

Ivabell Lucille Campbell Harlan

November 16, 1987