Plan of the site

13-14 juillet 2002

News

February 6, 2002

Dear Family Members,

I have been prompted to write this letter out of a desire to thank those of you that have participated in the organization of our family website and to share with you my first thoughts as I start to explore the wealth of information already available on that site.

First and foremost, I would like to extend a very hardy thanks to all of you who have contributed your time, memorabilia and thoughts in the construction of the site to date. Thanks to you, I think we have a wonderful beginning for an extraordinary website. I hope that all of us will be as responsive to any future requests for active involvement, as you have proven to be in putting it together up to now.

I would also like to share a few thoughts with each of you as I embark on my exploration of this website. The first thought that comes to mind is that it is indeed a cause for celebration. Why?

Well, to my knowledge, it is the first time that our "family" has acted in any sort of a coordinated manner, other than attending weddings and funerals. In other words, this effort has extended and has the potential to extend still further the sense of "family" which we have in each of us. I think that is particularly important in these times where so often many of us feel an increased sense of loneliness, isolation and insecurity.

Another great potential benefit of this Website is its ability to give each one of us a better sense of who we are by better understanding the people who are part of our past and current "family". This site can shed some light on many aspects of all those lives with which we share that common family bond. It may help us recognize that they are indeed a part of our own lives and thus help us learn to better accept and deal with life's constant challenges.

On a more "down to earth" basis, I would say that there is something in the site for each one of us if we take the time to use it.

The older generations, such as I, may be interested in the historical aspects revealed by the site. We might use it to exchange gardening tips, family recipes and the like. We may also simply enjoy it for sentimental reasons.

The younger generation may find extremely creative ways of using the site for more practical purposes. Some may seek to identify the more socially eminent of our family members revealed in the site to serve as role models. Others may take advantage of it to establish contact with lost family members engaged in similar endeavors, hobbies, professions and the like. Still others may become dismayed by discovering or having to face up to the "darker" side of our family inheritance, such as statements which by today's standards may seem politically incorrect.

But "bottom line", I hope that the website will help all of us to become more accepting of ourselves and appreciative of the struggles of those with whom they share family ties.

I would like to end this message by stating that I have chosen to express myself in English not only to provide some written content for those family members who have difficulty in understanding French, but also to point out the extraordinary cultural diversity of our family. I suspect that, in the future, our family website will welcome messages in a number of different languages.

I look forward to seeing you all next July in France, Bertrand J. Delanney