The pioneers lived like heroes. We should buy the mythic narrative about them. Yet their greatness was not that they were always great.

The original G. and his wife separated for a time. She went back to the old country. Later, like a heroine, she repented and returned. The line of descent goes on like that. They did some dodgy things. Some were better than others. There is another divorce, some violence, some dudgeon, a rumored affair, inactivity in the Church and drinking and smoking, a little soap opera flavor here and there. Not always. But here and there.

See our pioneer heritage like a rope. It is frayed and old. Some fibers have snapped. But throughout it all runs a shining golden thread. The more you hang on to the end of the rope, the brighter and stronger becomes the thread.