Every now and then a piece of art speaks to me and strikes a chord in my heart. That’s how I feel about this beautifully-inspiring artwork by Jenedy Paige. It’s titled, Coming Full Circle.

The artist describes it as:

That moment when the pathway clears, the questions answered, the problems solved, and circumstances understood. Everything comes full circle and your heart swells with gratitude. In that moment of joy and thanks, our hearts connect with Heaven, as we recognize God’s hand in our life. Look for circles in life and you will find them.

Even before I read the description, I knew I had to have this piece for the family-history-inspired gallery I am working on. It’s going to be my central piece due to the miraculous ways family connections tend to come full circle for me in my genealogy research and family relationships (more about this later!)

Until I finish gathering all my pieces for the gallery wall, I am loving having the print on my work desk aka my Zoom background. It’s a stunning backdrop for all my work/volunteer/religious meetings and a great conversation starter! Who knew that in 2020/2021 curating a Zoom background would be a thing?

Giveaway and Special Discount Code!

Looking for a special piece for your own gallery wall or Zoom background? I’ve teamed up with Havenlight and we are giving away a $200 Gift Certificate!

Click Here to Enter to Win!

Havenlight has also been kind enough to give me a 20% off discount code for my followers – KEEPMOVINGFORWARD.

Order now to get a jump start on your Christmas shopping! Besides the framed artwork, they even after puzzles, memory games, and books. I have my eye on the itsy bitsy puzzles for Easter!

Coming Full Circle Through Family History

Now let me tell you why this painting means so much to me. Knowing and sharing my family history has been key to my mental health during the pandemic. In essence, because my ancestors endured and preserved through hard times, I know that I can, too. (I talk more about this in my interview with Hi 5 Live here).

Learning about their hopes, dreams, and hardships helps me to reframe my own perspective, too. This week I’ve been writing about my Great-Grandmother Eda for #NaGenWriMo. One thing I learned about her was her desire to be educated. In her life history, it reads,

“Eda continued her schooling and graduated from the eighth grade in Rexburg. She had a desire to attend Ricks Academy, later known as
Ricks College, and then in 2002 it became BYU Idaho. She started three different times, but each time she had to quit. The first time because of a flu epidemic, the second time she contracted smallpox, and the third time she enrolled, she attended only a few months and had to quit because of lack of funds.”

Ricks College/BYU-Idaho happens to be my alma mater. While I knew that my grandpa had grown up in Rexburg, I did not know how my family’s lives intertwined with Ricks Academy. I thought my closest association was my Grandpa/his brothers delivering newspapers to the Spori Building as teens on their paper route. Little did I know that my great-grandmother probably gazed longingly at the building that became my second home as a journalism student. When I graduated in 2003 with my bachelor’s degree, I was quite literally fulfilling her dream three generations later. What a blessing that I appreciate even more deeply now.

Gratitude for Education – Opportunities Coming Full Circle

It would have been the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic that first dashed her academic dreams. Knowing her story makes me even more grateful for the educational opportunities my daughter has had during the Covid-19 pandemic. Even with schools closed, we had virtual access to teachers and programs. Because we are privileged to have Internet access and with my husband and I both working from home, none of my children experienced a lapse in their educations as my Great-Grandma Eda did. That’s definitely a silver lining and something to be grateful for.

More Ties with Rexburg/Ricks College

While my great-grandmother Eda wasn’t able to attend Ricks College, her husband William Trost did! You can read more about his family’s ties with Ricks Academy here. William and his sister, Caroline, both attended in the early 1900s. Caroline was even a reporter for the student newspaper like I was! William and Eda’s son Arlo, my great-uncle, was also an editor for the student newspaper like me. Who knew I came from multiple generations of journalists!

Can you see the connections? My family’s love of education and telling stories has truly come full circle. Many of us found our voices through writing. I feel closer to my Great-Grandmother Eda. Her experiences have given me a greater appreciation for my own opportunities and for my daughters’ opportunities as well. In the midst of the past year’s trials, there are silver linings. My ancestors’ stories are intertwined with my own – as I learn from the past, I can do better in the future.

I’m grateful that I have this beautiful painting by Jenedy Paige to remind me of this powerful principle. Today I’ve shared one story, but I have countless others of questions/searches/discoveries coming full circle.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway and use the discount code for your own inspirational artwork! There are some beautiful ones of the Savior that would be perfect for holiday decor.

Please enjoy the following, too! Here is Jenedy Paige’s bio. I love what she has to say about connections. Her artwork has definitely struck a chord in my heart!

Jenedy Paige Bio

I am a realist in every sense of the word. I paint things as they exist, in the representational tradition, but also in the concepts behind my work. I am a truth teller. I love the classical approach to painting and its ability to so easily invite the viewer in. However, I also know the value of abstraction, and the power it has to express things that realism cannot, and so I try to include both in my paintings. There is nothing I love more than a delicate and detailed figure on an expressive background.

My paintings begin in a journal. I record my frustrations, sorrows, joys, ambitions, hopes and then I transform those words into images. I guess you could say I very literally draw from life experience. I try to be as honest as I can in the telling, I don’t mince words. I then release the story to the canvas, and as I paint I am enabled to process the experience in a new way and to learn from it. I’m not fast, I take my time with the painting, and the lesson in it. Layer by layer I work, carefully revealing the wisdom inside.

When it comes to creating images I believe that simplicity is key. The more concise you can say something, the more powerful it is. So although my writing is usually lengthy, I look for symbols I can use, and try to condense my thoughts into a concise visual statement. I strive to find a shortcut right to the heart of the viewer, something that will strike them at first glance.

When I have taken the painting as far as I can, I return to writing. And just when I think I have dissected a particular idea, when I have learned all I could, writing usually takes it one step further. Words then become the final layer to the piece. The work and the text are then offered up together to others. I then find my experiences are not all that original, as the work strikes a familiar cord in the viewer. People often place themselves inside my work, and add their story to mine, and thus my heart and the heart of my audience connect over the canvas.

Looking for more inspiration?

See more inspiring artwork from Jenedy Paige and Dan Wilson as part of Havenlight’s Let Art Be Your Voice Blog Tour!

See why Camille Walker from My Mommy Style fell in love with Jenedy Paige’s Room to Grow artwork.

Author Michael Young chose a piece that spoke to a special time for his growing family.

The post Let Art Be Your Voice + $200 Havenlight Giveaway! appeared first on KeepMovingForwardWithMe.

For me, today I set a timer and decided to write as much as I could about Great-Grandma Eda. This is what resulted! There is already a wonderful life history on Family Search written by her son, Arlo, so this post is more about how I have come to know Eda and tidbits I enjoy learning about her. So here we go!

I feel a special connection with Eda because we look so much alike! A few years ago I created an ancestor bingo tutorial and a friend commented about how similar Eda and I looked.

As you can see the Compare a Face feature on Family Search agrees! (PS – if you haven’t tried this fun activity – you’ve got to do it! Simply take a selfie or upload a photo and Family Search does the work! It compares your photo to your ancestor’s! My kids love this! Fun Thanksgiving activity for sure!)

Let’s learn about Eda! Her life summary on Family Search reads:

“When Eda Virgil Smith was born on 8 November 1902, in Fairview, Oneida, Idaho Territory, United States, her father, Frederick Smith, was 23 and her mother, Martha Malena Cole, was 22. She married William Lawrence Trost on 7 November 1923, in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons (my note – and one daughter who is still living). She lived in Independence, Madison, Idaho, United States in 1930 and Rexburg, Madison, Idaho, United States for about 5 years. She died on 24 November 1980, in Taylorsville, Salt Lake, Utah, United States, at the age of 78, and was buried in Rexburg Cemetery, Rexburg, Madison, Idaho, United States.”

I’ve always known these facts about Eda and had a single photo of her. For years, this photo was the only photo of her on Family Search. My Grandpa Bert gave it to us for Christmas one year as well. But these are facts? What of Eda’s story?!?!

My Grandpa Bert is her youngest son – the young man with the fantastic smirk and arm around his mother in the photo.

I’ve been hoping to discover younger photos of Eda for years. This year my wish came true! My Dad’s cousin, Jane, posted multiple photos to Family Search of Eda as a child. This next one is my favorite! The tallest boy is Eda’s older brother Leo. Eda is tagged as the girl on the goat, but the next picture makes me wonder if she is the girl in the black dress? Either way, I ADORE this picture. Wouldn’t it be fun to know the context? What goat holds still long enough for a picture? Definitely not your everyday photo!

Eda was born in Fairview – a remote farming town in southern Idaho. This website gives an insightful description of the town and includes references to Eda’s grandmother – Celia Malinda Woodland Cole. The Coles are listed as among the founding families of the town.

Legacy of a Life History

According to her life history on Family Search, Eda’s family moved north to Lyman, Idaho, when she was four years old. Perhaps the photos are from here?

The rest of her childhood was spent in and around Rexburg, Idaho. A town especially dear to my heart! Imagine my surprise when I read this passage from her life history,

“Eda continued her schooling and graduated from the eighth grade in Rexburg. She had a desire to attend Ricks Academy, later known as
Ricks College, and then in 2002 it became BYU Idaho. She started three different times, but each time she had to quit. The first time because of a flu epidemic, the second time she contracted small pox, and the third time she enrolled, she attended only a few months and had to quit because of lack of funds.”

Knowing this about my great-grandmother makes me even more grateful that I was able to attend and graduate from Ricks College/BYU-Idaho. Can you believe that – I literally lived the dream of my ancestor and I don’t take that for granted.

I am so grateful to have this life history of Eda! I love how it came into my life. As mentioned before, my first cousin 1x removed, Jane, posted the above photos to Family Search. I happily shared them to Facebook so more of my family could see them. I tagged her to thank her because it truly made my day – younger photos of Eda!

In the Facebook post, I mused that I would love to know more about Eda’s life and her story. Imagine my excitement when Jane said that she not only had Eda’s life story but also life stories for more family members! It has been so fun to work with Jane to get them uploaded to Family Search. What a treat to get to know Jane better, too.

Let’s Go Digital!

Isn’t that a fun part of family history/genealogy for our generation? So many life histories, stories, etc. have been prepared and saved – it’s time for them to be shared! It’s a digital world now and so easy to share on social media and through tree-sharing sites like Family Search and Ancestry.

Another first cousin 1x removed posted this photo of Eda in her later years. The others in the photo are my Grandpa Bert Trost (love his 70s outfit) and my aunts. It’s truly wonderful that we each hold parts of each other’s history that we haven’t seen before! Grateful to my family members who have posted on Family Search and shared!

Over the years, I have been doing my best to share my family history puzzles pieces, too! Like this photo of Eda with her second husband, David Fisher. That darling young couple with them are my grandparents, Bert and Lois! How fun to see them as newlyweds!

I still have more uploading of photos to do! Perhaps I will come across more Eda treasures. Wouldn’t I love to see photos of her as a young bride or young mother? School pictures would be amazing as well! I am part of several historical Rexburg Facebook groups so I am crossing my fingers.

And just like that my timer is up! Compiling these photos and thinking about my own research/family connections has been fun! Perhaps someday I will put together something in a more formal context, but for now – I hope you enjoy these connections with Eda as much as I do. A lady who loved reading and was eager to learn, who grew up in one of my favorite places (despite the cold), and who was brave enough to ride a goat!

Who are you writing about this month? Where have you found pieces of your family history puzzle?

The post Connecting with my great-grandmother Eda Virgil Smith (aka Eda Trost, Eda Fisher, Eda Jackson) appeared first on KeepMovingForwardWithMe.