The Chosen

We are the chosen. In each family there are those who seem called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again. To tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve. Doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have them. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell our story. So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many times have we told the ancestors, You have a wonderful family; you would be proud of us. How many times have we walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for us? We cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who we are, and why we do the things we do.

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The Bones of Our Bones

The bones here are the bones of our bones and the flesh of our flesh—not of one family alone, but of a far-reaching kinship only now coming into view. Across generations and across continents, the Park, Parke, Parks, and Parkes families have carried forward lives shaped by courage, hardship, endurance, and hope. What was once known only within the bounds of a single household or a single lineage is now being rediscovered as part of a much larger story—one written in records, preserved in memory, and increasingly revealed through the shared language of DNA. To explore these connections is to recognize how deeply intertwined our stories truly are. It calls us to take pride not only in what our direct ancestors accomplished, but also in what our extended family—known and unknown—endured and built. Fathers who labored, fought, and sacrificed did so not only for their immediate descendants, but for generations yet to come. Mothers who bore and nurtured life carried forward entire branches of humanity, often unseen, yet essential to everything that followed. Their strength lives on in each of us, whether we have long known their names or are only now beginning to uncover them. This work is an act of remembrance and restoration. Each discovered connection, each newly identified lineage, expands our understanding of who we are. We are not isolated lines on a chart, but part of a vast and growing network of related families—some long separated, others only recently recognized. Through careful research and shared effort, we bring these fragments together, giving voice once again to those who came before us. So we write. We document. We preserve. Not only for ourselves, but for those who will follow. Each generation answers the call in its own way, stepping forward to continue the work of gathering, understanding, and telling the story. This is why we pursue our genealogy—not simply to look backward, but to connect, to discover, and to ensure that no branch of our shared family is forgotten.

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