I think it's up to us, as keepers of our families and their history, to do what we can to make our base strong. We need to intentionally work to keep our family stories alive through the generations. We need to make sure the young people in the family know the people who came before them. We need to make sure the young people in our family know the elders who are still with us and build those relationships. We need to tell stories and share photos and celebrate our roots. We need to honor our family history so that it will be strong and intact long after we're gone. I was fortunate to grow up in a family that valued family and the preservation of family history. I spent many Sunday afternoons around my family dinner table listening to stories told by grandparents and great aunts and uncles. I have boxes of family photos and memorabilia. Those times, those artifacts, those memories are the glue that has kept our family together. That is the 'dirt' that holds the roots, big and small, together. It's the stuff that made me value how I got to be who I am today and the people who were here before me as well as those who were my support along the way, just like those tree roots. I think that solid base is what kept my family strong, even during the storms. I'm grateful for the people who came before me that were the dirt that held our family roots together.