For those of you who know me, thank you for being concerned and I am finally at the first stage of what I know will be an EPIC Journey. If you don't know me, this post may be long but it will explain alot of the ME in Me. But as I start laying this out, you'll see why I had to remain focused and why I have Faith like no other, I had to considering the last year :).
BUT know I am in a good place, I think me and Shannon are in a good place and I am focused forward. I always have been and about 1/2 way through this year I had to look up and say "WTF? Really?"..but that's also when I truly realized GOD exists, I simply don't care about the details, there is no way I could have done what I set out to do and kept going if someone wasn't looking out for me, it could be a HE, a SHE, a HESHE or Purple Penguins for all I care, something is greater than me to get me here.
Let me start with some of my influences in life:
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| Geneva Slaton |
This is my Grandmother Geneva Slaton, I have always considered her "My Light". Her full name was Geneva Lorene Hibbins Slaton. I find it ironic her Mother's Maiden name was Loving as it described my Grandmother in it's entirety. You see my Father's Mother, she was someone that no matter what I was going through, could lighten my mood without even knowing she was doing it or usually saying anything. My Grandmother shared so much personal experiences with me about the reality of life, not the white washed version you see everywhere. You see my Grandmother was part of The Depression, not the one your Mother suffers from, the real one, The Great Depression (1929-1939).
Click On The Photo Below For The Great Depression In Photos
But my Grandmother shared with me so much more, our family history, her struggles in life and sometimes her real opinion of a situation that publicly she seemed accepting of or supporting of. I never knew why I was so lucky to get that honor of listening to real life but I now know it was because I was generally interested and was the one who listened. It was in honor of my Grandmother Geneva that I created the BE The Light part of my BEE Campaigns, just one part of a huge project.
BE The Light ended up being my first campaign that everyone involved could relate to and the results were amazing. I will cover many of the varieties of creative work that came from this one project later but I will say it was AWWWESOME :)
I remember a common thing was visiting Grandma and watching Wheel Of Fortune, Perry Mason or The PTL Club With Jim & Tammy Bakker. If I was dating anyone, they always were one of the first to meet my Grandmother and I can't remember one girlfriend ever mentioning anything but admiration for my Grandmother. But the education was what still burns inside me strong.
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| Edgar Slaton |
See let me begin with her "soul mate", Edgar William Slaton. This was my Grandfather and who my Grandmother would refer to me as the "love of my life" and "someone she knew could never be replaced". My middle name is Edgar, although I never got the pleasure of meeting my Grandfather, I continue to find information about him that sometimes makes me sit and marvel at the example this man set and somehow the traits he excelled in, I could only hope to be half of.
You'll find throughout these starting stories my comparison and nerdy approaches to some interesting ideas or stories. Edgar is also the name for the SEC's Ethics System. Geneva has many other comparisons including Geneva College, Geneva Lab, The Global City Geneva & The Geneva Conventions. If you knew my Grandmother, you would know why I can compare her to historic cooperation agreements but I digress. I'll focus on my Grandfather later, let me get back to my Grandmother.
My Grandfather was my Grandmother's second husband, she had been previously married. From her first marriage she had three children, Donnie, Velda & Murlene. From her second marriage she had Dale, David, Bruce & Neoma, 7 kids in all. I may have gotten some of them out of order but that's fixable, it was never a big thing in our family who belonged to who. My Grandparents were members of The Church Of Latter Day Saints, the Mormon Faith.
My Grandparents came from back east, Oklahoma, and moved her during the Great Dustbowl. I can fill in the details later but I have enough to start this in movement. My Grandmother told me on time that when my Grandfather Edgar died, her life had no meaning and she had a very rough time following his death and shared with me a great deal of examples why her home was open to our family who needed it and how she understood more about what some of the females in our family who struggled were going through. Looking back I now understand she was just going through the grieving process and it was just overwhelming.
My Grandparents lived at 7810 Jacinto Road, between Highway 99 & Bruceville Road in Elk Grove, California (Postal Address At Least), and at one time had extensive acreage along Jacinto Road. My Grandfather Edgar built his family a home and while the details are missing right now, it burned down. So a house was built next to the foundation and that is where my memories were formed. The family room sticks out as one that was the model for family rooms. There was a fireplace in the middle and to the left and right, large built in glass cabinets. A red Bar was in the corner. I have the fondest Memories of those who made me possible today by being an influence in my life.
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| Bruce Slaton Sr & Geneva Slaton Bruce & Shannon Slaton's Wedding 1995 |
I had the fortunate blessing of finding my "soul mate" soon enough to see my Grandmother attend my wedding to the previous Shannon Lee Heathershaw in June 1995 at Foundtain Square in Citrus Heights, California.
This was a double epic moment for many in my family as this is the only photographed evidence of the one known as Bruce Slaton Sr aka Big Bruce in a tuxedo and it just made an already proud moment for me even more personal.
I always looked for my Grandmother's approval of my choices and she made my decision even more solid many times with her comments about my soon to be wife and my Step Up Son Jack. I was even more proud that my Grandmother met our Son, Jesse Bruce Slaton, the secret was he was at our wedding to but that's another story. :)
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| Geneva Slaton, Lester Jones, Andy Martinez, Kathy Slaton Bruce & Shannon Slaton's Wedding 1995 |
In this picture seated next to my Grandmother is my Grandfather Lester Jones, my Grandmother's Partner in Life until her death. My Grandmother told me once that while she gave financial reasons for not marrying my Grandfather Les, deep down it was because she couldn't marry someone who wasn't her soulmate and that was my Grandfather Edgar.
My Grandmother told me a few times one main reason she felt she needed someone to fill in the space left empty by Edgar was because the kids needed a father figure and she recognized the importance of this.
My Grandmother's visiting teacher from the LDS church was Mel Bell from the Bell Family here in Elk Grove. Gil Albiani was a REALTOR who was a consistent name my Grandmother would talk about because Gil was usually inquiring about her selling off any of the property left after my Grandfather's death. She always mentioned him in a respectful way and I think that made me look at Gil as an example of a GOOD Realtor when I went into the industry, it was why I initially chose Lyons as my brokerage.
So let me tell you about my range of girlfriends. I dated a lot before I decided to marry, I had girlfriends across a wide range of nationalities and backgrounds and the consistent quality in my Grandmother was she never judged or treat them with anything less than an accepting hug. I truly felt my Grandmother honored my personal choices and knew I would usually do the right thing. My Grandfather Les had somewhat a different background as his perception of other races was less than my beliefs and my Grandmother knew early on why I did certain things to address that and we would usually lock eyes when she would realize what I did.
See my Grandfather Les was nowhere near a bad man, he just came from another era. I remember a few black friends who were girls that before we would get to Grandma's House I would tell them about both of my Grandparents and because I usually dated strong woman, I would ask them to make sure to give my Grandfather the biggest hug they could and go overkill on the charm. I can't remember if it was a girlfriend Cindy or Becky but I remember getting into the car after one visit and her saying "you realize this time your Grandfather was the one who initiated the hug right?, he's just an old softie". This is when I knew addressing other's issues and views was alot easier when they could question why they felt the original way in the first place.
My Grandparents Geneva & Les in partnership with my late Uncle Dale owned and operated Elk Grove Mower (name may be off a bit) in Old Town Elk Grove. I believe it was in the space now occupied by Elk Grove Fine Arts Center. The business they partnered in ended up creating a rift between my Grandmother & Uncle Dale that resulted in his absence from the family for many years and I could tell it hurt my Grandmother deeply, their relationship was patched before his death.
Grandma & Grandpa were always avid RV owners and used to love camping, fishing and traveling. Grandma had two ice chests in the garage and it was usually common to find milk jugs of frozen catfish and a backstock of frozen "dailies" she would get when the ads ran or she would find bargains. Grandma was also an avid canning. KFC was usually a common thing when visiting at Grandma's without planning, it was common for family to drop by for a visit and shortly after someone would go pick up a bucket to feed everyone on a budget. Sun Tea was usually on the patio or a pot of coffee was usually on if not already, shortly after someone came visiting.
I had the rare experience to be there when my Grandmother took her last breath. My Grandmother was transferred home after one of her last illnesses and was in a hospital bed in the living room. The entire family was present as we sat and waited for my Grandmother to finally be with her Edgar again, it was a sad time for everyone. My Grandfather Les sat in a recliner in the corner and thinking back it is surreal that it seemed so long ago but I always feel her guiding me, it's never changed.
This is my Grandmother's grave her in Elk Grove:
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| Geneva L Slaton - South East Lawn FindAGrave.com |
Many of you remember this photo on my Facebook:
I lit this when I started this project and it sat next to my bed as I researched and worked out where this project was going, it truly started with Be The Light and I always felt something greater than me was guiding me and the roses out front would replace the old ones but the candle and light was always a must before I wrote, created or came up with new ideas along this journey.
Among the hand full of things I have safeguarded and had fond memories of over the years is my Grandmother's Cookie Jar. I purchased it at the garage sale of the things in the house when the house was sold. I think I purchased it for $15. It's priceless to me.
Among the hand full of things I have safeguarded and had fond memories of over the years is my Grandmother's Cookie Jar. I purchased it at the garage sale of the things in the house when the house was sold. I think I purchased it for $15. It's priceless to me.
Holidays meant it was Family at Grandma's. This tradition went away after her death and I tried to take over the role in my household and it was never up to the level I remember. I'll come back later to this part.
Grandma was involved in Family Geneology. There are many options available to assemble your Family History which is a strong belief of mine. I tried to pay tribute to all of my influences throughout this project and am excited to eventually bring them all together.
Here is a link to a starter Family Tree created at GENi. The leading website that has been innovated and improved by leaps and bounds over the last 24 months is Ancestry.com. I'll announce additional resources as they come out of Beta Stage.
View more of Bruce's tree |
Get your own family tree at Geni.com
This is just the beginning of what you will see was a huge project and so stay tuned for more.
Bruce Edgar Slaton Jr
