When starting a family history project, where do you begin? For me, the answer is simple: Genesis. Being a man, a man of science, I find that as I get older, science has proven more and more that the truth is very simple. In the opening statements of Genesis, God created the universe as we know it and also created the stars. How is such a thing possible? We are children of God. You know, children are like their creator, full of wonder. Wonder, why? Genesis states, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep. As we learn more on just how we got here, along comes a brilliant young scientist named Stephen Hawking. He explains in mathematical ways how the universe started with a big bang, started from nothing, and burst forth faster than the speed of light. Stars formed and gathered together to form galaxies then matter collected to form planets to circle around the stars. There was eternal darkness, and then there were the stars and light. As time passed, God planted the seeds of life. What is time? As we read the Bible, we were always in conflict with time. How do we feel comfortable with the evolution of life and the time frame of the Bible? Here, again, I find the answer is simple. Time, to us, is something we made up to understand what goes on around us; God is on his own time. I like to use baking an apple pie as my example of time and what it takes. Heres the question I ask, how long does it take to bake an apple pie? The answer I get is about an hour. I reply with Oh, you can? So here is my response to the one-hour apple pie: Where did the apple come from? How long did the apples take to grow? Where did that variety of apple come from? How long did it take for the seed to grow into a tree? How did you get the apple? At a store? How did the store get there? How did the refrigeration and transportation come to be? What about the cinnamon and sugar you used, where did it come from? (Cinnamon comes from Indiadried tree bark.) What about the tin used to make the pan used to bake the pie? When was electricity harnessed to be used by man, the modern stove?
I wrote the story in first person; I wanted the reader to see what was written from each person’s point of view. Chapter One sets the foundation on the two worlds that are part of Richards life. His mother’s family coming from Greece in the early 1900’s. His father’s family having settled in America in the very early colonial days. We then go to each of the key people around Richard, see their lives, and their lives around “The Coney”. Like other short stories I have written, you always learn a great deal about the life of our family; the Harlan Line. The Coney first opened in 1921, this year, in June of 2021 will be 100 years open as a family diner. Another point is how Richard and I developed a closer connection, talking about our family, and life in general. My wife and I visited Richard and his family several years ago in Highland Park, Michigan. Our first meal together was at The Coney, we dined on a 100-year tradition of a Coney Hotdog, topped with the old family traditional chili that started back in 1921 - Bobby Joe.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.