Gathering the Family's Memories, Facts, and First-Class Myths

Such a long time since I have written you. I thought of you today, as I have almost every day since we lost you. I suppose we all do. We didn't know what to do after you passed on. As a family we were angry and confused; none of us realized what we had lost. Now we do. We lost a quiet gentle soul who knew all along what was most important in life: to love and be loved, to share that love, and never be afraid to show that love. Your sense of family and right overshadowed everything else that life brought to you. We lost a man of wisdom and compassion and quiet strength. In your eyes, we never failed, just struggled. You saw the magic and wonder in life that we often looked at as fearful. You knew by having your faith in God and this wonderful Universe you would never fail, and you never did. You knew so much from such a young age. As they say— you were a very old soul. Your quiet understanding gave us all a sense of calm. Oh, dear sweet brother, how we miss you. You come to me when I call out to you, and I have the most beautiful dreams of you. You’re still sharing, Jefferino—I believe that will never change. Your humor and your smile can be replayed in our minds so easily. Our gentle, funny big brother could always make us laugh. I try every day to remember what you brought to us— to experience the joys of life with a big smile and open heart. You showed this family that just a little love could go so very far and keep reaching way beyond the stars. My dear sweet brother, may God keep you and hold you close until we are all together as a family once more. I hope and pray with all my heart that your short journey on this earth will remain a constant reminder to us all of what is truly important in the rest of our journey on earth. Our love for you is constant. Be at peace, Jeff, until we meet again. I love you with all my heart, as we all do.

Your sister, Beth

Just the facts about Mom and Dad and Grandpa Williams

—By Bernie Guild

TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, following are the true stories of our father, Floyd Raymond Guild, our mother, Ethel Katherine Williams Guild, and our maternal grandfather, Edward Williams. The facts written down here are compiled from the most reliable information available to us at this writing. You should know that these facts were established after everyone had written their own story for this book. Those accounts are based entirely on each person’s own memory of events or by relying on sketchy family stories they had heard over the years, my own included. I did not go back and change my own or other’s impressions of events after I learned these new facts, but instead left them as written as an expression of what we thought and felt was true as we were growing up. Mom and Dad talked little of their backgrounds, so what we have in our memories can finally be corrected if we choose to accept these new facts. Captain Merlin Ringering, our cousin, and the son of Bessie Guild Ringering, Daddy’s full sister, was the greatest source of information and shared many old photographs with us. He was there as a boy, living from time to time in the same house with his grandparents, Dan and Olive, and has a great memory for detail. He has been diligent in locating, documenting and repairing the grave sites of our ancestors. Many new facts about Dan and Olive Guild were recounted to Arnold Guild by his father, Clarence, Dad’s full brother, before he died. Arnie’s mother, Francis Guild, also added a lot of detail as she clearly remembers all the early Guilds and Vosburgs personally. Dad’s half-sister Myrtle’s son, Orville Prescott, helped us get Clarence Vosburg death and the events leading up to Olive’s marriage to Dan Guild straightened out. Barbara Guild Miller’s genealogical tracing and Diana Guild Brady’s oral history inquiries of Mom confirmed some facts we had long assumed and dispelled many, many others. Diana plied Mom with margaritas to gain some tidbits of Mom’s early life as well as Mom’s father, Ed’s, life. Still, the facts related here are anecdotal if not allegorical and cannot be proven, but we hope represent enough truth to establish a reasonably accurate permanent family history. At any rate, even if it’s not all true, it certainly is a first-class myth. Meaning no disrespect, I am calling Mom and Dad by their given names, Ethel and Floyd, so future generations will be able to read a clearer story.