Andrea Luce – A Relic From A Time Long Ago

Claudia Henock 0:03
Welcome to another episode of Your Most Precious Thing, the podcast that delves deep into the captivating tales behind the objects we hold dear. I’m your host, Claudia Henock, and I’m thrilled to take you on a journey to uncover the mystery, the nostalgia, and the sheer wonder within the things that regular everyday people hold on to the most. So whether it’s a weathered trinket passed down through generations, or a modern day artifact with the surprising twist, Your Most Precious Thing is here to celebrate the sentimental, the quirky, and the downright unforgettable. And now, let’s meet our guest for this week.

Claudia Henock 0:34
Andrea Luce does fundraising at a small local nonprofit that does taxes for low and moderate-income individuals. In her spare time, she is a facilitator at a mental health support group and volunteers by encouraging reading for elementary school kids. Outside of that she still reads the newspaper and is always listening to the newest dark techno beat that she can find.

Claudia Henock 0:55
Hi everyone! So I just want to give a quick heads up before this episode actually starts. So during this episode, you’ll hear references to the Great Migration. After doing some historical research and just double checking information before this episode goes out, Andrea’s family did not go through The Great Migration, they went through Westward Expansion, which are two totally different historical events. And I just want to get, make this clear before we start the episode, so there isn’t any confusion when it comes to regarding history. Yeah, so I just want to give you guys a heads up. So whenever you hear us talking about The Great Migration, we’re technically talking about the Westward Expansion, because that actually fits more of the time period that Andrea’s family lived through. So I just want to give you guys a heads up, and enjoy the episode.

Claudia Henock 1:45
Hi, Andrea, welcome to the podcast. How you doing today?

Andrea Luce 1:49
Thank you so much for having me.

Claudia Henock 1:52
My pleasure. So to start, what would you say is your most precious thing?

Andrea Luce 1:58
Yeah, so one of my most precious things is a cedar box filled with my great, great grandmother’s hair.

Claudia Henock 2:08
That’s, that’s actually a really, that’s, that’s actually like a really interesting item to hear about, you know, how old the box is?

Andrea Luce 2:17
Well, it definitely has to be over 150 years old, so but I don’t know how old exactly.

Claudia Henock 2:23
Gotcha, so how do you come into like, possession of this because I know this is like such a unique item when it comes to like, family mementos and stuff like that.

Andrea Luce 2:32
Yeah, no, so my great, so my grandmother passed away. And my sister and I were going through her house, seeing what we, you know, wanted to keep because nobody really else in the family wanted her things. They just wanted to throw it all away. And I came across this box. And I, when I opened it up, I was absolutely shocked. But I brought it to my mom. And she knew exactly what it was. She had seen it before. And she told me that it was my great great grandmother Bashiba’s hair.

Claudia Henock 3:11
That’s actually really interesting to hear. So was this, like preserved sections of hair? Or was this similar to like? Have you heard of the concept of like Victorian mourning jewelry, where people would just cut off certain sections of their loved ones hair after they passed away, and then put it into like their jewelry and cufflinks? Was it something similar to that?

Andrea Luce 3:30
No, it is. It’s kind of more extensive than that. It’s like, as if somebody had taken the braid, like her braid, and cut off her entire braid. So it’s a lot of hair in there.

Claudia Henock 3:45
That’s actually, I’m actually, I’m actually kind of impressed that it’s actually been preserved for this long, too. Because didn’t you say that this was originally over 100 years old or something like that?

Andrea Luce 3:56
Yeah, absolutely. And I think it has to do with the cedar box. I think it preserves it better than something else would.

Claudia Henock 4:06
Gotcha. That, that’s actually kind of interesting from like, preservation type of perspective as well. Was there anything else in the box? Or was the braided hair like the major, only major thing that was in it?

Andrea Luce 4:18
That’s the only thing that’s in it. But the reason I like it so much is I just feel like it, having it in my house brings me a sense of groundedness, and brings me some strength from my family heritage.

Claudia Henock 4:34
So keeping that in mind, like how far back do you know about your family story? Because I know we talk about heritage and family, everyone has like their own types of stories that they have in mind. Do you have any other stories like that?

Andrea Luce 4:48
Yeah, no. So I know a bit about her. I know that she had my great grandmother on a covered wagon coming across Texas. And I know that she was a farmer, and that she was a really strong, and just a really strong woman. I know. I know a little bit about her, but not a lot.

Claudia Henock 5:15
I think that’s understandable too. Because depending on the journeys that our families make, sometimes there’s not like a lot of historical information that we have on them, but based on the covered wagon reference, did you know she was like one of the settlers that participated in the Great Migration?

Andrea Luce 5:31
Yeah, she did. They, they originally, they were originally living in Arkansas, and then they went to West Texas.

Claudia Henock 5:40
That’s actually really cool to think about too, because, you know what’s actually funny. I think you’re the first person I met that actually has relatives that actually went through some sort of the process of like the Great Migration during that time period too, or at least have some sort of like, “Hey, I know that my family member participated in this really important historical event”, essentially, even if they were like a minor, minor, minor, minor key player.

Andrea Luce 6:08
Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, they, they had it rough for a while, for sure. But they made it through. And I’m here to kind of tell the story.

Claudia Henock 6:20
So, do you know if she or any other family members, like kept a diary or any other records, during that time as well? Or was that just something that just kind of got lost to history, because that’s like a really cool story.

Andrea Luce 6:36
We don’t have any written records from that time period from my family, but it’s just all oral history. But you know, she had a lot of children, as was common. My great grandmother being one of them, and lost children too. She had at least one kid who passed away along the way. So, my great grandmother would always tell us the story, or she didn’t tell us, but she told my mom, how my great grandmother would say that all she wanted to do when she went to heaven was to rock her babies that died.

Claudia Henock 7:20
Oh, my God. Yeah, that’s, it’s kind of really tough to think about, like what people went through during important times of history, or just, or just like events like that, too, because we kind of sometimes forget that people went through these events, and they had their own struggles, like, they dealt with life in their own way, too. I hope she’s looking down at us, and smiling.

Andrea Luce 7:47
Yeah, I mean, I hope so too. I just feel like having this possession, gives me a certain, sort of, special connection to her.

Claudia Henock 7:58
And then speaking of stories, does your mom or any other family members remember of any other stories about your great grandmother?

Andrea Luce 8:06
So I don’t, you know, not that I’ve been told, you know, I, now that I’m having this kind of like, interview, it makes me want to like, ask as much as I can, so that I can keep on the oral history. But yeah, that’s all I know about her.

Claudia Henock 8:25
And there’s nothing wrong with that, too, because I think every single person kind of has a responsibility of like keeping track of like the story of their own family, like I, that’s something that I want to work on myself too. The only major family story that I know of that’s kind of similar to your great grandmother’s was… I don’t know if I actually spoke about this on the podcast before, but when I was younger, I think there was a story that my grandmother on my mom’s side told us about. And because the family on both of my sides were immigrants, so they came through like Ellis Island. And before they came to the United States, I think it was on my, it was on my mom’s side of the family when they used to live in Russia.

Claudia Henock 9:11
The story that I know of is, I think it was either like my great great grandmother or great, great, great grandmother, she had a son that “passed away”, and I am putting my fingers in quotes, when I say “passed away”. And so when they have the funeral for her son, the son had woken up and said, “Mama, I’m hungry”. And because of that, the people of the village were like, “Aaayy, what just happened?” And they basically had to escape the village, because they thought she was a witch. And that’s kind of like the only story that I know of.

Andrea Luce 9:52
That’s so cool.

Claudia Henock 9:54
Yeah, but I’m pretty sure that a lot of families do have stories like that. Because we may think, like, “Oh, it’s just like a regular, just like old, boring story that like us as a family we know of,” when we tell it to other people, “We’re kinda like, ‘Oh, holy crap. This is cool.'” And I think every single family has stories like that.

Andrea Luce 10:17
Yeah, no, I mean, everybody, everybody does. And I mean, it’s, it’s our like, you said, it’s our responsibility to hold on to that knowledge, because who else is going to?

Claudia Henock 10:27
And it’s a, it’s a really cool thing that we can still have connections to these people who have long gone through the items that they leave behind too.

Andrea Luce 10:36
Yeah, yeah.

Claudia Henock 10:39
So Andrea, I want to say thank you again for being a guest on my podcast today. If my audience wants to get to know about you and your story, where can they find you online?

Andrea Luce 10:48
Yeah, no the best way to probably find me online would be on Instagram. My handle is @whiskfern, w-h-i-s-k-f-e-r-n. And that’s just where I post the most about my life.

Claudia Henock 11:02
Awesome. And I’ll definitely put the info in the show notes as well. And, Andrea, I want to say thank you again for being a guest on my show today. It was really great to talk to you, and just like, talk essentially, about the stories that our families leave behind for us to tell, and how important it is for us to remember them.

Andrea Luce 11:22
Yeah, yeah, no, I mean, they definitely become integrated into our identity, so.

Claudia Henock 11:29
Well, Andrea, I’m gonna say thank you again. And I hope you enjoy the rest of this rainy day that’s outside and hopefully the weather gets a little bit better.

Andrea Luce 11:38
At least it’s warm. I’ll take the warmth over anything else.

Claudia Henock 11:43
You know what, that is totally fair. Already, I hope you have an awesome day.

Andrea Luce 11:49
All right. Thank you. You too.

Claudia Henock 11:51
Already. Bye.

Andrea Luce 11:53
Bye.

Claudia Henock 11:55
Thank you for listening to this episode of Your Most Precious Thing. If you want to support the show, you can leave a review on your favorite podcast platform and share your favorite episode with a friend. You can also contact me @claudiahenock on Instagram and Twitter, and Claudia Henock on LinkedIn. In addition, you can also contact me at claudiahenock1@gmail.com. You can also follow Your Most Precious Thing through my official website, www.claudiahenock.com, and anywhere where you listen to your podcasts. Intro and Outro music is Synapse by Shane Ivers and you can also listen to his music on silvermansound.com.