Portrait of SLO woman’s great-great-grandmother ‘leaves me awestruck.’ Here’s why

Sarah Jane Sykes is my great-great-grandmother.

A portrait of her was painted by her daughter in 1908 and has adorned walls and mantels in the Lewis family for more than 100 years. Now that picture hangs proudly in my home.

I never met Sarah Jane. She was already an old woman at the turn of the last century and I would not be born for another 50 years.

But she is the woman my dear grandmother referred to as Grandma. She held an esteemed position in the family lore.

Growing up, I was mystified by this gray-haired woman.

Yes, I remember seeing her painting from a very early age. I knew she was somewhere in my past.

Still those two greats before her name were incomprehensible in the way that 1 trillion dollars or 4.3 light years fail to register with me now.

For many, many years, my concept of family barely stretched to include four generations. I have clear recollections of one great-grandfather, four grandparents, two parents and my siblings.

There seemed no reason to include anyone else. Even though I’m interested in genealogy and have collected information on my ancestors, the true grokking of the term “great-great-grandparent” remained elusive until recently.

In a generational “aha” moment, I realized that my grandparents are my young grandsons’ great-great-grandparents.

My grandparents — Peggy and Harry and Howard and Dorothy — are to those little boys what Sarah Jane is to me.

Suddenly, that black hole of familial relationships made sense. I not only understood what six generations means but I have now experienced them firsthand.

Great-great-grandparenthood is not an unfathomable expanse of time, but rather a blip on the human radar screen.

I can see both ends of it from my current vista. I am halfway in between.

Even more miraculous is the fact that I will have had a relationship with each person of those six generations.

I’ll be the connecting thread that binds the year 1891 to the present day, even further if I include the stories of their families each shared with me along the way.

Of course, my experience is nothing special. Anyone blessed with children and grandchildren witnesses generational unfolding firsthand.

They gain new titles as successive generations arrive. They also see themselves moving along the grand conveyor belt of life, from youngster to the final exit portal.

I’m fully aware that many folks don’t have the luxury of knowing their extended family. Situations too numerous to mention separate people from their loved ones and kin. I can also hear some of you crying, “Six generations! Are you kidding? With all my exes and steps I have trouble keeping track of one!”

Still, it’s an awareness that leaves me awestruck, a new appreciation for the continuity of life. Though I don’t know much about Sarah Jane, I imagine her as a young bride in 1856 and the mother of two girls and a boy.

I want to reach back across the centuries and tell her thank you, and let her know that her family is in good hands.