It was December 2023. Beth and I were trying to come up with a creative Christmas present for my parents. We’d had been talking about doing something different for them, something that would be memorable and lasting. A lot of ideas were thrown out but nothing stuck. Then I spotted a commercial for a company that enabled families the chance to preserve the stories of their loved ones (namely parents) in the form of a book. Once purchased, the company would send out questions to the parents weekly for a year. After that time, the gathered information would be compiled into a book, which would be shipped to the parents and made available for purchase by others.
That all sounded great, but there was just one problem. There was no way that this company was going to ask the kinds of questions that needed to be answered by my parents, the kind of questions that would enable others to know something of my parents’ legacy. In addition, this company would not dive deeper when necessary. The company would not explore the stories, the experiences, the moments that gave nuance and color to their calling as parents, friends, siblings, children, and servants of God.
But that was not the only issue that gave me pause when considering this idea. Apart from my faith and my family, my greatest passion on this crazy planet of ours is writing. I have spent the past twenty plus years working on a variety of fiction projects (one is published, three more are in the pipeline including two that will be published later this year); however, I had been wanting to dive into a nonfiction project at some point. I have spent considerable time researching and compiling information on the buyout of Cheshire, Ohio, which took place back in 2001-2003. (To read more about that little town in which I pastored and the project I am undertaking, click here). Writing my parents’ story would give me an opportunity to hone my nonfiction writing skills in preparation for that project.
And so, by the time Christmas of 2023 rolled around, I had made a decision: I would write my parents’ memoir. Of course, attempting to do so while completing yet another master’s degree and teaching a full load of college courses each semester was probably not the smartest decision I’ve ever made.
In any case, here we are. More than two years have passed. After nearly a dozen trips to my parents’ home in South Carolina and countless hours of interviews over the phone, I am finally able to share at least part of my parents’ story. Their tale, which I’ve entitled Unsearchable: A Rags to “Riches” Story, is being told in four parts. Part One is currently available on this site as a flipbook or as a pdf file. It includes a brief preface and introduction to the nature of the project, but it primarily focuses on my parents’ childhood and grammar school years (1934-1947).
As for the rest, Part Two is written and being readied for publishing. Part Three is in progress. It likely won’t be ready until later this year. Part Four will follow. Eventually, all four parts will be compiled into a single volume book.
Losing my mother this past summer has been hard. She was 91, and she had lived a full and blessed life. Her death, however, was rather unexpected. Fortunately, I was able to capture her memories and recollections from her childhood all the way up through her wedding and first few years of marriage. And though I did gather some information that I will use in Part Three (The Florida Years) and Part Four (The South Carolina Years), it is not nearly as much as I had hoped.
My dad and I have already begun talking over the Florida Years, which began in the early months of 1959. That’s when my parents and my two oldest siblings relocated from Norfolk, VA to the area that would eventually become known as the Space Coast in central Florida. I am looking forward to spending much more time with Dad reminiscing and learning about all that God did for them and taught them over the latter half of their years together.
And so, I trust that you will enjoy learning something about the personal history of my parents as well as the context and culture in which they grew up. Please know that this edition is not professionally edited, but I think you will find it fairly well polished in any case.
To access the first part of this story, click on the link above. Or, go to Stories here on this website.
Blessings,
Craig Furtick
