In Alice In Wonderland, the White Rabbit is reading a letter to the King’s court.  But where to begin, he wonders?

`Begin at the beginning,’ the King said gravely, `and go on till you come to the end: then stop.’

That’s fine for reading a letter.  But when telling a story one has to decide: just when is the beginning? Is it as far back as written records go, or as far back as memory takes us?

Do we start as far back as we can personally remember…or as far back as our memories of our parents recollections? If we have elders alive–do we go as far back as their memories and recollections?

At what point does history become lore? If we go back far enough, that line gets more and more blurry, eventually melding into one’s family story.

Well, who likes a telling a story more than a Meislin? Our collective memories will guide us, not just to find the beginning of the story but to continue beyond our living memory…into the memories not yet made by our descendants not yet born.