Oh! If the Botha Family Bible could talk - what stories it would tell

Today, I inherited our family bible. We believe it has been in the Botha family for at least 150 years, handed down to the eldest son of each generation.

The title page begins with "BIBLIA, dat is De gantsche H. Schrifture, vervattende alle de Cononijcke Boeken des Ouden en des Nieuwen Testaments."

Published in 1690 by Hendrick end Jacob Keur in Dordreght and Marcus Doornick in Amsterdam.

The family legend is that this Bible accompanied an immigrant fleeing from Holland to start a new life in South Africa. Later, it was a daily companion as a family endured the trials of the Groot Trek in search of a better future before settling in the Bloemfontein area of Orange Free State.

My grandfather's father read the bible to his family ever evening after dinner and the Dominee always read a piece from this bible when he visited his gemeente. During the Great Depression, Oupa Botha brought the bible to Springs, when he left the family farm and moved to the Witwatersrand to find work.

An unusual twist to the story is that my grandfather (Oom Bill Botha) was not the oldest son in the family. However, the oldest son went off the fight in the 2nd World War and left the bible with my grandfather for safe keeping, should he not return. For whatever reason, the bible was never returned to it's traditional custodian after the oldest son returned from the war.

Fast forward to 1966 when the bible passed to my uncle for safe keeping, who since passed it on to his daughter. Today, I am honored to receive the bible, and will take care of it until my son is ready to care for it.

The five inch thick bible will travel with us, back to Connecticut for the next period in it's life. It is in printed in Dutch, and reading this bible requires a lot of mental effort.

Oh! If only the Botha family bible could talk - what stories it would tell of it's journeys and owners over the past 320 years? It provided companionship, faith, hope during long nights at firesides on the Groot Trek, consolation during Boer wars and celebratory scriptures for new births and weddings.

What are you doing to make legends for your family? What will your great grandchildren talk about in 2174? Will they have a family bible to pass on down the generations? Will it be worth travelling 8,400 miles to accept into their care when it is your time to pass on a legend to the next generation?