02 Norman McCombs 500-Year Family Ancestry Which Inspired His Novel, 'A Reason to Be' on a Radio Show: The Scots had long understood that courage flowed down through generations, that it sprang forth as a tiny drop from a single ancestor and grew over time, eventually accumulating en masse within each man as the generations proceeded.Yes, it was a dangerous thing to read when one was so susceptible to remembering. Now thanks to the book’s spell, he was entranced and had no other choice but to remember. What was the point of it all? Living? Breathing? Finding out what happened in the past if it was all going to end eventually? If it was all going to just amount to the same? What was the point of wanting more, and being more, and loving more—if love just ended?“Freedom isn’t just a mere a concept. It’s real. It’s a thing. An actual thing. It can be taken from you. It can be stolen, usurped. And our pasts are real—and they can steal our freedom, like a thief in the night. Our lives can be stolen by the greed of others, our land, our property, our bodies can be, too,” Suzy trailed off.Douglas nodded in agreement. ”People die every day just wanting to be free.” “The past is always with us. Always holding onto us. Isn’t it? In so many ways, we’re still fighting the same fights? Trying to undo all the wrongs that our ancestors committed, or perpetrated? We are—well, I guess we’re just trying to really, truly be free...” “No one ever does,” Suzy said. ”I’ve watched so many people like you come to me wanting to find out where they came from—only for them to discover that what matters most to them now, what matters most in their life—is right now. Sometimes it takes going back in the past to really understand that,” Suzy added. Secrets had destroyed his ancestors. It had destroyed his own family, his own heart. Could he go through that again? Is knowing the past—the truth—more important than feeling peace and living in the present?

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