I’m blessed that my 84-year-old grandmother lives with me. My grandma is full of spunk. She is witty even though she can’t remember what day or month it is. (She still thinks it’s January and last Sunday she dressed for church in a heavy sweater before I made her change!)
This photo is my Grandma Dolores and my Uncle Joe who served in World War II. Even though he was thirteen years her elder they were best friends. (Do you notice her dimples? Yes, she passed them down.)
Just last week I started thinking more about my family history. Maybe it’s because I’m reading through the Bible, and it’s so clear to me how generations impact each other.
On my grandma’s side, my family history includes World War II service and surviving the Great Depression. My grandma grew up living in a box car. It includes immigration. Her parents immigrated from Mexico. It includes loss. My great-grandfather died when she was just a young girl.
I have photos of my grandma’s family, but not many stories. My goal is to continue to have my grandmother tell me her stories, so they won’t be lost. And with each of her stories I discover a little more of mine. I understand my resilience and determination. I understand my care for others.
I don’t know much about the people in the photos that follow, but I’m determine to find out. They were people who lived, loved and laughed. I can see so much character in their faces … and in their smiles I see mine.
What about you? What’s your story? What characters are in your family tree?
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I love learning about my family history! My Dad’s side of the family were the Rittenhouse’s of Philadelphia, and I think it is so cool because they owned a paper mill and I love to write!
I always thought it would be neat to gather a collection of my grandmother’s stories from her childhood and write a book about.
Rachel, you should do it!
My dad has been doing genealogy research for years. He’s learned a ton about both sides of the family and it’s been fascinating the surprises he’s discovered. Like my great-uncle was adopted into the family after his entire family was killed by the 1918 flu pandemic – my grandfather hadn’t even known that. He learned his grandmother was a southern belle in South Carolina and her sister married into the Kennedys. And the biggest discovery was that his father had no legal given name, was adopted by his grandfather and given the last name we all grew up with when his single-mother married the kind gentleman during the WWI era. I told my father, just a few days ago, that I’d be interested in learning everything he has unearthed. And I’m planning to start looking into my husband’s family, too. His family is old-west and I have a feeling will go much farther back into US history than my side does.
That is wonderful! It’s wonderful discovering our history, isn’t it?
I LOVE this so much. Yes, get those stories right now while you can from your Grandmother. My Grammie recently slipped into Dementia and all of her memories are forever lost which makes me so sad.
On the other side of my family however, my uncle has traced our Scottish/Irish heritage back to our family clan of the 1500s complete with many, many details. I am so thankful he has spent so many years getting this together and is passing it along piece by piece to my oldest and I. As a matter of fact, my dream is to put the ideas swirling in my head to pen for a fiction novel about our family in those days of Scotland. I’m just not sure where to start! 😉
Blessings,
Shan Walker
The How-to Guru
Shan, You should check out ACFW.com. They have a conference and a great online support group. Do it. Start writing!
I know more about my Mama’s side of the family, but not lots about my Daddy’s side. His biological mother left when he was two, and then she died when Daddy was a young man (thankfully she called Daddy to see her before she passed away). I’ve been yearning to learn more about her, and hope to before long (so far I haven’t been very successful). Daddy used to tell me that I got my height from her (she was tall). 🙂
What a blessing you have your Grandma, Tricia. And how wonderful you’re listening to her stories to keep your family history preserved.
Patti Jo, wow that’s so hard! I hope that you’ll have a chance to learn more.
YES! Get all the stories you can, and the identity of people in pictures! My cousin sent me a photo album she found in her Mom’s things–a photo album of people she didn’t know…I recognized my maternal grandfather’s siblings, but don’t know WHICH siblings they are–grandpa was one of 12 kids! My sister died at the age of 42, leaving behind a minister husband, and 6 children, from kindergarten to senior in high school…the 4th born, her 1st son, has asked me for stories about her…some are easy to remember, and then others come back, out of the blue, and I have to make a note so I remember to share the story!
I’m in my 60’s and a Nana–my kids’ generation doesn’t print out pictures–they just store them on a memory card…I like albums and pictures & so do my young grandsons!
Yes, I’ll do that!! Thank you for the encouragement!
Years ago our family had someone so a family tree, we traced back to royalty, so I alway say I am a PRINCESS. Which is tecnicaly true, because my heavenly Father is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
I love that!!!
Last week I spent the night at my grandma’s. In the morning, she was in a story-telling mood. It made the 10 hour drive to arrive at her door more than worth it. She told such precious stories about how she and my grandpa fell in love. Special memories.
I got to spend the night last week with my 88 year old grandmother. She is an amazing woman, but the best part was she was in a story telling mood Thursday morning. Listening to her telling me about how she and Grandpa fell in love and their early history made the 10 hour drive more than worth it!
I love to see people excited about their family history! This is my favorite hobby next to reading historical fiction! I began my research a few years ago, after a desire to know where I came from. My father came to the states in his mid-twenties and never went back to the country of his birth (Angola and N. Rhodesia) His parents were British missionaries. He never spoke much of his past, so I had to find out on my own. I have uncovered many amazing stories of faith, secrets, heartbreak, hardship, and adventure. My mother’s father is 93 years old and is a World War II veteran and has been a missionary to Mexico for over sixty years. He and I have begun to go through all of his old slides and convert them to a digital format. My goal is to one day publish a family history book for both my mother and my father.
Tricia, when you discover the stories that go with the photos, please share!
Very interesting! I too love the history of where I came from! I love to look at the old photos of my ancestors that I don’t even know! I just wished I was interested in our history when I was a little younger and I could’ve asked a lot of questions and gotten lots of answers from my grandparents!