This is my mom's mother on her First Communion day; I don't know how old she was in this photo, unfortunately. (If you click on the picture, you can see the finer details on her beautiful dress and you can see the cross she's wearing, and look at her shoes!) What I do know about her is that she grew up in Georgia, (she had a great accent!) and her mother's mother came over to America on a ship from Ireland. I was not very close to this grandmother of mine, but she was a good person who raised four children, was married for over 40 years to the most wonderful man (my grandfather), who was 20 years older than she was, and she made each of her 12 grandchildren something special every Christmas. (She started knitting, or crafting gifts for us in January, and always used to say, "I start early so I have one month for each grandchild.") I remember one year she gave us girls darling doll cradles she'd fashioned out of oatmeal boxes she'd covered and decorated with fabric. I put a tiny baby doll in mine and played with it for a long, long time. One year she knitted beautiful ponchos for us when they were in style. I kept that poncho for many years, but I don't think I have it anymore. My mother said that Grandma was a good mom, that she always was involved with her Girl Scout troup, sewed Halloween costumes for her kids, and that they had chickens and goats in their backyard (in Burbank, California!) to help with food during the Great Depression. Now I wish I could go back in time to talk to my grandma as an adult and get to know her a little better. Wouldn't we all like to have an opportunity like that?
6 comments:
Wonderful, heartfelt story to go along with the photo. And I agree about how nice it would be to be able to go back & get to know these folks better, ask more questions, or in my case to have paid better attention when they were telling stories. I have boxes of old family photos, and not nearly enough stories to go along with them, it's a real shame.
Hi... Lovely thoughts.. I am so glad you stopped by my blog...thanks for the lovely words. It is so nice for the kindness of people.... we hear somany negatives in our new reports ... it is so.. so wonderful to reinforce how kind and gentle we can be to one another.... It reminds me of what my mom use to say to me... " if you can't say something noce about anybody.. you say nothing at all"...I'll be back... oh my those are Arnolds words.....
Grandmothers are such special people in our lives are't they! Your Grandmother sounds like a very loving lady. A month to work on each child's gifts. Thats special! My Grandmother was big on home made gifts but that was how it was done back then. My other Grandmother that was REALLY poor, would write me letters and put a dime or so in them. They came often...and I knew what we had was special.
Your grandmothers picture is so sweet! If only we could go back and ENJOY them one more time. I try to hold on to every memory of my grandmother...she passed 6 years ago. How sweet of your grandmother to make such sweet gifts. You might not have been close to her but she sure made quit an impression on you! Well...between your post, thinking of my grandmother, and listening to the music on you blog...I've a got a river flowing! Going to bed! HA!
What a sweet, sweet picture. Your gma sounds wonderful. I too, have only stories and very young memories of mine and the stories my mother tells amaze me!! I also thank you for sending your concern on my blog, it is appreciated! You're right about blogland, it is a power for good as well....
Hope you have a lovely day!
I love your old photo of your grandmother and the legacy she left. I try to think of my legacy as I live my life with wishes that it would be as productive, resourceful, giving and creative as your grandmother.
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