This is my most favorite photo of my grandparents. It reminds me that they were young once too, and very much in love. Isn't it funny when you are young you do not think of your grandparents ever being young as well? They are just older to you and you think they were always this way.
That is what I always thought about my grandparents as a child. My grandfather always had white hair as far back as I could remember, and my grandmother always had short brown hair. She did not really start to have much gray until her early 80's. Must be nice, huh? Unfortunately, I did not take after her in that department.
This week my grandmother celebrated her 99th birthday, can you believe that? As I was writing out her card, I thought to myself, once upon a time, I may have wanted to live to be a century old, but now? I am not so sure I would want to.
Think about how much we have changed as a society since she was younger, and wow, that is a lot to take in! Now think about you being nearly 100 years old and where the world will be then. If life changes as much for us as it has her, those are some big changes heading our way.
All of her classmates have passed, she lost her husband when she was 76. She was the oldest of 5 and has lost all of her siblings. I imagine that is pretty difficult losing your husband, all of your siblings, and friends, and yet still being here.
You may begin to wonder why you are still here? She has asked this question to us before. I tell her, well, God says you still have work to do. She laughs and says I wonder what that is?
She lived alone until she was 98. After living in her home for 63 years, she had to leave it since she was unable to care for herself and moved in with our mother. If you ask me, she did really well caring for herself and maintaining her home and meal prep for so long. I only hope if I live to that age, I can do the same.
My grandfather was home on leave from the Army during World War II here. So young, and full of life, excited to see where life would take them.
My grandfather's family, both of his parents, his sister, and brother. His father was a Jack of all Trades... a structural engineer, taxidermist, and also studied law.
I swear I must take after him, I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I still to this day do not know. How does one say, this is my one career path and I want to do this for the rest of my life? I tend to get bored easily and am always looking for the next thing I want to try.
I love that they are all dressed up for photos. We do not do that enough today. That is probably attributed to the fact we now use our phones to snap candid photos of anything and everything.
My grandfather loved documenting life. He has many photos while he was in Germany and France during the war. He was an interesting character. I say that with the most love, he was my favorite person.
He had many hobbies over the years, woodworker, painter, but my most favorite was his train set. It was quite an elaborate set up. I even had my own conductor hat I would wear while we ran the trains. There were towns, and mountains, a movie theater, lakes, bridges... it took up half of their basement! It was quality time well spent with him throughout my childhood... the wonderful memories I have.
He was an awesome story teller and I could sit for hours listening to him tell stories of his life. He created many items that held patents, having quite the mechanical mind, he could figure out anything. He was the smartest man I ever met. 🤍
My grandmother, her parents, and two of her siblings. As you can see, not all five children have been born in this photo. Her parents came from England, and my great-grandmother's signature is recorded at Ellis Island.
I was a sponge and asked many questions about our family. Family fascinates me and where you come from. How different would your life be if your ancestors did not come to America? I also love old photos, black and whites are my favorite!
I scanned all of the photos into my computer and made discs for all of the grandchildren one year for Christmas so we would all have copies of our family photos.
I wish I remembered my great grandmother, she passed away after my first birthday. A story I recall hearing many times was, she held me when I was a about a month old, turned me upside down, held me by my feet, and shook me. She said it was something to do with my liver... if someone did that these days, I am sure there would be something done about it now.
My great grandmother was a pioneer, a woman a head of her time. She was very much into natural medicine. A lot of what she would tell family to do, we read about now if you decide to take the homeopathic route to self care. It always amazes me when I talk to my mom and tell her something I have read, and she will say her grandmother used to say the same thing. Then her next statement is, she must not have been that crazy after all. Makes me chuckle every time.
I enjoy looking at these family photos and reminiscing about time well spent with grandparents. Enjoy your weekend. If you missed our Random Musing from last week you can read it here.
I love family history, this was a delight. Your grandmother sounds like a remarkable woman. My grandparents were born in the late 1800's so by the time I was born they were already pretty old. My parents sound about old as your grandparents. My dad served in WWII, he would've been 96 this year, and my mom was singer on Broadway in the 50's. I love the old photos and I think that's why I'm so interested in that period of history.
ReplyDeleteI am so interested in this time period too Kim. Your family sounds pretty interesting, imagine everything they saw in life! I love family history and knowing more about family members. I find it so fascinating! I enjoy leafing through these photos and wondering what life was like then.
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