Your People
Who are your people? I come from hardscrabble, independent Texans and outspoken, fun-loving Chileans. What impact do our people have on us? Are characteristics inherited, or just a function of nurturing? I have no idea. But here are two of my people:
My Grandpa Foster (on the far left; I'm the little scowly one below him), who as a young man had a Model-T and hauled ice in a secret compartment for bootleggers during Prohibition in exchange for gas for his car. How cool was he? He was also a rock/mineral hound and used to take us out rock hunting when we were kids. I was determined to find a geode and always asked, "Is that a geode, Grandpa?" "No, that's a leaveitright. Leave it right there." But he would take home my rocks and cut them open with his rock saw. (No geodes!) I appreciate now all those rocks he cut open for me.
My great-grandma Abby, who died when I was about a year old:
Her husband (my great-grandpa) in this photo died away from home in an accident at age 27, leaving her with 3 small children. He was buried before she even knew he'd died, due to a storm and the telegram being delayed. It's a tragic story. She was urged to live with her in-laws in Texas, but she earned her own homestead. She outlived 3 husbands and died in her late 90's. Amazing woman.
She loved to write and kept a detailed scrapbook and wrote her personal history, which I have bound. My dad scanned every page of her huge brown-paper scrapbook so we could have a copy:
I often wonder why in the hell I write online, or write at all. (I write in a personal journal as well, the juicy stuff!) Who really cares? But it's just something I like to do, because I think maybe we all have things in common and it's nice to know those things? I often think about closing down this site. But, it's kinda fun to know if my Grandma Abby were alive today, she'd understand feeling compelled to record things, no matter how we record them today compared to her day.
My Grandpa Foster (on the far left; I'm the little scowly one below him), who as a young man had a Model-T and hauled ice in a secret compartment for bootleggers during Prohibition in exchange for gas for his car. How cool was he? He was also a rock/mineral hound and used to take us out rock hunting when we were kids. I was determined to find a geode and always asked, "Is that a geode, Grandpa?" "No, that's a leaveitright. Leave it right there." But he would take home my rocks and cut them open with his rock saw. (No geodes!) I appreciate now all those rocks he cut open for me.
My great-grandma Abby, who died when I was about a year old:
Her husband (my great-grandpa) in this photo died away from home in an accident at age 27, leaving her with 3 small children. He was buried before she even knew he'd died, due to a storm and the telegram being delayed. It's a tragic story. She was urged to live with her in-laws in Texas, but she earned her own homestead. She outlived 3 husbands and died in her late 90's. Amazing woman.
She loved to write and kept a detailed scrapbook and wrote her personal history, which I have bound. My dad scanned every page of her huge brown-paper scrapbook so we could have a copy:
I often wonder why in the hell I write online, or write at all. (I write in a personal journal as well, the juicy stuff!) Who really cares? But it's just something I like to do, because I think maybe we all have things in common and it's nice to know those things? I often think about closing down this site. But, it's kinda fun to know if my Grandma Abby were alive today, she'd understand feeling compelled to record things, no matter how we record them today compared to her day.
Comments
I knew at once that was you in the first photo...is your Mom also there? That youngish lady looks like she could be your Mom.
I agree, your Great Grandma Abby was a Gem!!!
Yes, we all have people...some better than others. It is so nice to be able to look back into our past and see where we came from.
YOU came from good people.
xo
You came from good people, and so do your girls. :)