Branching Out Through The Years

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Carted His Daughter on His Back

2012-01-29T23:39:00.000-06:00

I love this picture. It does remind me of a favorite song the Hero and I would laugh about and sing. My daughter sang it at her wedding. Silly families, we enjoy things together.

This is Roger Miller singing the song.

Daddy Daughter Dance

2012-01-23T23:41:00.000-06:00

I was reading an article in the newspaper and saw a church advertising a Daddy Daughter Dance.

When each of the Hero's daughters had a Daddy Daughter Dance, he was right there with them. To him it was fun spending time with the girls. In fact, it was very important to him to attend activities with them. They all loved dancing with him. It was his desire that each girl know that she was very special to him. It all started when he held his first child, a beautiful little girl, in his arms for the first time.

I apologize to the older girls, I gave their pictures to them and the youngest had her's ruined. This is the last daddy daughter dance picture I have. Hopefully they will come by and add their memory to the post.

Mily and Dad

Sentimental Sunday Post

2012-01-22T22:56:00.002-06:00

Delayed until tomorrow when I get home to my pictures. Sorry I am not together tonight.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Wore Hats

2012-01-15T21:35:00.000-06:00

Today is National Hat Day. Thought I would have some fun. We still have most of the Hero's hats. Just can't seem to part with them.
Here are some of his styles. ; )

The Hero Hat Styles ages 10 to 62

Sentimental Sunday The Hero

2012-01-09T00:19:00.001-06:00

I started this with an audience of 6 children which grew to 6 children and 4 grandchildren. Now there are many family members as well as wonderful supportive blogger friends. I thought tonight, I would let you know a little more about him.

Always telling a story.

He was born in 1946 to a family made up of a Father, Mother, and two sisters. He was the first born of a set of twin. His mother was surprised to learn that she was having twins. The grandmothers quickly jumped in to aid and assist when the boys were born because they had to stay in the hospital for a week.

The Hero was the first born and he was the smallest. He had a small bone frame, bothered him because he felt large. (Guess it was that big heart inside that fooled him.)
He was all boy. He hated being closed in. His mother said he would cry the entire time he had to stay in a play pen.
He attended a Catholic school until he went to Junior High. That was his first experience with a public school. Mixed reviews were given by him.
His mother from the time the twins were in grade school, would put them in separate classes. She saw a tendency in his older younger brother to be competitive, and felt they needed to develop their own personalities. I wonder if it would have been different if they had been closer.
We discovered the Hero was marginally dyslexic when growing up. He just thought he had problems spelling...(yes, he did). This came to light when our son was diagnosed.
There were some great enjoyments in his life, swimming, creating, he loved writing poetry (because of his spelling, his teacher discouraged him). He loved learning new things. This he passed on to his children.
He must have just been innately protective of the weak, because his mother always expresses a wonderment when telling his actions toward his family and friends. She was amazed that he would go to battle for those he felt had been wronged.
He lamented that his father was rarely home, and did not teach his sons how to do things for themselves. I guess this is why he would research out how things were done and set about trying to fix things himself.
When he came to manhood, he added a romantic side. He was a dreamer. He would sing love songs, had a lazy grin, and could come up with some awesome date activities out of the ordinary.
He did not obtain a degree, but in putting me through college and grad school, he earned a degree many times over. He was the greatest source for help in the family.
As an adult, he had two companies he started fail. Not necessarily because of inability, rather because of poor timing.
He made two companies of others highly successful. His last employer still laments that he is not here.
He love family, and his children.
As a teen, he considered becoming a Priest. Beginning college he classified himself as an agnostic. When he found God and Christ, he never waivered and grew in spirituality and understand the rest of his life. He read the entire Bible through 3 times.
He had a need for organization and cleanliness. He struggled with a household of 8 and a farm full of animals, none of which seemed to get focused on his needs.
There was a great need also that his grandchildren should know him. Money was spent traveling to spend time with them and not on cruises. I think maybe we should have taken sometime for enjoyment. The children classified him as a workaholic. It was not because he enjoyed it. That is a subject for a story.
He knew in his heart he had cancer, months before he was diagnosed. He had a way of that.
For our family he was a spiritual leader, and the logical backbone of the family.
At his death there were great feelings of loss by family and friends, and co-workers. He had a great spirit about him that drew you to him.
I hope you understand a little about him now. I wanted to show you the man behind the stories.

Treasure Chest Thursday The 1940 Census

2012-01-05T08:36:00.000-06:00

Why would I chose this for a topic? I am deeply involved in helping others find their family history and this census holds many keys for many who are at brick walls. The 1940 census will be a treasure chest for many. When it first comes out there will be the seekers who will be browsing to find. This will not be easy just and the treasure seekers of old did not have it easy to find their treasures of gold, and lands.
We have been given some helps.

The National Archives & Records Administration NARA has started preparing us. They have a count down. Useful to those like myself that get distracted by shiny objects. They give FAQs and answers about the 1940 census, an overview as to what is on the census and they give finding aids as well as a long list of other helps. Click here to view their page devoted to the 1940 Census Records.
Ancestry.com has promised until at least 2013, the 1940 census will be free.
FamilySearch.org not only will have it free, but they will be indexing like crazy. They started last fall putting up a 1940 census page with facts about the census and a sign up form for committing to index your choice of state when it comes out. I signed up have you? Click here to see the sign up page and hopefully sign up.
Another goal is for the societies, historical and genealogical to join the commitment to index the census. Why would a historical society like to help? Because they are committed to preserving the past and sharing knowledge of history. The census not only provide names, but occupations (can you believe the employment status starts at 14 years of age?), and questions about marriage(s). Are you a member of a society, historical or genealogical? Ask your society to contact FamilySearch Support if they have not done so already to commit to help.
Why index? Of course you know why. Browsing through records is difficult, time consuming, and a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack even with all the helps. We all know that indexing the census will shorten, and aid many who don't have time to browse, in finding their family quicker.
I am a treasure hunter, and I am set and ready to aid as many as I can.

Ready Set Go! Who will find the treasure first?

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Had a Shocking Good Time

2012-01-01T22:08:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! Last night all the fireworks around here brought a story to mind.
The trip we took to El Paso in 1972 was so fun, but quite shocking, literally, for the Hero. The dry air, and cold increased his already penchant for conducting static electricity. His first clue it was going to be a time of shock for him was when he touched the metal railing going to the registration desk, and literally sparks flew. He made it to our room, and again when he took hold of the door knob, bright sparks flew. He was getting paranoid now. To protect himself he carried a set of keys in his pocket ready for metal. He would first touch the object with his keys then touch it.
Funny thing. When we went to bed and turned to kiss good night, it was a most stimulating moment. Sparks flew! We had a good laugh.
(my computer crashed and I lost my scrapbook page. I will add tomorrow)

If you would like to see where we visited in El Paso this is a good site Walkabout . We stayed in the old Hotel El Paso Del Norte. They apparently were just selling it at the time. Really interesting hotel to read about and its history around the Mexican Revolution. We were clueless of the history at the time. You know young and in love.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero on Christmas Day

2011-12-25T23:48:00.000-06:00

It is Sunday, and it is Christmas Day. What Christmas Day meant to the Hero was two things, first, the celebration of the birth of Christ, and second family.
Until my parents moved to Texas, we altered going to either his parents or to mine mine in Oklahoma. He had so much fun going to my family when we were first married, but as the older members of my dad's family passed away, the trip didn't seem necessary any longer as our parents were near us.
This what our Christmas day was like. After reading the Christmas story, then opening presents, we would drive 2 hours to his parents to visit extended family that had come from places like Chicago, or Arizona. As the scrapbook page shows, his family was a large group. The Hero would enjoy visiting with everyone and dining on yummy food. He sometimes ended in the chair snoozing after all the "food" and activities.

Merry Christmas to all!

Today is the Third Year of Losing the Hero

2011-12-23T23:25:00.000-06:00

The Hero with his family.

I wanted to thank all of my blogging friends and family on this night. It was three years ago that the Lord mercifully took the Hero into his arms and gave him peace. We did not want him to go, but it was at great sacrifice that the Hero stayed the extra month with us allowing us love and good byes that would not have happened if he had not given up freedom from pain for communication and hugs. I am thankful to him that he desired to be with his family as much as possible during his last days. We laughed, we cried, we said, "I love you."
He tried valiantly to make it to Christmas Eve to see his daughter that was driving through a snow storm to get home. It was so hard to tell her he would not be home to greet her. We were the only ones who knew she was on her way. It was a surprise to the rest of her siblings. We were thankful to have her with us. My second daughter still doesn't want to be without family around at Christmas.
It has been a long three years, I know we will make it through, but not without some lingering tears. I have had many around to shore me up when my knees were weak, for that I am truly grateful.
I will close tonight saying thank you again and thank you for listening to the Hero's stories. He must be smiling at my being able to remember what he told me.

Treasure Chest Thursday Christmas Decorations

2011-12-22T22:46:00.000-06:00

Beaded tree made in 1965, by Lillian Ellsworth Sherman.
Her gr granddaughter inherited her box of beads. She was fascinated by the tree when she saw it while visiting her grandmother this month. Now, she wants to learn the craft.

Sentimental Sunday. The Hero Was Protective

2011-12-18T21:29:00.000-06:00

The twins. The Hero on the right.

We stopped on the way from my son's graduation from college ("Big Yeah!") to visit with my mother-in-law. We were discussing the different traits of family members and old stories about the Hero. When Hero's protective streek was mentioned, the Hero's mother declared, ""Oh yes he was! He always been protective of his sisters and his twin brother! I put them in the same class in kindergarten... and the teacher left one of the mothers in charge for a minute. His twin got up and started running around and the mother said, 'If you don't sit down I'm going to tell the Sister' (it was a Catholic school). Hero stood up and shouted, 'No you're not! If you do I'll tell my Daddy. He's big and he'll come and whip you!'" At this point in the story, Mom chuckled. "Yes, he was always protective of his family.
It carried over to his own family as our children grew. Good father and husband. : )

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Had Christmas Traditions

2011-12-11T23:49:00.000-06:00

While the Hero was living, we always split our Christmas days. We spent early in the morning with my mother, the late in the afternoon with his mother... Both mom's are now in Assisted Living, and the Hero is gone, things have changed.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2011 Forgotten Cookies

2011-12-08T20:09:00.001-06:00

At a church Christmas activity for the youth, a young girl brought some meringue type cookies for refreshments. I fell in love with them and asked what the recipe was. This is the recipe she brought me. I love that you make them and leave them in the oven to cook. Tastes wonderful and leaves time for you to play with the cowboys and princesses in the family.

Created for John

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2011 Parties

2011-12-07T12:55:00.000-06:00

This is probably the biggest party I have ever attended for Christmas: Thomas McEntee's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories. : )
Since we were a plain family not prone to partying, this is a stretch.
I haven't any pictures for this post, but I know many of you have Polish, Bohemian, or Czech backgrounds and will be able to visualize.
The year 1959, my parents and I went to my aunt's house in Albuquerque for Christmas. There, I had my first experience with a Wigilia Christmas Eve Party. My Uncle Stan's family was Polish. They were bigger than life. I had never been to a boisterous family gathering before. In my dad's family, it was relatively quiet other than chatter while working in the kitchen and children running around. Uncle Stan's family had great discussions, and loud speaking...I think to overwhelm the person they were "talking" with. If I had not know better, I might have thought there were a lot of disagreements going on.

The food was a traditional Wigilia Christmas Eve event. What I remember the most is the two dishes, Uszka and Barszcz. The taste was exotic to my mid-western fried foods taste buds. Not to mention the coloring. Beets were a side dish usually, sliced and/ or pickled for us. The Barszcz was pink! I had never had pink soup before. The taste was great.

Picture from Wikimedia Commons.

52 years later, the Polish party at my Aunt's house stands out in my mind. Can't believe it is just now being written about.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2011 Santa

2011-12-06T16:30:00.001-06:00

A hero moment here.
When he was small, he and his brother visited Santa. As he grew, he loved playing Santa. When he reached his white hair and beard time period, he was mistaken for Santa.

I believe.

Christmas Advent Calendar Christmas Memories 2011 Outdoor Lights

2011-12-05T21:08:00.000-06:00

Last year's visit to the Christmas lights. Won't go this year they are 5 hours away.

Outdoor light have always been something we loved, but did on a very small scale. Lights around a window or around the porch. We did love to drive around and see the more elaborate lights. Last year I blogged about the outdoor decorations.
My most memorable year of viewing Outdoor lights was around 1959. My parents decided to have a Christmas vacation and we went to visit my aunt who lived in Albuquerque. There were many fun things around this visit, but the Luminarias Tours was one I would never forget. We did not take pictures. The small lunch sacks with sand and candles in them, and their being set from the street to the tops of the houses was so beautiful! (If you missed it, you can click on the Lumiarias Tours in the sentence and see a picture) I couldn't believe that either the owners or someone hired by them would vigilantly watch the candles and if one went out, they would replace or relight. I know there are electrical Luminarias you can purchase now, but it was more than the lights themselves. It was the background of the Spanish style homes, and walls that was so very beautiful. It really felt like maybe you had gone back in time. Visions of old style Spanish missions floated in my head. Maybe, it was a forerunner to my love of history.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Still Makes Me Smile

2011-12-04T23:22:00.002-06:00

The last few weeks I have had several occasions to be driven by my son. I have a tendency to tense up or grab for the arm rest as we come to a stop or are changing lanes on the freeway. My son thinks I am funny and will reassure me that he drives to work and home every day. I laughingly tell him that I say a prayer for him every day.
The conversation turned to his dad and how he handled my driving when he was sick. The thought made me think, maybe this is pay backs. I then had to giggle, because the Hero would grab for the handle or shake his finger at me and say "I don't know what you are going to do without me. I am not sure you will survive." I would just look at him with a smile and say "Not very well."
Well, Hero, I am still going, but it was so much more fun when you were here.
Miss you.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2011 Christmas Tree Ornaments

2011-12-04T00:43:00.000-06:00

Once again I am falling short in the picture area. When my first 4 grandchildren were born, I made each of them a personalized Holly Angel hand sewn ornament. I customized the angel to have the same color of hair and any other marks to match them. When they moved away, I gave them the ornaments to keep. I am also about 12 ornament behind for the rest. My what happens when you are having so much fun. I loved making the ornaments and still have the patterns for making the others. Here is one of the patterns. I saved the instructions because the patterns were not available any longer. The plan is to finish when I settled down in my life one of these days.

Holly Babes Needlepoint ornaments.

Christmas Advent Calendar Christmas Memories 2011 Holiday Foods

2011-12-02T23:06:00.000-06:00

Last year I wrote about the Hero's grandmother's Rum Balls. Those are still in the oldest daughter's memories. My food memory is of my mom's Date Roll Candy. It was a process, not a a quick candy. I looked forward to her making it, the recipe book she used has been lost or she gave it away, but I found a recipe on the internet that I think is pretty close. Date Roll Candy. She only made one and would watch closely and ration it out, because it was so rich. Yummy stuff, may have to make some this year.


I don't write much about my mom. It hurts that the dementia has taken her from me.

Advent of Christmas Memories: Christmas Tree Wars

2011-12-01T12:20:00.000-06:00

1st year in our own home.

Now, why would I say 'Christmas Tree Wars'. Let's say it was for lack of a better way to express the recent memories shared by my son and daughter when reminiscing about their father and decorating the Christmas tree.
I was visiting with my son and daughter-in-law at Thanksgiving. The subject of getting a Christmas tree came up. My son said, "You don't like decorating the Christmas tree do you, mom." (Said more as a statement not as a question.)
I was surprised then, smiled. Before they were old enough to help, their dad and I would decorate the tree. The Hero loved "perfect lights" on the tree, then he would let me put on the ornaments, next he put on the garland and finished it with icicles. Okay, he had a plan and allowed me in on it. ; )

3 teen age children helping.

I told my son, I loved helping when they were young, but when they were old enough to help, I got the decorations out and let them and their dad have the pleasure together. The Hero would sing carols as they worked together. My daughter-in-law laughed and said that must be where my son got his obsession with the lights.
I stopped by my daughter's home when returning from my son's.
She was decorating her Christmas tree, or maybe I should say she was putting on the lights. I am giggling as I write this, because it reminded me so much of her dad. No one was to touch the lights. They had to be just right, no blank spots, full color, and evenly spaced.
Some traditions are handed down...even when it is not intended.
Now I am waiting for my youngest son to put the tree up at my house. It will be fun to see what he does.
Hopefully my other children will stop by and leave their comment on how the Christmas tree was decorated.

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving, the 112th Carnival of Genealogy

2011-11-30T22:46:00.000-06:00

Thanks Footnote Maven.

Carol at Reflections From the Fence reminded me I had failed to write my entry for Jasia's "An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving'', the 112th Carnival of Genealogy.
I have always loved Thanksgiving. When growing up, my mom, dad and I would make the 80 mile trip to Pawnee. The family would alter who had the meal. Sometimes it was my Aunt Dora, sometimes my Aunt Lynn, and sometimes my Uncle Ed. I loved especially when my Aunt Lillie came down from Kansas, because she made the best rolls. Those were wonderful family days. All the kids would go outside and play, sometimes getting hurt or in ant hills. (I remember my cousin stripping his pants off because he had stomped in an ant hill. Silly boy.) Unfortunately, there aren't any pictures from that time that shows how we enjoyed each other. I also remember there was always a table laden with food. Two kinds of potatoes, (sweet potatoes, and white potatoes), green beans seasoned with bacon, white and brown gravy, jello plain and with fruit, turkey, and oh my so many desserts. After dinner, the men would sit and visit about hunting, watch a TV, or snooze, while the women straightened up. All the older members of the family are gone. My mom is all that is left of that generation.
Her tradition was grabbing my children to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on television. My daughter told me even that is not the same. Today, my children are spread across the States, we occasionally may see one or two get together, but more often than not, they have Thanksgiving with their own family and lament that there isn't any family near.

Me with my cousins at Thanksgiving.

Two years ago I wrote this post of what I was thankful for. No change in this girl's life.

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero Had An Entrepreneurial Spirit

2011-11-27T23:34:00.000-06:00

The Hero was always interested in small businesses. He researched all aspects of business. What made it successful, advertising, legalities, marketing, so many different facets. I asked him why the interest? He said he loved business, and his High School DE instructor had taught them so much about being in business for yourself, that he was going to do it himself. He was a member of DECA. DECA still exists today.

The Hero is on the far left. Below, he is in the center.

These are clipping of the same accomplishment. As you can tell their DE was very good.

The Hero had several very good business ventures. One was a decking company. It was quite successful until the economy took a dip in Houston because of the down turn of the oil industry in the 1980's. He had a couple more endeavors, but the timing never seemed right for his own company. When he began his battle with cancer, he decided that if he couldn't build his own company, he would make others successful. He took on several different endeavors of others and in truth assisted them in succeeding. He believed everyone should have a chance to achieve.
I was always be amazed at his ability to write bookkeeping programs to fit the specific needs of specialty companies. He made beautiful brochures. His ability to write legal forms, and fight legal battles for the companies was amazing. His bookshelf was full of computer software instructional books, legal books, and marketing books. He applied what he learned early in life to help others achieve their dreams.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Instructed His Children

2011-11-20T21:02:00.001-06:00

My granddaughter was blessed last week and given a name in keeping with our beliefs. My son, daughter-in-law and myself had come down to my daughter's house to be there for the blessing. There was 8 of us in the house with 2 bathrooms getting ready for the event. I made the remark to my son, "How did we ever survive with all 8 of us as you all were growing up with only one bathroom?" He laughed and said, "Dad gave us a Family Home Evening lesson on how to take a bath." Now there was a smile on his face. "I still remember the lesson. Dad was standing there a bar of soap in one hand and a wash cloth in the other. He said, 'You dip in the water and get wet. Take the soap and lather and scrub with the cloth. Then dip and rinse. You are done and out for the next person.' " By this time my son was laughing just at the thought of the Hero standing with the soap and wash cloth and giving the dipping motion. I didn't remember this one. I am so glad he shared.

I hope some of the other children will stop by and give their perspective. I am giggling as I write this because it is such a Heroism.

Thanks for stopping by. : )

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero Continues to Encourage Others.

2011-11-13T06:00:00.001-06:00

When the Hero pushed me to attend my 40th (no old people comments), little did we know it would have far- reaching affects on myself and others.
While we were there, I renewed an old friendship. This is good. The class was auctioning items to help cover the cost of the reunion. (They are probably the closest class in the Edmond High School ever.) Two of the items were original paintings by my friend. He fell in love with them and won the auction for them.

This one of the painting he won. It is items from her life.

When he visited with her about them, he was saddened to learn she didn't have a great image of herself as an artist and her mother had discouraged her from pursuing her love. This was just something she had started doing again. He told her, in his estimation, that her work was of great worth. She should continue. He repeated to me when we got home that he hoped she would keep painting. He had hoped to sell at least one painting to prove to her it had great worth. Unfortunately, we found out about his cancer and that diverted his attention so he was never able to achieve his goal. It was with gratitude, I received this letter this week. I have modified it to keep her family names out of it. It would have made the Hero very happy to know.

Hi Fran, If this works, you should see included, a pic of the painting I took to my first granddaughter who lives in Colorado Springs. I'm writing a story or series of stories to go w/ it. My granddaughter loved it & sat right down & started naming the animals & making their sounds! She's 19 mos. I've got new granddaughter, her painting planned-a fish tank w/bright saltwater fish. It'll be 22x26 same as the other one. I think of your email informing the class of your husbands passing & the last part telling me he said to keep painting. That was such an inspiration to me!!! I've been doing just that - thank u so much! Love u

11-11-11 Happy Veterans Day!

2011-11-11T19:07:00.001-06:00

While my dad was living, Veteran's Day was always very important to him. He was proud of having served in the Army Corp of Engineers. I wrote a little about him in a previous blog post.
I thought I would just post some pictures from when he was in Europe in WWII. Hope you enjoy.

Newspaper write up in the Pawnee Chief

Marcelle France. The 12 year old girl he always wondered what happened to her. The fellow soldier unnamed

Company 1308 D Army Corp of Engineers

Unknown Soldier and Lester Langley on right in Nice, France. Maybe some one will recognize.

Lester on the left, T4 Good on the right, Picture says 'the day I got out of hospital in France' (Lester's hand writing)

Lester 1943 Marcelle France

Record of Honorable Discharge. Is not online.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Helped Save His Granddaughter

2011-11-07T00:03:00.000-06:00

I was thinking of my granddaughter, Iris, while driving and a story came to mind.
When Iris was about 18 months old, she was an adventuresome child. (maybe her mom will drop by and correct any information I may remember incorrectly. It was a highly emotional time.) Her mom put everything up as high as she could because Iris liked to climb.
One early evening, I received a call from Iris's mom who was clearly upset. She said Iris had climbed, using the dresser drawers, to get to the top of a high shelf where she had put the cleaning products and had apparently gotten some rust remover called Whink on her hands. She wasn't sure if she had gotten any in her mouth. What should she do? The only thing I could think of was call 911.

The Hero came in asking what was going on. I told him and we pulled down my bottle of Whink to see what was the active ingredient in it that removed rust. It was Hydrofluoric Acid (Hydrogen Fluoride). I will digress here a minute to fill you in on the Hero's background. When he worked for the building materials company, he was in charge of safety and making sure the OSHA rules were followed. He held regular safety meeting, and kept a MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) on each product they sold, even the cements. When he heard Hydrofluoric Acid, he thought it sounded familiar but couldn't remember.
We took our daughter over to watch the other children, while we took the mom and Iris into the Emergency Room. They had said bring her in. Redbeard was meeting us at the hospital. While we were waiting, some red spots appeared on her arms and thighs, then disappeared. The wait continued. She wasn't sick, but the worrisome reds spots would come and go. An hour later, Redbeard got them to at least let the physician's assistant see her while we waited.
Our faith believes in laying on of hands. While we sat in the back room, still waiting, the Hero and Redbeard gave Iris a blessing, that said among other things, "that her caretaker would know what to do." A few minutes later, the PA came back in, examined her and said she didn't see any challenges, and to give her Benedryl for the apparent red rashes and sent us home.
The Hero was upset, but it wasn't his call, so we all loaded up in the cars and left for home. As we were driving, the Hero slapped the steering wheel and said "I remember what Hydrofluoric Acid is! We had it for a cleaning fluid out on a job, and it was so caustic that the men had to dress in spaceman suits when cleaning with it. I need to see a MSDS on it, something is not right!"
When we arrived at home, he immediately got on the computer and looked at the MSDS online. Oh, wow! It was an awful chemical. He found the emergency medical service number, an 800 number, and called Redbeard and told him to call.
Later Redbeard called us back and said it was a poison control center in Denver. They were the only ones with the treatment information on the product. The Benedryl was the wrong thing to give her. The red splotches was the chemical moving through her body. It was like an internal burn. He was told to give her tums, and to make pastes of the tums and apply it where the splotches had been.
The next day my daughter took her into see the pediatrician. The Doctor had never heard of Whink, or the treatment. Later we found she had talked with her friend in chemical who confirmed what we had found. She said she couldn't believe they never taught about that when she was in school.

In the end, all was well. In truth, Iris's caretakers found what to do. Her granddadE loved his "Copper Top" so much. He loved being around her and watching her never ending energy. I wanted her to know that he was always there for her.

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero Had a Friend

2011-10-30T22:50:00.000-05:00

Tonight instead of writing a personal story about the Hero, I am going to use something that recently happened to illustrate how others can verify stories told by a family member.
The Hero's twin brother is active in the alumni of their High School. He was contacted by the developer of a website for their class. When looking at it he was surprised that his brother was not listed among the deceased. He contacted them. They said if he would write an obit, they would put it on the site, and oh, by the way, we need a picture. He contacted me for the picture, and used the obit written for the newspaper to compose his own eulogy for the Hero.
This last Thursday, he was at the Halloween party at my mother-in-law's assisted living home. I told him I couldn't the page online. He assured me it was there and, oh, by the way, one of the Hero's old friends who was into conspiracy theories with him in High School, wrote on the page saying he was sorry to have missed the Hero. I went back to email he had sent me, and was able to find it as well as the comment. Up to this time the only thing any of us knew about the Hero's High School days was what he had told us. The man verified that the Hero was indeed someone who cared about his country as early as 15 years of age. I am going to contact this person to see if he will write any stories about his and the Hero's journey in fighting for America and Freedom.
The Hero's twin brother called it conspiracy theories, I have seen what is happening and read books regarding the warnings given about Communism taking over America without a shot. Nope, would not call it conspiracy theories, just pretty much what was happening.
The Web page for the Hero: http://www.westburyhshouston.com/class_profile.cfm?member_id=2992277ro.
Hope this tells you to never quit looking for those who knew your family member before you knew them.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Went to His 20th HS Reunion

2011-10-23T23:46:00.000-05:00

In 1984, the Hero decided we needed to go to his High School Class's 20th Reunion. He had graduated from Westbury High School in Houston, Texas. His class was one of the first to attend, as it was opened in 1961. He loved his High School and there are many stories to be told from this time period. He kept in touch with most of his friends, and lamented the loss of some who died in the Vietnam War.

When we arrived, his twin brother and his wife were already there. We worked our way over to sit near them. It was an interesting crowd. They were from diverse walks of life and some well traveled. I enjoyed listening to them renewing acquaintances. Then a (hmmm, what do I call her) young blond woman came and threw her arms around the Hero and said "You made me cry." Needless to say, it was a bit startling. He looked at her puzzled and said, "I did? Sorry, I don't want to be rude, but I can't remember your name." She laughed and said, "It is okay, I'm ... I was a year behind you and had a terrible crush on you. (someone's name) and I decided to crash the party and see our old friends." He smiled. At that time, the Hero's brother came back to the table and positioned himself in between them, and said "Hi, I don't remember you." and steered the conversation away from the Hero. As soon as she left, he turned to the Hero and said "I can't believe she was making a play for you in front of your wife!"
Later the Hero and I laughed that his brother had been observing from a far and felt the need to come and protect his brother from a "huzzy". (Their words not mine, I was staying out of it...a bit overwhelmed.)
It made the Hero feel good on both accounts. He found out that a girl had a secret crush on him and had cried because he didn't notice. He wouldn't have done it on purpose. However, the male ego loved the boost.
Also, it made him feel good that his brother cared enough to come and "protect" him, even though he was the oldest.
For years after that, if I wanted to tease him, I would look at him with big eyes and say "You made me cry." He would look at me and a slow smile would cross his face. He would wink and say, "I love you."
I miss that smile.

Open Thread Thursday, The Genealogy Experience

2011-10-20T21:13:00.000-05:00

I have thought about this all day. First, I had read Lynn's post at The Armchair Genealogist about "The moment you knew... Then I read Thomas's post at Open Thread Thursday, and decided I would give the topic a whirl.

My reason for collecting family stories.

I was enjoying the puzzle experience of finding the pieces as I started researching my family in the 80's. I loved solving the mystery. It was exciting to fill in the blanks as my aunts and cousins shared family information with me.

Then one day I looked at my surnames list, and realized it had gone beyond names, I felt a connection with those names. I knew where they had come from, where they lived, what they did, and who their children were. Now it was turning into, why did they do this? What was it that drew them from other countries or across the US from one state to another state. The story within the story is what I am wanting to achieve.

I think eventually I would like to write a historical fiction about one or two of my ancestors as they seemed to have an interesting time, place, and connections.

I began to look at my research and discovered I was doing a terrible job of documentation, sourcing, and citing, not to mention keeping track of all my papers. It was time to bring about a change. I attribute the becoming acutely aware to Geneabloggers community and twitter. I became a FamilySearch missionary about 2 1/2 years ago. I found myself thrown into first looking at the new.FamilySearch.org and the mandate to the LDS members to clean up their trees. This brings a big sigh out of me, because there are so many things you can add a different opinion on but cannot change. I was brought to a great awareness of do it right the first time. As the Ward Family History Consultant and I assisted the Family History Teacher in teaching that which had eluded me in the beginning.

Realizing I was inadequate in formal education regarding genealogy, I enrolled in several online classes through ProGen, and now participating in a study group mentored by Valerie of Family Cherished and Toni of Tonia's Roots. What I am hoping to come away with is a mindset that will be more organized and focused than I have been, resulting in well documented and clear family history for me and any I will be helping.

I love genealogy. I love my ancestors and the Hero's ancestors. I crave to learn their stories. The bottom line is I want to be a better genealogist. Yes, pretty much that is me.

Sentimental Sunday: Hero Takes the Lead in Geneology

2011-10-16T23:39:00.000-05:00

Who was the first in the family to begin searching for their ancestors? Why the Hero of course.

He followed the correct methods of starting instinctively. He first sat down and wrote what he knew, his birth and what were his parents and his grandparents names. Then he went to his grandmother and asked her questions about where, who, and what she knew about his grandfather. Next he visited with his mother and asked about her family. He quickly had his four generations sheet filled out.

Next he began collecting stories and history behind his family. But life pressed in and he began to lose momentum. He told me all he knew and quit actively researching himself, but when I would say I had need of his help, he would assist me. He continued to visit his grandmother and take our daughters so they would know her. When she died, he was distressed because his father decided he didn't need to attend the funeral, but to stay and watch over the company while the rest of the family attended. It wasn't surprising when he said he needed to visit and view his grandparents and great grandparents graves in East Texas.
He had a great love and testimony of family. In fact, that was one reason I was chosen by him. He wanted a large family and wanted someone that believed in family too. I still work on his family for him and our children. It is a need.

Sentimental Sunday ...The Hero and Fashion

2011-10-09T21:48:00.000-05:00

Many of us have had the experience of arriving on a business trip and discovering we left one of our bags sitting on our desk, in the hall way, or in our car trunk not transferred to the other car. Such was the dilemma the Hero found himself in when arriving in Louisiana on a business trip with the company's salesman. He had left his bag in the trunk of his car.
Fashion wise, I would say the Hero was pretty much traditional in clothing, with a tendency leaning toward wanting to be elegant like David Niven with a smoking jacket. (He smoked pipes when we were first married). I have to say I was not prepared for the fashion the Hero came home with from his trip.
He and the salesman had gone out shopping. The salesman had talked him in to some very faddish duds. (It said a lot for the salesman's abilities of salesmanship.) Let me describe them to you. First there was platform shoes, then brown bell bottom slacks, with a bright yellow tie, and dark blue shirt.. The salesman had apparently convinced him he looked really in style so he would seem up with the times to those they called on. I really am not sure what he was thinking of, but I can tell you he did not wear the platform shoes or bell bottom pants once he got home.
In all honesty, I don't think I remember what happened to those clothes. The experience taught a good lesson. When leaving on a business trip, the Hero always checked twice before leaving to make sure he had the things he needed.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Was a Romantic Who Sang

2011-10-02T13:54:00.000-05:00

Lately a song has been running through my head reminding me of a tender time with the Hero. He was such a romantic. From the time we dated until he left this world, he sang to me with great love.

There were many mornings I would be awakened by the Hero leaning over me on his elbow, singing "My Cup Runneth Over With Love." I would open my eyes to his loving glance, and slow smile. I can tell you the Hero had a nice bass voice for singing. It was a wonderful way to be awakened, a song, a smile, a kiss. What more could one ask for.
I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday. I am listening to our church's conference today. I am reminded we would never miss the conferences when he was living. We were uplifted and filled with love for the Savior when attending. I have a testimony that marriage is a wonderful thing.

Organizing My Genealogy Files

2011-10-01T23:14:00.000-05:00

I joined the study group organized by Valerie of Family Cherished. and Tonia of Tonia's Roots . They are wonderful in encouragement and offering ideas.
The first order of the day was to read chapter 7 in A Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy, set goals for organizing and write a blog about it.
I have been working on my assignment, just had not blogged about it. The group is a gregarious group and I have learned much from them.
My secret...I am a closet perfectionist. I love organization, and I constantly purchase file folders, bins, file cabinets, and binders to do my organization in. I watch the blogs and twitter for new ideas. Unfortunately, I find myself with stacks of organizational material to be utilized or "organized".
Therefore, my First goal must, of necessity, be to pick a method,Second it to USE IT, Third is to begin with one family.
I had heard of using OneNote as a organizational method reading Elyse's blog about it. I knew I had the software, and had used it for my FamilySearch mission to keep things in order.
With a little encouragement from Valerie, I set up my Genealogy Notebook on OneNote.

This is what my paper file looked like...

My pictures, which I will not fill you with the visual horror of the stacks in boxes, file folders, tubs, etc., are being organized by scan into folders on my external hard drive.

I am the guilty person who has a stack of 'backs of envelopes', scratch pads, multiple notes for different people on the same notebook page.
I am now sorting out the physical file folders one family at a time and am scanning information and adding it to the OneNote folders, and I love the feature of being able to 'print to the folder' It saves when working on line, Copying and pasting or printing, scanning and sending to folder. I can print it out later for the hard copy file.
This is my hope for a better genealogy life, and I plan to stick to it this time instead of giving up because it is not happening perfectly.

If We Were a Tree In The Forest...

2011-10-01T20:38:00.002-05:00

created by Footnote Maven

This is my entry for the 110th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. "What tree best represents your family’s history?"
The Quercus alba L or White Oak is a great match for my Langley Tree. The White oak grows throughout most of the Eastern United States. It is found from southwestern Maine and extreme southern Quebec, west to southern Ontario, central Michigan, to southeastern Minnesota; south to western Iowa, eastern Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas; east to northern Florida and Georgia. The tree is generally absent in the high Appalachians, in the Delta region of the lower Mississippi, and in the coastal areas of Texas and Louisiana.
The west slopes of the Appalachian Mountains and the Ohio and central Mississippi River Valleys have optimum conditions for white oak, but the largest trees have been found in Delaware and Maryland on the Eastern Shore.
My wonderful family is 100% US grown. I know that once I get back to the early 1600's it will be different, but for now they go back to the late 1600's in the US. They are as the Oak tree. Deep roots that thrive anywhere but in shallow soil. The family profession was farmers and planters, not city folk at all.
The Oak is long lived. Many of our family members lived to be 90 to 100.
The tree is characterized by a short trunk with a wide crown. It is the tree on our farm that has beautiful character developed from resilience from storms, adverse growing conditions, and time weathering. Just as our family has developed as it moved from the east to the central area of the US.
The Langleys came from North Carolina, to Kentucky, to Missouri and ended up in Oklahoma where I was born. This family is still growing on my genealogy tree making tangled and interesting branches.
The Carriers, Kemps, and Hankins came from Virginia to Tennessee, to Missouri and then to Oklahoma. They had loss of family members from wars, illness, and anger, but survived and thrived.
Just as the oak has a large crop of acorns in adverse times to continue, so did this family have a fine bumper crop of children.
The Gildons and Sellicks came from Connecticut to Georgia, to Texas, and then to Oklahoma where I was born (oh I said that already).This family is an object of my second submission for DAR.
The resemblance of this tree and my family is so close, that I think it is the perfect match.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Helped Vietnam Refugees

2011-09-25T22:40:00.000-05:00

The Hero

This will not give exact dates, as I do not have them. They are in the Hero's Journals that were lost.
The Hero was in the Reserve Army Medical Corps. In 1975-1976 Fort Chaffee became one of the processing camps for the refugees from Vietnam after the war. The Hero's troop was one of the many that rotated through to assist in the medical screenings and treatments for them.
He enjoyed this time and developed great respect for those that he met while working there. He often would wonder what happened to them and if his troop had helped any.
In the late 80's, he was going to a dental school to have his teeth done. The student who drew him for the dental work was oriental. He asked her where she was from. When she told him that she was from Vietnam, he told her about his experience. Lo and Behold. It turned out she was there with her mother at the exact same time as he had been. She said that the Army troops had been very nice and she was so thankful she had been given the chance to come here from Vietnam with her mother.
I wish I had his journals because he wrote her name and the special feelings it gave him that he had been a part of this young lady being able to be in this great country and learning a profession, which she probably would not have been able to do back at Vietnam. They had wonderful conversations about her experiences when he went to have his teeth done. It was sad when she moved on to other classes and was no longer his student dentist. She knew he wished her all the best.
The Hero was a part of history.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Fell Asleep On the RailRoad

2011-09-18T23:34:00.000-05:00

I was reading in a notebook we had kept the last few weeks of the Hero's life. He had gone over stories with our third daughter as a exercise in memory and telling her the stories. She wrote them down.
There was one in which she was a major player and remembered more that he did. Well I will let you decide if that is true or not, but I believe you will agree with her.

As told to Milly and edited by her: She said why is it me who takes the heat... he fell asleep! ; )

"It had been a long Wednesday. We had gone to youth activity and he worked in the church clerk office while I attended our youth activities. It was late when we left town, and started up the long dark country roads to get home. He seemed to be okay and chatted back at me, answering questions. Then we came to a stop sign just before we crossed a railroad track. He stopped, then started up turn and stopped with the front wheels on the railroad track and fell asleep. Just down the track was a train coming!

(She says she never felt Perilous Pauline... I would have.)

His memory and mine are different perspectives due to adrenaline rush at the time. I remember at first thinking this is really stupid, why are we stopped here? I looked over at daddy and knew he was asleep and thought, if I don't wake him up we might get hit. (no duh, my interjection) I also thought, 'I might get yelled at if I wake him up.' Logic overcame and I called at him and shook him to wake him up. He woke up and moved forward across the tracks to the other side in plenty of time. "
So who do you think would have remembered it better? This became a long term discussion and tease of the dad. He was comfortable enough with his weaknesses that he could laugh about it and tell the story on himself. It was even included at his funeral by his special friend.
The hero loved his children and the thought that he could have been a cause of harm to one upset him greatly. He loved them so very much. I will interject, he did go to a sleep study and they found an oxygen deficit. He had an oxygen machine for sleep. There is a reason for everything.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Was Thoughtful to the End

2011-09-11T23:08:00.000-05:00

Have been avoiding writing about the Hero's last months, but as I have been following FootNoteMaven 's challenges as her husband is recovering from a heart attack the memories have flooded back. It is not quite the same because the Hero had col-rectal cancer and the end was creeping in.

I was so blessed by his thoughtfulness. It was hard to let him go, but it was understood by him and me that it was going to be a temporary separation. He knew I didn't want him to go, but knew it was going to happen.

When Maven was talking about Mr Maven telling her he loved her through the C-Pap mask. I was taken back to a time when I was draining the fluids out of the Hero's chest with a vacuum bottle. It had to have hurt just my moving the chest tube around, but he looked at me through the oxygen mask and said... with a smile, "I love you". I love him too.

The Hero with two grandchildren

After his death, two of his friends shared stories of things he had said to them. One had asked him if he felt like Job because of a chain of events he had experienced. He told him no, that he had a personal angel with him that loved him that Job didn't have. (You know how that made me feel)

The other friend said they had been joking while he was watching the Hero so I could go to the store. All of a sudden the Hero stopped and said "She has been an angel to me. I love her."

These were little gifts he left me that I hold on to, knowing one day I will see him again.

I am able to talk about this a little at a time now, it is not easy, but I need to begin opening that door.

Sentimental Sunday: The Hero, His Religious Beginnings for the 109th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy

2011-09-04T12:01:00.000-05:00

Created by FootNoteMaven

This is for the 109th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.

The topic for this edition of the COG is: Where did your ancestors worship?

This is also for the Hero's grandchildren who would not know he grew up as a member of the Catholic Church. The Hero said he vividly remember attending church when he was little. A favorite story of his was once when leaving mass, his dad reached out to swat the hero's sister on the bottom for something only to have her move and he swatted a lady who was walking by. There were apologies, and embarrassed faces, but it made for a great memory for the Hero.

The Hero's mother left the Church of Christ to become Catholic and marry his father in the Catholic Church. There were actually long years of persecution by her family for choosing to change her faith.

Lillian Sackley Ellsworth, his grandmother and her ancestors as well as his grandfather, Edward N Ellworth, and his ancestors were Catholic. I found the Heimbach family in Germany in Catholic church records. I found the proof for the spelling of the Aylwards in Prince Edward Island Catholic Church records.

The Hero' GreatGrandFather. Found on FamilySearch.org

He completed his Catechism study. It has changed since he took the lessons. He took his first Holy Communion. He was an alter boy. At one time, he thought he might want to be a priest.
Then he met a young lady and married her, only to have her divorce him. Because he was a good guy and knew it would be ugly, he would not go through the process to have the divorce annulled by Catholic Church, therefore he left the faith of his ancestors when he when he asked me to marry him. His new faith would be a topic for a different blog post.

Created by Hummer

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Was Concerned About His County Early

2011-08-28T18:38:00.000-05:00

At an early age, the Hero was drawn to politics and righting the wrongs of the world. At Jr High age, he listened to the news. One night he heard someone talking about communism in the world and its dangers. He was distraught his history teacher had not spoken of this. The second night of listening, he heard about a film that he could get that was for informing the community about the dangers of communism. He was fired up.
He began by asking his history teacher if he could have an after school meeting that it would be about current events regarding communism. The answer was yes as long as there was a supervisor there. He called the number he had gotten from the radio, and arranged for someone to come to the school the day scheduled and show the film. He made up a letter explaining about the film and asking for permission for the students to come to it, and sent it out to their parents. The responses came back positive, and the stage was set.
Unfortunately for him, someone, I don't know if he ever knew who it was, called the principal's office and complained and asked for it to be stopped. It must have been someone of influence, because they had him cancel the film showing and suspended him a couple of days for organizing it. He was dumbfounded and could not understand why his parents would not stand up for him. (When he told me about this, he was still perplexed as to why when there had been notes of consent, and there had been full disclosure that this happened. ) He did not remember who he had been listening to but even at adulthood, he said the message had made a mark on his understanding of the danger to his beloved United States of America.

I have searched for what film it could have been and have decided that the film was probably from the John Birch Society or Young American's For Freedom, which was started in Houston. Which ever, the Hero was conservative and never deviated in his belief that there was a fight against evil for this country. He wanted his children to have freedom, and the ability to choose. That was a decision made when he was in Jr High. I never even thought about it in Jr High. He was a man of deep convictions.

Sentimental Sunday ... The Hero Was a Prude

2011-08-21T09:12:00.002-05:00

I discovered that the Hero was a prude when he made a fashion mistake for "me".
When we were dating, he always made chatter of being worldly when he was young and how into the social groups he was. I thought for sure he was a man of the world when we were married. On the other hand he chose a girl from a small town in Oklahoma.
We lived when the new fad of "Hot Pants" came to the fashion world. Trying not to blush here, but the Hero always thought I had good looking legs, so it was natural to him that when the Hot Pants came out he took me to purchase a pair. The emphasis here is He took Me out to purchase them.

Hummer in Hot Pants.

I wore them over to his grandmother's where we celebrated Mother's Day with my parents and his, all was fine...other than my dad rolling his eyes. About a week later, he took me out to eat at a nice restaurant. At his suggestion, I wore the Hot Pants. He escorted me in with a beaming smile. At some point during the evening, I excused myself to the powder room. I was surprised when I came back to see him looking furtively around the room. Of course, I asked what was wrong. His answer set me back in my seat. "All the men in the room are looking at you." That of course was not true, but someone must have, because then and there he decided I wouldn't wear the Hot Pants out again in public. His wife wasn't going to be "looked" at in a "lewd" manner. I am smiling as I write this because you have to know that I was lucky he didn't pull the table cloth off and wrap it around me as we left.

You have a wonderful day, I did just writing this. He was so cute and wonderful.

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero Made Sure His Grandsons Were Texan

2011-08-15T00:09:00.000-05:00

When my daughter was pregnant with her last child, the Hero was distraught that his grandchild was going to be born in Idaho, not Texas. (oh mercy). When she discovered, she was having twins. He was really beside himself, and began to scheme.
In his mind, if they were born over Texas soil then they would still be Texans. This was important for him. He decided he would send a bag of Texas soil to them. Redbeard could put the bag on the floor, then they would be born over Texas soil.
When I went up to stay and help the month before they were born he made sure the bag of soil was in my suitcase. He extracted a promise from the couple that they would do as he asked. They were game, Redbeard thought it would be fun.

The twins were born over the bag of Texas soil. Redbeard was so excited when he looked out their hospital window and saw the Texas Flag flying over the Texas Roadhouse on the next block.

This should have been enough for the Hero, but no... He wrote to the Governor Rick Perry's office and told them about the soil, the flag, and asked if they could be made honorary Texas Citizens. Lo and Behold... They said yes, and sent certificates to the twins.
They are honorary Texans to carry out their grandfather's wishes that they be born as close to Texas as he could get them.

Got Dirt?

This is not the bag, but it is just like what he sent. He was so funny.

Sentimental Sunday... A Slice of Life from the Hero Stories

2011-08-08T01:39:00.000-05:00

Slice of Life has given the prompt this week to write about 'If I could turn back time.'

That is a dangerous subject for a widow, but I have a wonderful comforting story that goes with the prompt.
When the Hero and I had been married two years, we came to a point in our marriage that many young couple face. Our goals and interests had pulled us in separate directions. He was involved in creating products for his dad's building materials company and an helping it grow. I was involved in nursing school and becoming a professional. We had a little daughter that we both loved dearly, but struggled to focus on family time. We felt our relationship falling apart. A friend invited us to go to a new movie that was out. We thought great! We haven't been on a date in ages. We went. Three hours later we were sitting on our couch at home crying for what we thought was a lost marriage. (Don't ever go to a movie about a broken marriage ending in divorce to bring yourselves together. Not a good thing.) We looked at each other and wondered if we would ever be the same.
Divine providence, God, whatever name you want to put with it, played a hand in our lives. A few weeks later, the Hero was asked to go to a business meeting in El Paso which was 600+ miles away. He wanted to go, but decided he would only go if his family could go with him and the trip would be by car. His dad hem and hawed then conceded.
There are many stories that came out of this trip, but the most important that we shared with everyone was the discovery we made and never let go of.
In the long trip to El Paso, ( anyone who has traveled across Texas knows... it is a LONG trip) we began to visit. We started sharing what our hopes were for our work, for our child, for our individual life and together. We actually talked the entire trip out to El Paso only to stop to sleep. In gaining insight into each other, we began to feel the love we had for each other blossoming again. We saw the person we had married again. It was exhilarating. We were excited. The Hero got food poisoning, and didn't make it to all his meetings, but we had plenty of one on one time together and with our little sweetie. It was heart expanding to experience our family becoming the core of our lives again.

By the time we made it back to Houston, we had turned back time to start over again. We were one again, with the resolve to never let our relationship deteriorate again. Our discovery was to share, to talk, to spend time together, not letting that which was not most important interfere with the most important. It worked for another 35 years until the Hero left this life. I am grateful for that time and for a Heavenly Father that provided the opportunity, a Hero that desired wholeheartedly for his marriage to be whole, my heart was there also. He is missed. There might be a better way to write the story, but it is very near and dear to my heart, and I am stretching trying to write about it. Hugs.

Tombstone Tuesday Or How A Death Certificate Helped Find The Grave

2011-08-02T17:15:00.000-05:00

Walter Vance's tombstone had eluded me.

Three Children, one Grandchild

My mother-in-law said her father died in Fresno, and that she and her siblings had driven out to Fresno to bury him. I had the California Death information from online so didn't consider purchasing a Death Certificate until I had called all the Fresno Mortuaries from the 1945 era without any results. The Death Certificate became the focused way to find out who handled the burial.
Since I was not a blood descendant... granddaughter-in-law ..., and California Death Certificate applications require relationship, my daughter and I went on a genealogy trip to Fresno County Hall of Records. When we stepped inside the building it was like stepping back in time. The decor is still 1930-1940's.

We, I say we because I brought all my genealogy information on Walter, filled out the application and handed it to the lady behind the desk. She was surprised at the date. "1945?" she asked. We nodded our heads and smiled. Off she went and in less than 5 minutes she was back with the Death Certificate.

It had the Yost and Webb Mortuary as the embalmers. They are the oldest Funeral home in the area. Investigating the document further, it said "Removal" in the burial information. Now what did that mean?
Since I was sitting outside the Fesno Zoo for the afternoon fun part of the trip for the toddlers, I called my daughter in Idaho (don't you love having a network to assist) and got the phone number of the Funeral home from her. A quick call, the miracle of computers, and an understanding member of the funeral home revealed they had removed his body to Bakersfield. There wasn't any notation as to which funeral home it was they had removed him too.
The next day I began my calls to Mortuary/Funeral Homes in Bakersfield. The first one said to call the Greenlawn Mortuary in Bakersfield as they were one of the oldest funeral homes. A quick internet look revealed they had built their chapel in 1941. Perfect. Another call. The lady who answered was so sweet. She looked immediately and came back to the phone saying he is buried in the Slumberland lawn. My heart was so full! First try, and they knew exact space3, lot A and block 71 that he was buried in.
On Sunday we would go down and see if there was a stone still there.
Sunday arrived. After church, we drove to Bakersfield. The same Lady I talked with on the phone was at the desk. Bless her heart, she had everything there. She gave me a copy of their index card.

We followed the map and there was the grave on a quiet slope.

The daughter and family who helped make it happen while I visited them.

Looking at the picture of the children at the grave in 1945, it appears to be the same spot.

I still would have missed it on an index. Who would have looked for the nickname "Bob" that didn't have anything to do with his name. Go figure.

I will share with you in another post about the new parts of Walter's life we learned from the Death Certificate.

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero and an Orange Bus story finished.

2011-07-31T06:00:00.001-05:00

The rest of the story...
We started back to Texas from Vernal, UT. The Hero was stressed because it had taken so long to get the bus running that he was 2 days late starting back. His decision was to not stop. That he would drive as far as he could then I would drive and vice versa. I figured sure why not.
As we dropped down to moved off the mountain roads to Interstate 70 in Colorado, the Hero advised me to lie down with the baby. He would drive as long as he could. This was not unusual, so I went to sleep with the baby.

Eisenhower Tunnel Colorado

I am not sure how long I slept, but I was a wakened by the sound of big trucks, and motorcycles, and flashing lights. I sat up and saw what I heard flying by our VW bus. I was overwhelmed. "What is happening? I feel like I am in a Start Trek movie at warp speed." I called to the Hero in the front.
He started laughing. "We are in the Eisenhower Tunnel. I am gearing down to keep from going too fast."
I felt like I had just entered panic mode. (I will digress here and explain an old VW bus's brakes. Not so hot. We did not have power disc brakes. This was a do it yourself-er. I tried to find an explanation on the internet, but failed. Suffice it to say, our main holding brake system was the emergency brake. Oh that is another story... shifting on a hill.)
I was now wide awake and shifted up to sit by the Hero in front. Panic set in that our baby was in the back asleep on the bed and we were plummeting down this tunnel. I could not see an opening ahead. The 18 wheelers were petrifying me. I was amazed at how in control the Hero was. He concentrated on the keeping the speed within manageable range by downshifting. He did not ride the brakes as I would have. I do have to say, he had driven big Mack trucks for their cement company, so he was familiar with using gears. On the other hand, he had not driven in the mountains in a truck.
Finally after what seemed forever, we came out of the tunnel. The road evened out and I could breath. Now I am thankful for the tunnel it makes travel easier, at that time I was not so sure. I thought it was insanity.
When we arrived at Denver, the Hero was exhausted. I was not well rested (no duh), so we found a rest stop to pull over at and slept for the rest of the night.

It was fine, and he was my Hero.

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero another Orange Bus story

2011-07-24T23:40:00.000-05:00

Hummer's Orange Bus Scrapbook page.

Our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has a program called home teaching. The men of the church are assigned families to visit and assist in spiritual teaching as well as any other needs their assigned families stand in need of. The Hero felt very privileged to be a home teacher and took his assignment very seriously. One of his assignments was a young man in his twenties who joined the church, but no one else in his family was a member. The Hero liked the young man's family and made friends with them while visiting. The young man went off on a mission for 2 years, but the Hero kept writing him and visiting his family to support them. At the end of 2 years the young man came back and soon he was getting married. The young girl's family was from Salt Lake so they decided to be married at the Salt Lake Temple. The Hero and I were invited. We were broke, had 3 children, worked, but the Hero said we are needed because the young man's family will need a familiar face and support since they will not be able to go into the Temple.
We farmed our 2 oldest children in Oklahoma at my parents, and took our little son with us. We were clueless how we would find a babysitter. Just after we passed Colorado, we heard a funny noise from the back of the bus. The Hero investigated, and came back with the news that one of our bearings was going out. If we drove carefully, we should make the trip to Salt Lake, but would have to repair it before starting back.
We made it to Salt Lake. The wedding was beautiful and the family was lovely. I can not tell you more about that because the week after stands out more in my mind.
When the wedding was over, the Hero called the repair shops in Salt Lake... Saturday afternoon, everything was closed. He called the young man who had taught us about the church and now lived in Vernal. Wayne knew a shop in Vernal who could fix the car and we could stay with his family until it was fixed. That excited us both. What a fun thing to do. I loved it because I learned how to dry apples on a screen out in the sun, and met the loveliest people.
Monday came, the Hero went to the foreign auto shop and came back disgruntled. They did not have the bearings and did not work on VW's. On the other hand they were nice enough to order the bearing for him. He would have to put them on himself. This was tricky for two reasons. Our trip had just been extended another two days... his employer was trying to be nice, and he had never put on bearings by himself ever.
They arrived the next day, he jacked up the rear of the car and proceeded to remove the wheel and the old bearing, keeping in mind all the steps so he could put it back together.
Things went well with the first wheel...(he said you need to replace both sides at the same time) then a disaster happened on the second one. First, he dropped the bearing in the sand (we were at a logging company area) and second he had hit it wrong slightly bending the rim knocking it into the sand. Wayne's brother got him a bowl of gasoline to clean the bearing with. When I got the baby down to sleep, I took a diamond deb fingernail file and began to slowly smooth out the rim, and sat visiting with him to calm him down. Yep, he was upset. At about 1am, I had the rim smoothed to where the ball bearings moved correctly. The Hero was able to apply the bearing, and was able to fall on the bed in a relaxed sleep.
He said I was his peace and calming force. Next week I will share with you the trip home.

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero and an Orange Bus story

2011-07-17T23:33:00.000-05:00

The first experience the Hero and I had of desert like weather was when we went to Arizona to visit. It was mid to late May. In Texas it was already very warm to hot. We packed accordingly. It was before the days of internet checking weather.

While we were there, we visited the Grand Canyon with his sister, and a some ghost towns. It was cold at the Grand Canyon and we had to borrow coats to when we explored.

The Hero with daughter #2, a niece, daughter #1, nephew and moi.

Our time visiting the Hero's sister was wonderful. The time in Mesa was wonderful. Then, it was time to go back home. We made our plans to go through the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest on the way back. We wanted to see as much as we could because a trip was a premium item for us. After fond good byes, we headed back toward Texas. The trip through the Painted Desert was hot and dry. I look back now and think why didn't I take pictures of the family with the landscape. Books with pictures of the Painted Desert landscape are readily available in stores and on the internet. My family at the Painted Desert is not there and won't be, because I took a picture of what the desert looked like. Take a lesson from me and make memories that count.

The trip through the Painted Desert took longer than we anticipated. We looked at the map and recognized that it was too far to make it to a camping ground that evening. At the end of the Park gates was a large parking area, we pulled over, ate supper, and read stories until the girls fell asleep. The Hero, sat his table outside on the ground next to the van so we could make the girls bed on the floor and we could sleep in the back. It got chilly and we ended up with all of us snuggled on the bed. The Hero woke up first, and began to clean up the sleeping gear so I could make breakfast. He discovered it was COLD (a note here, it was cold but not freezing, however the Hero thought anything below 70 was freezing, lol). He opened the door, then closed it quickly. His decision was that we were driving on to find a place to go to the bathroom and eat breakfast. I started dressing the girls as he drove. From the front of the van about a half an hour down the road I heard.... "Oh no!" I responded with "What is wrong?" (Head slap) "I forgot to pick up the table. It is sitting on the side of the road." Deep sigh from the Hero, "I guess, I'll have to make another."
Another lesson. Don't rush off from your camp, you will always forget something.

Wordless Wednesday, Wondering Where and When.

2011-07-13T00:40:00.006-05:00

William Steve Sackley B1867 in Chicago. I think this is a theme photograph taken in Chicago. There isn't any marks on the side or back to prove this. I am guessing this is in the early 1900's maybe 20's. Terrible at identifying clothing times. This isn't the first time a Sackley Photograph has stumped me. Click here to see the post.

FamilySearch Indexing Update

2011-07-11T16:23:00.000-05:00

I received an email from Paul Nauta of FamilySearch Indexing on the update of the new Indexing projects. Oh wow, we are going to need some help! By joining us the research material can become available to you sooner. We will need some with language skills too!

It was such a long list I decided to share with you on here. If you are not an indexer yet, click here to join us at IndexingFamilySearch

Created by Hummer with County Family Tree

New Projects Added

· Argentina, Córdoba, Bell Ville—Registros Parroquiales, 1759–1946
(Argentina, Cordoba, Bell Ville—Parish Registers, 1759–1946)

· Brasil, Rio de Janeiro—Cartões de Imigração, 1900–1965 [Part C]
(Brazil, Rio de Janeiro—Immigration Cards, 1900–1965 [Part C])

· Brasil, Rio de Janeiro—Cartões de Imigração, 1900–1965 [Parte D]
(Brazil, Rio de Janeiro—Immigration Cards, 1900–1965 [Part D])

· Canada, Ontario—Births, 1869–1912 [Part B]

· Chile, Concepción—Registros Civiles, 1885–1920 [Parte 3]
(Chile, Concepción—Civil Registration, 1885–1920 [Part 3])

· Deutschland, Baden-Württemberg, Emmendingen—Kirchenbücher, 1810–1869
(Germany, Baden-Württemberg, Emmendingen—Church Books, 1810–1869)

· Deutschland, Brandenburg, Posen—Kirchenbücher, 1794–1874
(Germany, Brandenburg, Posen—Church Books, 1794–1874)

· Deutschland, Mecklenburg, Schwerin—1867 Volkszählung
(Germany, Mecklenburg, Schwerin—1867 Census)

· España, Sevilla—Nacimientos Civiles, 1844–1874
(Spain, Sevilla—Civil Births, 1844–1874)
In partnership with GenSevilla

· Estonia—Lutheran Church Books, 1603–1940 [Part B]

· France, Coutances—Registres Paroissiaux, 1802–1907 [Part 2]
(France, Coutances—Parish Registers, 1802–1907 [Part 2])

· France, Quimper et Leon, Brest, Notre Dame des Carmes—RegistresParoissiaux, 1771– 1909
(France, Quimper et Leon, Brest, Notre Dame des Carmes—Parish Registers, 1771–1909)
In partnership with Cercle Généalogique du Finistere

· Guatemala—Registros Civiles, 1800–1900 [Parte B]
(Guatemala—Civil Registration, 1800–1900 [Part B])

· Honduras, Tegucigalpa—Registros Parroquiales, 1684–1930
(Honduras, Tegucigalpa—Parish Registers, 1684–1930)

· Italia, Mantova—Registri Civili, 1806-1815
(Italy, Mantova—Civil Registration, 1806–1815)

· Italia, Napoli, Castellammare di Stabia—Atti di Nascita, 1809–1885 [Part 1]
(Italy, Napoli, Castellammare di Stabia—Birth Records, 1809–1885 [Part 1])

· Italia, Napoli, Castellammare di Stabia—Atti di Morte, 1889–1924 [Part 2]
(Italy, Napoli, Castellammare di Stabia—Death Records, 1809–1885 [Part 2])

· Italia, Torino, Torre Pellice—Atti di sepoltura, 1692–1969
(Italy, Torina, Torre Pellice—Burial records, 1692–1969)

· Italie, Turin, Torre Pellice—Registres paroissiaux 1692–1969 [Partie1A]
(Italy, Turin, Torre Pellice—Parish Registers, 1692–1969 [Part 1A])
In partnership with Cercle Généalogique du Finistere

· Mexico, Aguascalientes—Nacimientos 1860-1921
(Mexico, Aguascalientes—Birth Records, 1860–1921)

· Philippines, Lingayen-Dagupanâ—Registros Parroquiales, 1615–1982 [Part 2]
(Philippines, Lingayen-Dagupanâ—Parish Registers, 1615–1982 [Part 2])

· Polska, Diecezja Lublin—Księgi Metrykalne, 1864–1948 [Część 2]
(Poland, Diocese of Lublin—Church Books, 1864–1948 [Część 2])
In partnership with Lubelskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne

· Sverige, Södermanland—Kyrkoböcker, till 1860 [Del 2]
(Sweden, Sodermanland—Church Records, to 1860 [Part 2])

· Sverige, Uppsala—Kyrkoböcker, till 1860 [Del 2]
(Sweden, Uppsala—Church Records, to 1860 [Part 2])

· Sverige, Örebro—Kyrkoböcker, till 1860 [Del 2]
(Sweden, Örebro—Church Records, to 1860 [Part 2])

· U.S., Alabama—County Marriages, 1809–1950 [Part B]

· U.S., Alaska—1930 Federal Census

· U.S., American Samoa and Guam—1930 Federal Census

· US, Illinois—Northern District Naturalization Index Cards, 1840–1950

· U.S., Indiana, Fountain County—Marriages, 1811–1959
In partnership with Indiana Genealogical Society

· U.S., Indiana, Fulton County—Marriages 1811–1959
In partnership with Indiana Genealogical Society

· U.S., Iowa—County Marriages, 1838–1992 [Part B]

· U.S., Nevada—1930 Federal Census

· U.S., North Carolina—County Marriages, 1762–1959 [Part C]

· U.S., Ohio, Franklin County—Marriage Records, 1929–1951

· U.S., Oregon—County Marriages, 1851–1975 [Part A]

· U.S., Vermont—Vital Records, 1760–1954 [Part C]

· U.S., Virgin Islands—1930 Federal Census

· U.S., West Virginia—Naturalization Records, 1814–1991
In partnership with West Virginia State Archives

· U.S.—Registers of Enlistment in the U.S. Army, 1798–1913

· Česká Republika (Tschechien), Litoměřice—Matriky, 1552–1905 [část 1C]
(Czech Republic, Litomerice—Church Books, 1552–1905 [Part 1C])

· Österreich, Oberösterreich, Steyr—Kirchenbücher, 1601–1906
(Austria, Upper Austria, Steyr—Church Books, 1601–1906)

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero and a Spider Bite

2011-07-10T03:10:00.000-05:00

Grandchildren, I will digress from our orange bus stories to tell you a story of our spider bite anniversary. The story came to mind when we were talking about spiders in the T's room. I was telling her about her mom's spider bite... that will be for another story. Discussing it with Em, brought to mind the story of the Hero not telling me about a spider bite.

I keep essential oil at all times. The spider picture came in an email, no person to attribute to, the bite is in keeping with what the hero's bite looked like when I first saw it, the map is from National Atlas

We had planned for several months on going to Oklahoma for our anniversary. I wanted to find my great grandfather B D Langley's grave in Frisco, OK and visit the Cherokee Heritage Center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The first mission was accomplished and I will blog about it at another time. We headed on to Tahlequah for the Heritage Center.
When we arrived, the Hero said his leg hurt. I thought he meant from tramping around the hilly graveyard. No, I found out that evening (6PM of course on a Friday night) that he meant his leg HURT. I looked at the area he was talking about and my head spun with "what do I do with this?" I asked him if anything had bitten him. He said that he had felt a bite two days before at the office. He had looked under his desk and saw a small spider. The bite had not looked to be anymore than a small red dot, so he had forgotten about it. Well, when I finally saw it, the color of the skin was purple reddish with a black necrotic (dead tissue ) area in the center, swollen and a red streak starting up his leg from the bite. Big sigh. It looked like a brown recluse spider bite. (I was a RN at the time). It was too late to go to the pharmacy, actually everything was closed in the small town by that time. We did not have insurance to go to the hospital, which he wouldn't have done anyway. I was his nurse, I should fix it. I racked my brain for a home remedy I could use to stop the apparent infection that was starting. Looking in my bag, I found 3 essential oils, lemon, clove, and lavender. I had some alcohol, and band aids. I had a needle and tweezers. Big sigh. First, I put clove oil around the bite to reduce pain (it helped), then I scrubbed the area with warm soapy water. After cleaning it, I took the needle and tweezers and began to debride (take off the dead tissue) the wound. Yes, it was painful and he was awesome at handling it. After I had removed most of the dead tissue, I cleansed it again, applied clove oil and then lavender oil followed by olive oil to the wound to protect it, the put on a band aid. I applied lemon oil diluted with olive oil to the red streak down towards the wound. He took three asprin and fell asleep.
The next day it looked better, but we repeated the steps above. This continued for the rest of the trip. It did not stop us from enjoying the Cherokee Heritage Center and exploring the surrounding areas. We loved Eastern Oklahoma.We loved being together.
When we got home five days later, the area was scaring, but the red streak was gone. I talked him into going to see our family doctor. The doctor was a friend of mine and said "good job, but let's do one round of antibiotics just in case." The scar never went away, but we had been able to prevent a horrible infection with awful consequences that I have seen with Brown Recluse Spider bites. I found out later, if we had had raw garlic that that would have worked too. I used it with my children later and it worked like a charm. Useful knowledge when you live in an area inundated with spiders. (Funny note: your uncles will use the garlic, they will not use the essential oils. ) : P Hope you never have a problem like this, but it is good to have a bag of home remedies that you can fall back on just in case.

Follow Friday Great Missouri Treasure Hunt

2011-07-08T03:50:00.000-05:00

Missouri State Archives is having a Great Missouri Treasure Hunt. The Missouri Genealogy Research Community on Facebook suggested this would be fun to do and to share finds and methods to help others. This sounds like my kind of fun. As the picture above shows, I have spent some time searching in Missouri, and it still holds some mysteries for me too. Click here to find out about the prizes, categories, and dates of the Treasure Hunt. If you have someone or information to find in Missouri, what better time to do it.

Happy Fourth of July! Sharing a Slice of Life: Patriotism

2011-07-04T01:00:00.002-05:00

United States Flag in Texas taken by Hummer

The Fourth of July has always been a favorite holiday of our family, both past and present. We love the beauty of the fireworks in the sky. And the national anthem always comes to our lips and mind as we hear the cannon sounds along with the bursts of color flying through the air.
Texasblu of Sharing a Slice of Life put up the prompt for Patriotism.
The Hero and I spent a year studying the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. One of his favorite books, well all of ours, was 'The Proper Role of Government' by Ezra Taft Benson, Secretary of Agriculture in the 50's and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Hero was a staunch defender of the Declaration and Constitution. He had strong feelings about the way our country was going. I always expected him to get up in arms or call for the Militia... but his feeling was we would do better to teach true principles of how man should treat man and how the Bible taught the principles of governing ourselves. He thought if people knew truth and true principles they would not be deceived by men with desires of power. I am probably not explaining well, he was the articulate one in the family. What he did do, was instill in his children not only a love for their country, but the feeling they should be involved in having a say about their country. They fly the flag, have read the all the above books, are registered voters, keep up on current events, and stand for truth. I had a part in this, but he was the zealous one.

My wonderful family, picture taken by Hummer

Today, my daughter dressed her small daughters in Red, White, and Blue dresses. She and her husband wore red, white, and, blue. The surprising thing was no one else in her church wore any of the countries colors.
Tomorrow, the Fourth, we will have the standard watermelon, blueberries and whipped cream and watch the fireworks after a barbeque. I hope your Fourth of July is filled with flag waving, fireworks, family and maybe even some local speeches. : )

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero and Our First Orange Bus Trip

2011-07-03T03:18:00.000-05:00

We were on a trip to Louisiana for the company. The meetings were over late. We did not relish driving back to Houston late at night, but it was needful.

Off we started, I was in the shot gun seat reading to the Hero. This was our usual method of traveling. He drove and I read. Reason, he was auditory and I was visual. We were traveling down a two lane road. It became slow because we came upon a couple of trucks. We had a CB going and he began listening to their chatter. Finally, he became tired watching their lights and decided to pass. As he pulled out, the trucks started parting on the road, he slowed down wondering what was going on. Luckily he did, because he saw two glowing eyes ahead. The truckers started whooping and hollering "Did you see that? Black as night and huge!" The Hero joined in with "thought it was going to be hamburgers tonight". They all joked back and forth for a little. A herd of Angus cattle were strewn across the road. Somehow the truckers and the Hero had managed to wind through them and none were hit, a miracle with them traveling down the road at 55+ mph. We were shaken, but grateful that we came through unscathed. This was a memorable night for the Hero. A story he told several times.

Lesson grandchildren... Pay attention when you are driving, you never know what may be ahead especially late at night when you can not see well. If you feel you should slow down, listen and do so, it could save your life and others.

COG 107 - The Seasons Of Genealogy: Not What I Thought I Would Be

2011-07-01T01:29:00.001-05:00

Created by FootnoteMaven

As I read the topic for the 107th Carnival of Genealogy, I immediately began to contemplate what season I was most active in doing my genealogy.

This was not hard. I do genealogy pretty much 24/7 and all year round. I have a quote on my emails "Genealogy is not just a pastime; it's a passion."-Mary Harrell-Sesniak-. My children would say, "yep, pretty much".

In the spring time of my life, I would steal any time I could to go to the library. I have to say that the Hero was helpful as much as he could be. I loved the books and films. There is just something invigorating about seeing shelves of books and possibilities.

As I moved into the summer of my life, research became more difficult. I worked, the Hero became ill, and children decided to get married. (really!; rolling eyes) I still was able to surf the internet, index, and compile my family tree in my spare hours. I thought, not so bad, when I reach the fall of my life I will go to the library all day long, travel to family sites, research to my hearts content.

Now that I am in the fall of my life, I am discovering that it is not as I had thought. I have children who seem to need me more as adults than when they were teenagers. There are the grandchildren that need family stories told to. Finances are definitely not wonderful, so trips have been for family not research. Am I stopped from working? Not at all. When I arrive at a child's house, they realize that wifi internet is an essential part of my visit, and mom will be up a bit late working because the day was spent making memories. I still steal moments at the library, and play on the internet. Genealogy life is pretty good.

I wonder now what the winter of my life will be. Crossing my fingers and toes that the search will go on, and I will be able to break down the brick walls and find the wives parents that have eluded me.

I love genealogy and accept that it is not a pure science nor is it easily pursued. It does give one a thrill in the pursuit of finding a factual source of ancestors.

It is definitely a passion for me that does not have "seasonal bounds".

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero, the Orange VW Bus saga begins

2011-06-26T15:00:00.001-05:00

I really hope you won't get tired of the Orange VW bus. It was a fun time that the Hero and I had. It was a learning curve for him and myself. I had never driven a floor stick shift before. Especially one that stuck 3 foot up in the air almost between the two seats.
Moving right along.

The first task the Hero attacked was to turn the back seat into a "bed seat". He took a sheet of plywood, cut it to the size of the back seat bottom and a matching piece for the back. He then bought some hinges and attached them together to allow the back to be laid flat. His hardest endeavor was to fasten the back up when it was supposed to be being used as a seat. Some way he managed to find a piece that he attached to the back of the seat that a pole could be inserted in. Then on the base of the back seat he found a pole on a hinge. I am clueless where he found everything. After a week, he had himself a bona fide seat that laid down into a bed that he had constructed all by himself. Yes, he was doing the dance. I was left to pad and upholster. It was a bit warm as part of the bed was over the engine.
Next he turned his attention to making a table. That was easier. The holder in the floor and the bottom of the table was available at Van stores. He just had to cut the table to size and attach. His only problem was he would have to set the table out when we made down beds. That is for another story.
He bought blinds for the sides and back, but for the front windows, he had me make screens with Velcro to attach them. He thought of everything. This was his VAN, and he was the creator of it's personality. I so wish I had a picture of him with it, but that time period appears to be missing in pictures, just present in my mind.

Sentimental Sunday... Happy Father's Day Hero

2011-06-19T22:37:00.000-05:00

I made a collage of some of the impacting moments of the Hero's life. The first child, the first son, a son achieving Eagle Scout, the first grandchild, the daughter he saved her and her child and got to celebrate the first birthday with, his favorite dog, and of course... me. The only disappointing thing was the only picture of the entire group together was at his funeral. We all miss him terribly, but are so glad he was the father he was. He would fly 2000 miles to see a granddaughter baptized. Sit in the hospital with a child who was close to death. He loved to hold them and more than anything else wanted to see them achieve what they could be and be happy.
God was good to our family. Happy Father's Day Hero!

Follow Friday A New Missouri Research Help Site.

2011-06-17T15:27:00.000-05:00

Follow Friday, I am highlighting another state research community on Facebook. FamilySearch has added another favorite state of mine. Oh, did I say favorite, hmm maybe not. How about a much visited state to search for ancestors. My grandfather was born in Missouri and his grandparents came there in the 1820's.
Research in Missouri is not always easy, not necessarily because of the records. Rather because of the attitudes of many of the early settlers, case in point Daniel Boone.
Daniel said the reason he went to the upper Missouri under Spanish rule was because one, the description by other men who had been there, "These men talked of the beauty of that region: they had stories to tell of the grizzly bears, buffaloes, deer, beavers, and otters..."1.
Daniel went to Missouri for elbow-room. He was looking for less government involvement in his life. It worked for a short while under Spanish rule then American enterprise came upon his again and he submitted this time. Just one example of those that went there because the east was "crowding them" 1.

I put a link below to his book written originally in 1844. It has great insights into a pioneer mindset.

FamilySearch as started the Missouri Genealogy Research Community on FaceBook.
It is based on the principles of Ask a question, Find an answer, and Teach others what you know.
Stop by and join in the conversation or share a story about an area, ask if anyone knows a surname. We hope to see you there. Yes, I already liked Missouri and it comes in my wall feed when someone has something to say. One person said 'Y'all will never known what you will find in Missouri..there is a reason it is the Show ME! state'
Would love to have fun with you as I tear my hair out searching for my hard headed Missourians who eventually became Okies. Go Figure.

1. Daniel Boone: His Own Story By Daniel Boone, Francis Lister Hawkes

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero and the Orange VW Bus

2011-06-12T22:17:00.000-05:00

To my knowledge the only picture we have of it.

The vehicle the Hero bought for our beginning family was an Orange Volkswagen Bus. It had been converted inside by the previous owner to have a "bed" in the back. We traveled frequently to Oklahoma to see my parents and TexasBlu would end up in a makeshift bed in the back seat of our car (back in the day before seat belts). She loved lying and reading her books, so he wanted her to be comfortable. Thus the Bus with a bed in the back. : )
The other reason he bought the Volkswagen was that he had heard they were extremely easy to work on. (Rolling eyes, not sure who was the source of that information). His dad had never taught him how to work on a car. They just always sent it to a garage to get fixed. He decided, given our financial situation, he needed to learn to work on his car himself. Wa-la, easy to fix VW. We were blissfully ignorant of our life to come.
First, no one worked on VW's except VW dealerships or specialized garages. Expensive.

This is similar, but it seemed the one we had was a lot tighter in the area.

Second, The bus, he found out, was not like the basic VW. It had a Porsche engine with dual carburetors. He found out he had to check the battery fluid. Hmmm. Where was it... oh yes, down under the carburetor and to the back... He had to buy a special mirror to be able to view it. Just things like that...
Third, it was a stick shift. Oh lots of experiences with that.
Well, this was a preview. He had many stories come out of owning the VW bus and had a love/hate relationship with it for years. For the next few weeks, I will be writing the Orange Volkswagen Bus Adventures, or how the Hero learned to be a mechanic. ; )

This is the Face of Genealogy

2011-06-05T21:08:00.000-05:00

I did not have a desire to go see the picture in question. I have seen enough of undesirable ads and pictures on papers, and the side bars on the internet to know if Thomas of Geneabloggers and an 11 year old genealogist are upset, I will support the endeavor.

The Hero and his Twin with Family

This is my Face of Genealogy. I love everyone in this picture and it is a beginning for my family. The Hero as an infant and a Mother in Law who had been through it to advise my daughter with her twins.

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero Was a Young Entrepreneur

2011-06-05T09:39:00.000-05:00

While I was still playing with paper dolls, my Hero was already figuring out how to make money. During the summer of his 8 and 9th years, he and his brother would make a lemonade stand. It would last until mom recognized her glasses outside. He branched out in his Junior High years. His dad would bring home sugar cane from a farm near by and the Hero would stand on the side of the street with a sign... "For Sale" and sale his sugar cane stalks. He would tell me this story every time we would go to Louisiana and see the sugar cane fields. He was proud of understanding Free Enterprise at an early age.
Oh Grandchildren, I have a wealth of stories to tell you about your GranddadE and his ability to dream and endeavor to achieve. He knew how to work and taught his children how to work. He did not believe in sitting back and letting life come to you. He was out making life happen.
Let it be a lesson for you. Never give up trying to do better.

Amanuensis Monday 'Conveyance of Sale of Slave'

2011-05-31T00:40:00.000-05:00

I am new to transcribing but, I was searching for the Hero's family in Henry County and I came across some sales and information about Slaves in the deeds. I thought on Monday's I would share them with my friends. Forgive errors and if you have a better insight, please post in the comments.

Alabama Henry County} Know all men of these presents that I James Kirkland of the County and State aforesaid have barganed and sold in open market according to the Statues in Law one Negro woman about Thirty years old Named Rachal unto Nelles Kirkland of the County of Dale and State a fore said for an a in consideration of the Sales of four hundred Dollars to ? in hand paid of the Said Nelles Kirkland Where of I the said James Kirkland do warrant and defend a ? full Right of said Negro woman unto the said Nelles Kirkland his heirs and assigners from the Law full claime of any other person or persons What soevr unt to him the said Nelles Kirkland witness where of I the said James Kirkland have hear unto set my hand and affixed my seal this 10th day of Januy 1823

Signed Sealed and delivred in person er us
Test hs
John Benefeled James h Kirkland
Samuel Paulk mark

Henry County Deed Book

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero and Memorial Day

2011-05-29T20:09:00.000-05:00

The Hero was proud of having served as a medic in the 4005th Army Medical Corp. He never missed any of his Reserve meetings and loved serving, missed us; but loved serving during the summer. A favorite story of the family about the Hero was when I was delivering our 4th child. It was a long labor, and I was really tired. My doctor, Robert Campbell, had served in Viet Nam War as a medic and then finished his medical degree while in the army. There they were "coaching" me (yeah right), I was drifting in and out with labor pains, and they were swapping medic stories. I would reach up and pat his hand and say...'Hey, a little help here.' They would laugh say a few encouraging words, then go back to their stories. (I still laugh about it.) You have to love them.
His father and grandfathers before him could not serve because of health reasons.
When we were studying his mom's ancestors, he was excited to find in the 1840's two of his ancestors fought and died in the Mexican War. During the Civil War, his great great grandfather fought for the South. He unfortunately caught typhoid and died in 1864.
He was fascinated with the whys of war and the dynamics of war. I have told you when we went to the Genealogy Libraries together, he would find a book to study the how and why things happened. I am just learning that side of genealogy.
When the National Anthem would start, he would be one of the first on his feet with a salute. When the Pledge of Allegiance was said, he would sound out loud and clear with his hand over his heart. He was a patriot. He believed in his country and all it stood for. If he had been asked to, he would have fought for it.
Grandchildren, your granddadE upheld our country and your ancestors fought battles for our country to leave you a better place to live in. Don't take it lightly.

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero Got a Hair Cut...

2011-05-22T16:04:00.000-05:00

Well, sort of.

The 18th was the 35th anniversary of our Temple Sealing. We traveled in an old volkswagen bus from Houston to Mesa, AZ to have the sealing performed in the LDS Mesa Temple. Have I said we were broke before. Well it was true. We had saved up for the trip and there wasn't a lot of spare money.

When we arrived the day before, we camped at a KOA camp ground. The Hero decided to save money by me cutting his hair, because it was a little long. It shouldn't be a problem, just a few clips. Did I tell you the wind was blowing? It was. He sat on a lawn chair and I stood behind, took a deep breath and commenced to start trimming. Unfortunately when I pulled up a piece in the back the wind when whoosh and I went whack at the wrong place. Uh oh... He says "what?" gulp... "maybe you need to run by a barber shop while I watch Texasblu." A little concerned now, but still cool. "Okay, be back in a little while."
Texasblu and Little Miss Sunshine and I all played and read together until he returned. I must say I was a bit apprehensive. I was wondering if he would come back bald. About an hour later, we heard the VW drive up. I peeked out. Whew, he had hair, and , lo and behold, a big grin on his face.
After a hug, he laughingly told me about his barber shop visit. As the barber was putting the protective apron on him, the barber asked "Who's been chewing on your hair?" The Hero laughed and told him what had happened, with a bit of excuse thrown in about the wind for my benefit. The barber laughed and said I thought so, you would be surprised how many hair cuts we have to "fix".
It all turned out well, the hair cut was short but not bald, and it gave the Hero a fun story to tell our future boys about his "chewed" hair cut. (Glad I could be of service.) Nice to have a man with a sense of humor.