Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year... Memories and Present History Report.

First, I want to Thank anyone who has dropped by to read my posts. It does make it feel like it was worth taking the time to research and to share my findings as well as my stories.

I am not a Christmas card person; I have never been one to send them. I have cousins, my aunts, my in-laws, and my mom who were great at sending cards. They would always include a little of their family history as a letter tucked inside or feelings of love written on their card. Those I kept and put in their history. This will be my Christmas letter (inspired by Carol over at Reflections from the Fence to do so).

Christmas has become a bit sad for me as the older generation has passed. No one to share their memories. My sweetheart went home the morning before Christmas Eve. It does make for bittersweet memories. My heart goes out to those experiencing the feeling of mixed feelings of gratitude for those they have lost and sadness of not having them with them.

A bit of my history with Christmas Cards, it was my mom’s thing. Even in the world of her dementia, she found joy in Christmas. Her eyes would light up as the carolers would sing the Christmas songs. It was a ritual that I would bring a box of cards so she could still sign her name and a small thought, sometimes just “I love you”. She really remembered who she was sending it to. I loved that moment of respite from her usual feelings of anger. 

Mary Langley 2017

Now, for a bit of my year… My family of 6 children and 31 grandchildren (before my brother-in-law says 31! I will insert, I have gotten to know my daughter’s two stepchildren and love them too) keep my busy. Aine went to Rome with her husband in March to see the new Church of Jesus Christ’s Rome Temple. I watched her 6 children still at home. I should say 5, the older two work. The youngest is a nonverbal autistic. I was apprehensive at first because of the miles apart and only seeing him maybe once a year the relationship would be considered thin at best. I didn’t have to worry, the older boys assisted in watching him and sometimes interpreting for him. The best part was going to his therapy sessions and learning what they have been doing for him. He has a device that he can choose feelings or words to communicate. He was just starting, but now he is getting better at using it to express himself. That is exciting. They are getting along fine. I was glad to have been able to spend some fun time with Savannah. In August she left on her mission to Denver and is loving it.

#LighttheWorld #givingmachine

Just before I was to come back home, Emily developed problems with her 7^th pregnancy and ended up being life flighted to Salt Lake City for emergency care. Her sweet husband and 6 children were all sick, recovering from the flu. I was glad I had extended my stay with Aine, and that her husband could delay my flight back for a month. The trip down to stay with Emily was not uneventful. My daughter’s windshield wiper went flying off when she turned it on for the snow, to protect the windshield we had to scavenger in the car to find something to go over the loose metal end. We found a stray sock one of the boys had left in the car to fasten over it. We had to travel a good distance to get to a town to get a new wiper blade. My daughter Christina flew up to assist with the sick children and spend time with Emily when she got home. Emily scared us all. All turned out well, I came back home when she was strong enough and she had a cute baby boy about a month later. Scary spring. Tory got glasses AND braces... big deal for her. 

Christina has kept my year hoping. She has the 4 younger children at home and the 4 older ones are making it on their own. Amadeus will leave this coming January for Rexburg, Idaho to go to BYU Idaho. Willie started school this year, and Jamie has started therapy to help with his emotions and coping. I am not expressing that well and it is a story for her to tell. I will say the trip the three of us took up to see the new baby and go by and see my granddaughter leaving on a mission was the hardest I have ever taken. Lexi was baptized. It was a mixed emotion event, excitement that she was being baptized. Sadness because her Grandfather Whitworth just passed away. The funeral was before the baptism.

Edward is doing well. His oldest daughter left in September to go on her mission to Cebu. Marian took her on a trip to New York just after she graduated for her graduation present. My cousin has fallen in love with his son and told him, they would steal him in a minute. I am glad my children have my family to love on them too. The girls are busy performing, playing instruments, and sports.

Cebu, Philippines 

Sarah has had a rough year, that looks like it started off slow and is finishing great. During her husband’s lay off they tried doing Uber Eats. It was not what they had been led to believe it would be. He now has a nice job that enables them to be home much more. Her oldest boy is now 14. He and the baby who is 3 are fast buddies. 

Sean is with a new company and is enjoying working as a foreman on new plumbing construction in Austin, Texas. Downtown Austin is not a favorite of most people to work in and not for him either. He does love the work especially when they do work in historical buildings. He has even worked in the capitol fixing stuff. This fall I went up and he treated me to a delicious dinner at a restaurant that had outside tables with heaters. Fun.

I am president of the Montgomery County Genealogical Society in Montgomery County, Texas for another year. It has been challenging because of finding a place to meet that was consistent. We have, with the help of a stalwart member, fixed up the office that is ours to accommodate holding our meetings there so it will stay the same place. I have been working on a project in my FamilySearch mission to document preserving stuff. It was supposed to be my mom’s and aunt’s family stuff I was given, however, it turned out I was entrusted with a stranger’s stuff to preserve that her family did not want. I had to digitize and categorize pictures, papers and charts. (okay, I just about cried when I found the big box of pictures, especially that she took to time to identify and keep them in family categories. I am in awe of her professional work. Just so sad it was in a trunk in a garage that no one knew of.) I am writing about it and adding what I can to FamilySearch and uploading pictures. I will entrust it to the Society I am president of when I get finished.

With that, I will say Merry Christmas and wishing great blessing for all,

FranE

Where Are Your Roots?

That is a good question and one that many are seeking an answer to by doing DNA test to find their "ethnicity". I did this too, and found that there were parts of my DNA that point to an area I had never consciously looked for. Sweden. My grandfather's name was Whitson. That should have already triggered a way point. As I have been involved in helping others used DNA to try and get past brick walls as well as myself, I have also been considering this question "Where are your roots?"

I considered the question and I realized that for me, my roots are not where my family "came from" rather it is the people I associated with. I, as you know if you have read my blog, had both of my grandmother's live with our family as I was growing up. You might think, "that must have been awesome to have them around to tell stories.". It might have been had I known what to ask. There weren't prompts to do so, or places like FamilySearch to give prompts like #52 Stories Weekly Questions when I was growing up. Oh what a difference that makes today. My grandmother's didn't talk about their past, and the few questions I did ask were quietly moved to the side and answered in a way that, I suppose, was where their minds lay. What I did learn was as I have said before was being spiritual, serving, and cuddling from one. The other was perseverance,  fortitude, and getting along with others.

Thus my roots were planted and nourished by two women who not by words, but actions shaped what kind of person I would become. They were women who had been shaped by both pioneer parents and raising large families. They were of the land and had lived their adult lives during the settling of Oklahoma through the Great Depression. I am sure that is where my tendency to save and never throw anything away comes from. 

on Left Matilda Whitson on right Lenorah Langley

The End of an Era

By the title you might think I mean, a death occurred. Not so. But it is the end of shared moments and fun times for these three lovely ladies that have had a long life of memories together. My mom, her twin, and their niece are the last of their generation living.  My cousin who lives in Virginia has moved her mom, my mom's twin, to be near her. Neither of the twins are able at 89 to make the trip back and forth now, and the niece may or may not fly to see one or the other, she is just a year younger.

Niece is on the left. The twins are on the right.

When they were young they were always together. The niece's mother was 23 years older than her sisters. When her mother died she was raised by her grandmother with her aunts, who were just a year older.

Can you imagine being a mother, grandmother to this group. 

Happy graduation day!

When they were raising their children, because they lived in different states and different towns and they all worked, there were few times they all got together at the same times.

My mom on the left, another sister, the niece, a friend, a niece of a younger generation, and mom's twin.

Then my father and the niece's husband died. That began the times of the three going on summer time adventures until they all retired, then they found time to go on cruises and long trips.
The last 10 years my mom has been in assisted living for a combination of dementia and depression. Her medication has helped her greatly. The result was we would have to get together on the birthday of the twins. My daughter hosted some meetings. Some get-togethers were at my aunts.
I have to admit that I cried the last time we all met, and so did my mom, who realized in spite of her dementia, that this was their last meeting while living. My cousins and I went to great lengths and distances to make sure they had a time to say good bye.

Tombstone Tuesday

A post by Amy Johnson Crow took me to my cemetery pictures to see if I was following her "5 Photos You Should Take at the Cemetery"
I was good.  Whew.  Want to make sure time is not wasted when making the trip and stop.
Below is the picture of my Aunt and Uncle's Parents.  My dad's brother and sister married a brother and sister.  Those are for easy genealogy lines. JI was looking for their tombstones, which I did get, when I noticed most of the Grote family is buried in close proximity, I went ahead a grabbed a picture of  the parents tombstone.

Tombstone for George and Hattie Grote and their son Delbert.

A close up: 

I made sure I could read the epitaph.

"At rest but not forgotten"

The cemetery sign was a must since a huge number of my dad's family is buried there.

I went a little back wards at this, but I did the work. Happy Tombstone Day,

This is for Kenny and his cousins.

Treasure Chest Thursday... Grandchildren.

I have blogged about some of my gene treasures from the past... but today I choose to blog about my gene treasures in the present.  25 grandchildren... Each is such a unique treasure and learning experience.  I love them so very much.  I think I am going to do this each Thursday until I cover all 25.

Number one grandchild was so exciting.  We were all waiting for this treasure. 

Her mom and dad decided to name her Crystal.  Not for any family name, just because they liked it. Isn't that the way is it supposed to be?  

Her early Princess look. 

Her aunts loved dressing her up. Her medieval Princess look. J

Growing up she was so much like Princess Merida... 

This summer she was a really beautiful Princess.
A lovely bride.   

Yep... my first jewel in my treasure box.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Carted His Daughter on His Back

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.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero on Christmas Day

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!

Sharing a Slice of Life #18: Random Picture Day

Our challenge was to take a picture at random from our picture box and blog about it.  Go over to Sharing a Slice of Life to join our fun.  I just read SouthernArkies post about her picture of a sewing room.  What a memory.
If you have visited before you know, I blog about my Hero, my husband every Sunday.  As it happens the Hero is in this picture. 

The picture was taken in my Uncle Ed's kitchen on his farm in Pawnee, Oklahoma about 1973.  The jacket the Hero is wearing was one that I had sewn for him.  He loved it and wore it out.  Also pictured is my dad sitting at the table, and my Uncle Ed standing and rubbing his eye. 
It is a standard kitchen, but it represents what I had always hoped for but never achieved in my own home.  Everyone migrated to the kitchen to visit.  I never had a kitchen to sit in.
When I was growing up, the living room was for formal guests, only family or close friends were invited beyond.  The kitchen was the place you sat down at the table and had a cup of something, and visited.  Old times were talked about.  Card games were played here.  Needs and challenges were discussed. Sometimes tears were shed.   It represents closeness, family, and love. 
The Kitchen, a place where the body and soul were seen and fed. 

Slice of Life Reunions

Texasblu at Slice of Life gave the prompt this week to write about Reunions, family, individual, or your own.

My father's family quit having reunions after two of my aunts had a terrible fight. 

The last family get together with everyone was when I was about 6.

I don't remember the fight, my dad said one sister slapped the other, but he never said why.  The youngest sister, not too long before she died, said it was over jealously.  That was one I never would have guessed.  Of course, it was her side of the story.  They lived in the same town, so if you went to visit one aunt, you had to go visit the other or they would be angry and say you were playing favorites.


It was not pretty and it caused 40 years of pain in a family that had been so close.  They had had holidays together; picked one another up when the other one was down.  The two did make peace with one another when they were about 60ish.  My father captured a weekend he shared with them a year before the oldest died. They sung oldie songs and hymns together. I heard it and it brought back a flood of memories of my years growing up. Sadly, I have to tell you, the tape was on a reel and unfortunately, was lost before we were able to recover it on modern devices.  
The only complete family reunion that happened since the fight (no one took pictures, how sad) was at the death of the oldest sister who never told what happened.
I will say I loved all my father's brother and sisters, and today love their children, my cousins.  We have had a reunion of sorts on the internet with emails.  We bounce back and forth sharing information, pictures, and family information. 
My grandchildren, keep up with our family,  aunt, uncles, cousins, and extended greats and some number removed.  I will tell you it is important.  I will write stories of the past so you can learn from history,  and you begin chronicling your stories for the future family.  We can do this together.  That is what family should be a chain from the past to the future.

Trees

In the spring time, my thoughts turn to trees.  I love trees. When they first start blooming, I am spell bound at the wonderful contrast of colors.

My father loved trees too and would try to capture the personality of trees in sketches.  He was unlearned as far and instruction in drawing goes, but he would really try.  Unfortunately, I only have pictures of his works, because my mother gave away all his pictures to my cousins.  An interesting note was his favorite time to draw a tree was after it had dropped it's leaves, when you could best see it's twists and turns. The picture in the upper left had corner, that you can barely see was typical of his drawings. (If you click on the picture it will be larger for viewing)

I worked for a nursery and the emphasis there was to have straight and true trunks.

I had a hard time, for I love crooked trees and trees that have survived the storms that have battered it.  They have character and form.  They are a testimony that one can survive and fulfill the full measure of your being even with adversity.

This is how I view much of family history.  The tree sometimes looks perfect with all the blanks filled in on paper, but when you delve into the lives of the names, you are filled with awe at the courage, faith, strength, and character you find there.  They had to finish without a body part sometimes like my father and grandfather, or lift up their hands to find a better place to look forward to like the Hero's uncle who struggled with Lou Gehrig's disease, or persevere in spite of  overwhelming odds to raise children without a husband like my grandmother did with 8 children.  Knowing their stories, helps when looking at the challenges in life.  Some times you think, how did they do that.  Other times, it is, I can't possibly have anything to complain about, they had it much worse.  Life is wonderful, full of twists and turns that fills us with character, much like my wonderful trees.

A Present Day Treasure Chest.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. Mine was just about as Ideal as one could be. I spent the first three hours of the day helping with Family History Support. We then put the food together and while it was cooking, we made a memory for the future. We went outside and my granddaughter had her first experience of playing in the leaves. Can you remember your first belly whop into a pile of leaves, or the crunching of leaves under your feet while walking through the woods? It was joyous watching my granddaughter and her dad play in the leaves not worrying about the task, rather focusing on each other. Hope you enjoy the video.

Keeping My Purpose in View

The last few weeks I have been looking back at why I started a genealogy blog.  I was enamored with the new group of bloggers I had found.  I wanted to be a part of their community.  However, I began to look for ways to blog for the day and not accomplish why I started out, which was to inform and pull my family strings together.  I have a quote that expresses the deeper parts of my belief at the end of this blog.  My hope is to find through my blogging, others interested in the same places, times, or people that I am searching.  That has not happened yet.  Some of my blogs have been helpful to cousins and we have begun to share some of our memories to put together for our families.  I want to bring my family to an understanding of the history of their beginnings and what happened along the way.  I love finding out the why and whats of what happened to cause a move, to cause a rift, to set into motion a series of events. The desire is to present the information in a manner my grandchildren would want to read.

I will move back to my task at hand and hopefully keep on it.  If one of the community events fits with the family I will participate. I want it to be clear; I am thankful for the community as there are wonderful helps and hints of how to blog and where to go for information.  They are a wonderful warm-hearted group of people.  I am grateful for their comments and direction.  I must however focus on what my purpose of doing this is.  

I will become more focused as the year goes on by trying to cover one family at a time so as to keep continuity if I can. 

If you came by to read. 

Thank you 

Frances

"The Genealogical Society has always fostered the idea that wars would become unheard of, men would beat their swords into plowshares, and the earth could easily become a delightful garden for all men if we could only learn enough about each other and something about our origin to understand and appreciate one another" Howard W. Hunter

History Affect s Our Perspective

I was fifteen when President Kennedy was assassinated.  I was saddened and shocked by the event, but put off by the members of my class who were crying and moaning all through the school halls. Most of them had never given a thought to politics other than the Civics class we were required to take. It gave me pause to think.  Why would they act that way?
I now understand that different personalities react in different ways.  As you can tell, I can remember where I was on that day and I remember the days afterward of television coverage. 





When my son was 11, 9/11, or the attack on the Twin Towers occurred.  I was appalled when I heard the news and my heart stopped at the gravity of it all.  I was not prepared for my son's reaction.  When I arrived home, he was all over me to learn more and to talk about it.  I never had even thought about him feeling even remotely connected.  Come to find out he really identified with the twin towers.  It felt like a personal attack on him at the time.  I bought him a commemorative edition of the occurrences of the attack when TIME published it.  He still has it in a protective sleeve to help him remember.

Today on the anniversary of this horrible event, it is gratifying to see how many still remember and send their hearts out to those who survived or are families of those who did not. I too feel strongly for those who involved in the act in anyway.  It has to have been life changing for each.  My prayers are offered for them.   It still has a profound effect on the society as a whole, and I hope we never forget the need to be unified as a nation.  I was impressed to read what one survivor has to say.    If you click on that sentence, it will take you to his You tube interview.