Family History

I love this quote..."Knowing who our family WAS reveals part of who we ARE!"

This photo is of my Aunt Ina, we lived in her home with her from the time I was born, till she passed away when I was 10 years old. I loved Aunt Ina like a Mother and she loved me just as much. Aunt Ina never had children of her own, and was married later in her life ...to a man much older than her. After he passed away, she invited our family to move from our small apartment and live with her in her home
. She lived upstair,s and that is where I spent many, many wonderful hours and days with her. She was a fabulous cook, she shared her love of jewelry and hats with me... and always let me play and dress up with her. She taught me how important I was to her! That was probably the greatest gift she could have ever given me. I was LOVED! What a great gift to pass on to the next generation!

This photo below is a of my Grandma Johnny ( her last name was Johnson )

I had to laugh when I saw this photo of her, because it is quite out of her character. I don't remember her doing any snow mobiling, but the fact that she did at her age was inspiring to me. Grandma Johnny was the one who first taught me to crochet and sew! I spent countless hours in her home. Her home was a safe place for me. I loved my time with her! She loved cornbread and made the best around. She taught me how to cook, and told me that I could do anything that I set my mind to! Oh how eternally grateful I am for her in my life. She loved me and I felt it!

So how did these ladies effect my life? They taught me that I was important and loved. They told me it was ok to do what I loved...the arts!

So at the age of 12 I started selling my crafts in a craft shows.

 Here is a photo of me in 1974  ( age 15 )at a craft show. I was sharing a booth with a dear friend.  She was a painter,  and you can see her artwork behind me.

Then here I am 39 years later in Texas at a Quilt Show with my dear friend! Still loving the opportunity to do what I love and meet new people!

So as I look back at the photos of Aunt Ina and Grandma Johnny, I hope that they can see ( from Heaven ) where that Love and Encouragement they gave me all those years ago...has taken me. 

And how many lives it has effected. My marriage, my kids and my grandkids!

I love passing on to my kids and grandkids the love of CREATING!

Grateful that I have the time to be with them, that I get to tell them how loved they are! I love being able to hold them in my arms and tell them how proud their Aunt Ina and Grandma Johnny would be of them too! 

Yes, family roots are important!

Good Night dear friends!

Day 2

Day two of our Road trip adventure May 31, 2012.
Well, because of the time difference we didn't go to bed till 1:00 and got up late, it is hard adjusting to 3 hour time difference. We woke up so late that we missed breakfast, so we had to eat what snacks we had with us. Then we headed to the college town called Buena Vista, Virginia. This is the town where my niece just graduated from college and we are here to pick up her car and drive it all the way back home. First we had to take the car in to be checked before the trip. We took it to LEROY'S AUTO SHOP, lucky for us there wasn't any one ahead of us. Of course, I am not sure that he has that much business in the past week. He was quite the character. When we asked him to look and see if this one tire that had a plug in it earlier, would be safe for the trip. His reply was " Well now, I always say if the good Lord doesn't want you to have a flat tire you won't, if he does then well you will, I can't make no guarantee". He was too funny!
 
Then we were hoping to go to an Antique store across the street while we were waiting but it was closed. We then walked in to the store across the street from the Antique shop, the lady there told us that Bob was gone but that his brother Bill owned the Barber Shop next door and he would probably let you in. Sure enough Bill was more than willing to let us into his brother's antique shop and look around,  then tell him if we needed anything. I have forgotten some of the simple and yet good things that come from living in a small town such as...
Everybody knows each other
No one locks their doors ( there was a man who got off his motorcycle and left the key in it, I said " you better not leave your key in it or someone might take off with it", he said " well, if you do just make sure you bring it back"
Good manners ( they call everyone Mame or Sir )
Shop owners work hard to give the best customer service ( " now if there is anything you girls needs, you just let me know and we will help ya" )
Everyone is friendly and says "Ya'll come back anytime" when you leave

It felt like I went back in time to a simpler and slower way of life. Where there are people waving at you while they sit on their porch swings, yes ... today I definitely went back to my roots. (Here is the sign that you see when you come into town.
 
After we got our car fixed, we spent the rest of the day shopping. We were laughing so hard in the dressing room, I was afraid we were going to get kicked out of the store. It is way more fun to shop with one of your best friends.  Then we were off to more antique shops, where once again I saw things that reminded me of my past.

Got home late and headed to the pool. I can't believe that I am swimming again...feels so good. Tried on a different bathing suit this time and it kept my prosthetic right in place... yeah!
Good night dear friends!

“A small town is a place where there's no place to go where you shouldn't.” Burt Bacharach

"Sometimes I pretend to be normal, but it gets boring. So I go back to being me"

 “The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don't know what you're doing, someone else does”

Genealogy

In the last few days the kids and I have been working on a photo book to have printed for Jeff's Father's Day. So we have frantically been looking up old photos and having each person write a letter to him and tell some of their favorite things about him also. As I have read the letters from the kids, I realized what a great genealogy gift this will be to our grand-kids some day. I love the memories and funny things the kids had to say. I love looking at the photos and how everyone has grown. We laughed at the style of clothing the kids used to have, or Jeff and I used to have. I laughed at some of the funny things the kids remembered about Jeff. Each photo seemed to trigger a favorite memory, so we are excited to give this SECRET gift to him soon!

My grandmother was big into genealogy and Jeff has done quite a bit with his family but I really haven't done much of it ( at least traditionally speaking ) yet. I always tease Jeff if he stays at the computer too long doing genealogy and we haven't had much time with him that day,  "Jeff, remember you need to spend time with the LIVE ONES too!" These photo books are amazing and so much easier and faster than the old traditional scrapbooks ( I am not knocking those, I have many of those I have done too!).  I did one for Jeff and I's 25th wedding anniversary. Then the kids and Jeff did one for me, for my 50 birthday last year. What a treasure that is. As we were going through the photos we realized that we need to do a photo memory book for each family member. We have ordered ours from Shutterfly, there are other companies out there, but that is the only one we have used so far and we have been more than impressed with them. It is all done through the computer (thanks to Amy) and then printed into a hard bound book, they really are quite a keepsake.

So tonight I realized there are many ways to do genealogy but the important thing is that we do it, because we all have a legacy to preserve. Remember you are never to  young to start searching and studying about your family tree!

"Genealogy  is the study of one's family, the study of our ancestors -their birth, their childhood, their dreams, their marriages, their occupations, their children, their deaths, and because these things in the past all have an impact on the present, in a very real sense, genealogy is a study of ones self."

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."     ~Jane Howard

"Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present and future."          ~ Gail Lumet Buckley