Yes, it's a rerun. In 2009, I serialized a story my mother had written: She called it "My Life in the Twentieth Century". It was one of the most popular group of blog entries I've ever done, and it was all in her own words. We were away from home most of the day, today: Dentist appointment, haircut for Cliff, and shopping; so I'm sharing my mom's story rather than let this day go by without blogging. I'm putting a link to each entry, in order.
Some of my thoughts on my mother's story:
I wasn't expecting to spend quite so long reading your "single" post on your blog but I finally finished the last of your mom's story and your random thoughts. I have always enjoyed reading what others found important in their lives back in that time frame. Most I have heard before in different stories but I heard a new one for me. I have never heard about stuffing straw under the rugs and tacking them down to the floors.
ReplyDeleteI love to write about my family's history and have oodles of stories on my blog under the genealogy tab. I have started writing our family history dozens of times but never get very far or have finished. I think because I'm just too young yet to do so. But I have saved all the stories I have told over the nearly 20 years of writing on this blog so hope perhaps my daughters will enjoy and pass them on after I'm gone.
My mom told me stories about her life often, and I ate those stories up, often asking questions. When I was 12 or so, I was at Grandma's and it was just the two of us. I figured if my mother's stories were so interesting, surely Grandma's would really be great. Unfortunately, I couldn't pry out a single story from Grandma, although I do recall her telling me Aunt Ruby, her oldest child, cried all the way into Eagleville and all the way home when they went to "do their trading". I guess some folks aren't story-tellers.
DeleteUnfortunately, I've missed the boat when it comes to family stories like these. My maternal grandparents would tell me stories when I asked but by then, they were often rambling, hard to follow and full of inaccuracies. I still have them digitally preserved but I just think of them as hearing the sound of their voice than being able to figure out what they are referring too. Because my parents divorced when I was just a small boy, I don't have access to my paternal side of the family. I always figured I would make up for things by getting my mom's side of things but by the time I got around to asking, she was more interested in the future and fighting cancer than telling me stories of her past and then she was gone. I do however have a lot of stories along various lines of my family tree that I have found through other sources and it is mostly those I am compiling. I'm just missing the ones told by people I knew directly.
DeleteThank you, Donna. I'm going to come back and read this again before Christmas. I love stories like this and I love reading them over & over. ~Andrea xoxo
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed it.
DeleteGuess what. This was one of the first things I read that you shared long ago. Today, I read it all again and enjoyed it a second time.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time reading. Fascinating and sweet. I used to dream of being a kid back then, heard a lot of stories from my grandma and from my great-grandfather. I have a book he wrote, in his own handwriting, and had bound by a bookbinder. Each of his descendants was given a copy. I am afraid I didn't realize what a treasure it was when I received it. Took me years to appreciate.
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