I'm Still Here !!

I'm Still Here !!

"What happened to your Blog?   Where ARE you?  Why aren't you writing any more?  Missing your stories ! "

These are some questions friends have been asking me lately.  I guess I just got tired or a bit to busy or maybe I even wondered if anyone would notice if I didn't post for awhile.  Well, I do miss writing and Dennis asked me the other day if I had been writing anything lately.  That kinda made me think about my blog here.  

I had been reading a sweet story on Face Book about a 94 year old lady who had been sharing her recipes from the depression era with folks and I knew I had a story to tell as well.  What better place than here on my blog ... if everyone hasn't completely given up on me!

As I read about this woman, I thought about my own grandmother, my paternal grandmother and her life,  I thought I might honor her memory by sharing a series of stories about her. These stories I'll

call:   

"Meet my Grammy"

Della on the Left and her younger sister, Abbie on the Right
Probably age 13 and 11 respectively 

Her name was Della and she was born in 1876.  She was around two years old when her mama died shortly after giving birth to her sister, Abbie.  Their dad was left to raise his two daughters with the help of his parents and the girls' aunt on their mama's side.

Grammy Della married young to a nice young man and soon they had two sons .  I am very fortunate to have the diaries of her  husband, George during their years together.  The hard work these folks did to keep food on the table is cataloged in the pages of these diaries.  

As I read the stories of the woman of the depression era, I likened her recollections of the 30's to the way things were for my grandparents in some ways, back in the late 1890's and early 1900's.

Life back then was not easy!  But I don't think they even thought of it as a hard life!  Just ... life.  And a pretty good one if one was healthy and not afraid to work and have some dreams and goals. And always their faith in God.

Grammy and her husband lived in the countryside in New York until 1913.  He tells in his diaries of the daily life they led.  How proud and happy when the boys came along and the purchase of their first home.  Altho I am writing about Grammy, I have to tell some things about my grandfather.  He was a "man of many hats".  (So like my own husband!)  He could do just about anything. He tells of going to neighbors and cleaning and repairing their clocks.  Of helping to 'lay out' old Mr. C. when he passed and building his coffin too.  When someone had a bad toothache, they called George to come and extract it for them!  This and many other jobs and all after planting a years' supply of potatoes and hoeing them by hand, planting and harvesting most of their vegetables and raising their pigs and chickens and keeping a cow. Must not forget getting in the winter wood as well as the wood for the cookstove!  Of course all this work gave Grammy plenty to do besides raise the boys.  This life was good.  Grammy was always frugal and wasted nothing.

There were the good times too,  the "Chowders" at the local pond.  Where all gathered to have picnics and good times. They were active in the local church and school and he played the fiddle for many functions. At Christmas they celebrated with friends and neighbors as they all gathered at the school house for the annual "Christmas Tree" as he refers to the occasion in his diary.

I am sad that I never got to know my Grampa as he died before I was born. My widowed Grammy was left to carry on as best as she could.  They had moved the family over to Vermont in 1909 where they purchased a farm that needed repair.  I will leave off here for now and tell more of her story in the next blogging session. 

                               Hoping you will all have a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!

An appropriate quote for this time of year.

"We would worry less if we praised more!  Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction."    Henry A Ironside