Laura and Arminius
Yesterday Dave and I were talking at breakfast, eating some of our wonderful eggs and an English muffin. I mentioned that my Grandmother Marguerite always told me to either use butter or jam, but not both, on my toast. I think she thought that was wasteful. I only grew up knowing one set of Grandparents, my Dad's, because the others passed away when I was very young. My Mom's parents met me after I was born, but I was very young when they died. I don't have any direct memories of them.
My mom had told me a lot about them, including the stories of the wonderful gardens they grew out in Nebraska. How grandma Laura raised Rhode Island Red chickens and preserved foods. They had their root cellar and they survived the depression. She also told me how they escaped tornado's by going into the wet, cellar full of toads. She told me about what a hard worker her mother was and that my grandmother was always a tough, but caring woman. I have two wonderful quilts of hers and think about what it must have been like for her to sit there and make those out in the middle of nowhere Nebraska, in the dark. I'm not sure when electricity went into the rural areas of Nebraska, in the 1930s? I visualize her using kerosene lamps or candles to sew by.
My grandfather Arminius was a mechanic who worked on trucks, tractors and cars and they would barter his repair services for things they didn't have. They would get roasting chickens, bread, fresh milk, etc., in exchange for his services. My mom said during the depression that she drank coffee instead of milk as a kid because they didn't always have that. I have great photos in my head of my grandparents and their girls in Nebraska in this house-
Nebraska home, I'd love to go there someday
Pete and Marguerite
I know my grandfather Pete was an avid gardener and loved working in the yard. I think some of that may have been to avoid my grandmother, who is not the nicest person. As an adult I would jokingly call her the iron fist in the velvet glove without the glove!My grandfather Alva (he went by Pete) was the opposite, really a sweetheart. He jokingly used to call me microbe or peanut!
So... I think that they would be proud of me with what we're doing here, and if they were alive they would probably be doing something similar. I can see them having chickens, preserving foods, and fixing lots of things themselves. I hope they would be proud of me for the lifestyle I have. While I didn't do it for them I think that they would appreciate it. I hope so.
7 comments:
Such an interesting, lovely post. Made me think of my grandparents. Never knew my dad's parents but grew up very close to my mom's. Sometimes I wonder if our grandparents could see what we're doing now and the life style we're following . . . well, would they wonder why we've chosen to do the things with more "work" involved, the "hard" way (why not take advantage of all the conveniences we have available today?) or would they be proud of our various degrees of self-sufficiency?
Thanks Mama, and yes they'd probably like the conveniences that we have now
What a great post Nancy. All of that information is priceless. Do you do much genealogical research? It's an addictive hobby, but fun and so interesting.
yes I thought about doing that before and one of these days we'll sit down and go through some things online. We do have some information and my daughter has done some research on one side of the family. It would be interesting to see where some of the branches of the family goes over onto the European and British areas. I've also thought about having my DNA run to see what pops up I've always suspected I am part Scandinavian!
I loved this post. I did not know either of my grandfathers and my two grandmothers were as different as night and day. I was not close to either of them. I have always felt cheated. :)
Yes I really wish I would have known my grandparents in Nebraska they sounded like pretty amazing people although I love the other two as well
I'm sure they would. Thanks for sharing at To Grandma's House We Go DIY, Crafts, Recipes and More Wednesday link party! Pinned!
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