Monday, February 11, 2008

My Grandparent on Fathers Side

These are my grandparents. I was named after my grandfather and was the first grandson to carry on the family linage. This always made me special in their eyes and I was treated really well by my grandparents. We lived above a dairy when I was young which was behind my grandparents house. We moved across town when I was about 5.
This is exactly how I remember my grandfather looking. He was retired by the time I could remember him. He came to America in the early 1905. He was the first from his family to travel across the ocean. He was a very spiritual man and I can remember him sitting at the window and reading the bible. He had a knack for gardening and would take roses and make new plants. He had a grape arbor which was a beautiful cool place to sit and relax. This is my grandmother. She came to America when my grandfather asked for her to come. She had been promised to him as a child. That is the way they did things back then. She was a kind person and would make bread for all the family. She had a kitchen in the basement of the house where she did the baking. The smells coming out of the basement where out of this world. She would make small loaves with butter (which she churned fresh) in the bread. That certainly was a treat. I would ride my bike across town to visit them when I was about 12 during the summer. It was about 8 miles on city streets but I never felt any danger while travelling across town.
I loved to visit with them and they loved having me come to see them. We used to have family reunions every year and everyone in the family would come and get together every summer.

2 comments:

Charleston Catholic / Clay Center Project said...

Where were your Grandparents from?

I love looking at old photos. I am helping my Father-In-Law research his geneology and we're finding some really cool old photos in the process -- with really cool stories to go with them! He always thought his family was German, and they are, but only for a generation or two -- before that, they lived in Scotland for as far back as we can research.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Rebecca: My grandparents were from Homs, Syria. It was a farming community not far from today's Lebanon, which was part of Syria when they left. The family linage was Shepard's who were Christians as were many who left Syria. We called them by the Arabic names of Gido ( grandpa)& Sitoo (grandma -which I had trouble saying as a youngster so I called her Titi most of my childhood). She never minded the name. Maybe, I could do no wrong being the first grandson.