What Grandma Did
08-09-2016, 04:22 PM
#31
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Ohio, just east of Toledo
Posts: 1,369
I guess this is different, though if you think about it, 'doing your best no matter what the world throws at ya' was probably not that different in that day:
My husband's grandmother, his Dad's mom, got married in 1935, had his Dad, and then her husband died. They had a coal company that she took over and ran for at least 20 years that I know of. My husband's Dad was 8 when his Dad died.
Through all that, she seems to have done quite well.
She died 6 mos after I married her grandson, and oh, we would have been such friends, we had so much in common. We were lucky, she was a 'saver.'
She remarried in 50's and she had momentos from each marriage in separate chests in her basement. Just FULL of family stuff.
Upstairs there was a closet with pristine quilts, that since my husband said he never saw her quilting, we assume her mother made. We came to this conclusion because she had 4 laminated photos of her mom sitting in front of a quilting frame.
Just oodles and oodles of family stuff, very neatly organized, I hope I can do her the honor of leaving it all, very neatly organized, to be passed ion when I am gone.
My husband's grandmother, his Dad's mom, got married in 1935, had his Dad, and then her husband died. They had a coal company that she took over and ran for at least 20 years that I know of. My husband's Dad was 8 when his Dad died.
Through all that, she seems to have done quite well.
She died 6 mos after I married her grandson, and oh, we would have been such friends, we had so much in common. We were lucky, she was a 'saver.'
She remarried in 50's and she had momentos from each marriage in separate chests in her basement. Just FULL of family stuff.
Upstairs there was a closet with pristine quilts, that since my husband said he never saw her quilting, we assume her mother made. We came to this conclusion because she had 4 laminated photos of her mom sitting in front of a quilting frame.
Just oodles and oodles of family stuff, very neatly organized, I hope I can do her the honor of leaving it all, very neatly organized, to be passed ion when I am gone.
08-09-2016, 04:46 PM
#32
Power Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Southern USA
Posts: 15,899
What a wonderful grandmother you had! My grandmother was a very strong willed woman. She didn't wait for anyone to give her permission or help in doing something she wanted done. One day she decided she wanted to panel the den. My grandfather said it was too much work and money. She took me with her to a junk type yard, bought a truck load of shiplap and a box of nails. She stared nailing them to the wall that very day. In a few days she had a nice wood paneled den. I remember the saw horses set up and her using a hand saw to cut the boards in the kitchen. The list goes on what she accomplished when she wanted it to happen.
She raised me from third grade until I married. She cussed like a sailor, sang in the church choir, started a florist business out of her spare bedroom and sewed all my clothes. Her brother lived about 1/8 mile down the road. She had a line run from his house to ours with a buzzer. If he needed anything he rang the buzzer. First intercom ever in that community. LOL When a second phone line cost was high luxury and unheard of (like two televisions!) she talked the phone guy into putting a cord long enough on our one phone so that it could be carried to every room in the house. First house to have a phone in every room and when I was a teenager I kept the phone in my room. She was always thinking outside the box and taught me to think why not, it's not rocket science.
She raised me from third grade until I married. She cussed like a sailor, sang in the church choir, started a florist business out of her spare bedroom and sewed all my clothes. Her brother lived about 1/8 mile down the road. She had a line run from his house to ours with a buzzer. If he needed anything he rang the buzzer. First intercom ever in that community. LOL When a second phone line cost was high luxury and unheard of (like two televisions!) she talked the phone guy into putting a cord long enough on our one phone so that it could be carried to every room in the house. First house to have a phone in every room and when I was a teenager I kept the phone in my room. She was always thinking outside the box and taught me to think why not, it's not rocket science.
Last edited by Onebyone; 08-09-2016 at 04:49 PM.
08-11-2016, 04:28 PM
#33
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: New Hampshire & Maine
Posts: 3,300
My birthmom used to putt-putt around Las Vegas on a motor scooter wearing a leather jacket that said "Foxy Lady" on the back of it. This was when she was in her late 60's. I've only seen pictures of her as she died before I got to meet her. I've been told she was a hot ticket.
08-18-2016, 08:35 PM
#36
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Vancouver Island, Beautiful BC
Posts: 2,090
What is it about grand and great grand parents and stills during prohibition? My grandmother did not have a still that we know of, but she could make wine out of just about anything. Turnips, elder berries, and more.
Mar-mar, was given a ticket on the beach in Toronto in the late 1920's. Her swim suit did not have a skirt on it and was considered to be scandalous. Before she came to Canada, she swam with the men's swim team in New Zealand, as there was no competition for her on the ladies team. Her husband died before I was born. A year after she died, we learned that my grandfather (who had been dead about 20 years) was a bigamist. He had at least two families in the UK and there are no records of any divorces. Dad who was raised as an only child, by immigrant parents, discovered he had two sisters and a brother, when he was 54.
My other grandmother raised 4 kids in the depression. She lived near vegetable farms and would steal veggies to feed her family. She did not have room for a garden where they lived.
My great grandmother married a man 22 years her senior when she was 18. She had five kids and was widowed before they all finished school. She raised rabbits for meat and Silver Foxes for fur. The foxes ate the rabbits too. She was an early ham radio operator and taught many people to use the radios. Her husband, while he lived was the secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of BC. The LG is the Queens (or back them Kings) representative to the Province. My granny grew up on the grounds of Government House.
My great grandmother's twin sister moved to South Africa, she wanted to be a doctor and it was easier at the time for a woman to become a doctor there than in Canada. Some of the South African family came to Canada when my Mum was a girl. It was quite the cultural shock, the SA family had servants back home, and did not know how to do the most basic chores.
My 3X Great Grandfather was the first Attorney General of BC.
What will my grand and great grand kids say about me? I have gone back to university at 50, so I hope that leads to good things in the future.
Mar-mar, was given a ticket on the beach in Toronto in the late 1920's. Her swim suit did not have a skirt on it and was considered to be scandalous. Before she came to Canada, she swam with the men's swim team in New Zealand, as there was no competition for her on the ladies team. Her husband died before I was born. A year after she died, we learned that my grandfather (who had been dead about 20 years) was a bigamist. He had at least two families in the UK and there are no records of any divorces. Dad who was raised as an only child, by immigrant parents, discovered he had two sisters and a brother, when he was 54.
My other grandmother raised 4 kids in the depression. She lived near vegetable farms and would steal veggies to feed her family. She did not have room for a garden where they lived.
My great grandmother married a man 22 years her senior when she was 18. She had five kids and was widowed before they all finished school. She raised rabbits for meat and Silver Foxes for fur. The foxes ate the rabbits too. She was an early ham radio operator and taught many people to use the radios. Her husband, while he lived was the secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of BC. The LG is the Queens (or back them Kings) representative to the Province. My granny grew up on the grounds of Government House.
My great grandmother's twin sister moved to South Africa, she wanted to be a doctor and it was easier at the time for a woman to become a doctor there than in Canada. Some of the South African family came to Canada when my Mum was a girl. It was quite the cultural shock, the SA family had servants back home, and did not know how to do the most basic chores.
My 3X Great Grandfather was the first Attorney General of BC.
What will my grand and great grand kids say about me? I have gone back to university at 50, so I hope that leads to good things in the future.
08-18-2016, 08:47 PM
#37
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Vancouver Island, Beautiful BC
Posts: 2,090
Just have to add a link.
This topic sent me looking to see if there was any information online about my great granny. I found a link to her petition to receive a pension after her husband died. I was incorrect above, her kids had grown up before she was widowed. I guess the rabbits and foxes were to supplement her meager income.
http://bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/o..._oic/0116_1948
This topic sent me looking to see if there was any information online about my great granny. I found a link to her petition to receive a pension after her husband died. I was incorrect above, her kids had grown up before she was widowed. I guess the rabbits and foxes were to supplement her meager income.
http://bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/o..._oic/0116_1948
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