t my brother's home in France in October, I was pleasantly surprised when he shared some very old family photos I had never seen before. They were recently passed along by a distant family member in England. This was my paternal grandmother whom I knew nothing about. Because my father was raised in foster care, I always thought his mother must have died young. Obviously this lady lived to be a good age and I see so much of my father in her. I wish he had been more open in discussing his roots - I believe his childhood was sad and he would never talk about those early years. I don't even know this woman's first name but do know she was from Brixham, Devon where my father was born in 1900.
Perhaps this is not really a favorite family foto, but seeing my lost grandmother's face is special. I notice my hands look a lot like hers with long fingers and pronounced bones. I wish so much I'd had the opportunity to know her when I was a child. I only lived a few miles from her.....................a scenic twenty minute ride around the bay on a double decker bus and I could have been tapping on her door!Visit Deborah at Pictures, Pots & Pens to find out who else is sharing favorite family photographs this week.
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Bittersweet, I think. What wonderment it must have been to have seen this woman's face for the first time - knowing she was a grandmother you never knew. Sad - but I imagine you could find out more about her by way of your father's history - perhaps through census records.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary, and I hope you have more photos to share on Fridays.
Love you,
Deborah
Oh Mary
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry you never had the opportunity to meet this lovely lady. With such beautiful hands I'm wondering if you play the piano?
Happy Foto Friday and have a great weekend.
Love Claudie
xo
It's always rather bittersweet to make discoveries such as this..but look at her gentle smile..you might not know the whole story, but she seems a gentle soul. What a rare and wonderful photo to have! All of my grandparents were gone prior to my birth, so all I have are a few faded pictures..but I look at those women and wonder...what made them laugh, cry..what books did they read..what was their favorite color, flower or season? That's why I feel so strongly about journals, scrapbooks {blogging}and letters!
ReplyDeleteSo my own grands and great grands might not have to ask those same questions.
Whatever she did, she did because she thought it right..I can't help but look at her smile, her posture and her hands to think she's at peace in this photo.
What a treasure !
Colleen
Hi Mary!!! Thanks for the BD wishes!! Love seen your Grandma pic. It´s wonderful to have this kind of memories. While visiting my Grandma I´ve got soooooo many pictures from her photo album and soon I´ll start posting more pics about my family. I´ve been missing you my dear! Sending my love to you, Bob and Jasmin! Hugs, Vanessa
ReplyDeleteHow sad that you never met your grandmother especially when she lived so near...how intriguing, although tragic, that she had to place her little boy in foster care. Mmm, methinks I detect a novel in this, Mary!
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed the posts about the letter writing, also your comment on my blog. I have kept all my letters over the years - including all those written to Mom and Dad when I was an exchange student in ND in 69-70. Moreover, I have kept theirs, faithfully written to my children and to my husband and I every Sunday evening while they lived in Cape Town. You can just hear their voices in those letters.
By the way I would love to be part of a real letter writing project to bloggers.
Lots of love to you, Eleanor
Colleen said it - bittersweet - I hope you can find out more with some research. Maybe not all the personal details, but names and dates, etc.
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteIt's a family mystery to be solved! And maybe you will be the one to solve it! She's a beautiful woman! Have a great week!
Sherrie
It's so sad.Alot of us didn't have Theodare Clever homes.And she looks so sweet and gentle.You never know what the real reason may have been.She may have loved him enough to give him away.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what this means to you.I didn't meet my gm or my bological father until I was 30.I 'm sure there's just TOO many of us...Ann
Mary,
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post. I felt for you. I too love to collect old family photos. I have a great black and white photo of two women have tea at Par Beach in Cornwall in the 1950's. Esp. like woman with baby pram's. best to you.
Ck out our site.
thanks again
kate
What a happy but sad post. I am sure that you are happy to have inherited this photo so that you can see your grandmother for the very first time! But how sad that you lived so close to your grandmother without ever having the opportunity to be involved in her life! It must be comforting to know that your father evidently came to terms with this dark secret in his life. He loved you enough to spare you the details or share the darkness! You were obviously sheltered and protected by a loving father!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your photo and family story.
Malisa
My father was adopted. He always thought that his aunt was his birth mother. He was born in 1915 in Los Angeles. His aunt was living there and "going to school."
ReplyDeleteHis adoptive mother just brought him home one day. Soon his aunt returned from L.A. She always spent a lot of time with him and took him places until she married. No one would ever tell him who his birth parents were. The names on his birth certificate sounded "made up." His birth name was Male child Jones.
I can trace my family back hundreds of years on my mother's side and back to dad on my father's side.
Hope you find out more details.
Hugs, Susan
You must look at her face and wonder about so much. So many questions left unanswered. Each person has a story, and it is sad when left untold to those you love.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful! A real treasure!
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time commenting on your blog...although I have been reading and lurking here for some time.
ReplyDeleteYour story about your Grandmother touched my heart...she has a sweet face and a lovely stature. It is hard to imagine the pain she must have gone through having to place her son in foster care.
I loved your posts about letter writing...I am looking for a small desk to place in my bedroom. I have many surfaces where I can write letters and notes but my desire is for a lovely little desk.
My letters of 30+ years were all lost in one of our many moves...I often wonder whether they are being sold in some antique shop. I loved those letters from my Mother to me when I was in college in London, from my Grandmother who lived in Iceland to me here in the US...letters from college friends from seven different countries. I am of the generation that wrote letters by hand and when we traveled sent postcards.
Oh!!!dear me, that was a long comment.
Hi Mary... I love old photos of family, and I, like you, look to see if I look like them...
ReplyDeleteCherished... Dixie
It makes me sad that you did not know your grandmother. My children are not real close to my husband's parents and they live 20 minutes away. It makes me sad because my in-laws don't show a lot of interest in my children but I feel that is their loss. I had wonderful relationships with both sets of grandparents and that is why I am saddened to hear whenever someone misses out on that.
ReplyDeleteMary dear, a mystery that I know you would like to solve. So many things must go through your mind. I wonder if your brother knew anything about her. I guess he would have shared it with you. Some things we want to know may never happen. She looks so sweet and her hands are lovely for her age. It would have been so nice if you could have known her.
ReplyDeleteLove...Jeanne
I'm sorry you never got to meet her, and even sorrier that you don't know the history behind what happened.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do think that family photos are wonderful :) Especially of older, departed relatives!
I just gave you the One Lovely Blog award- which you can get the information for from here:
http://jacobiterose.blogspot.com/2009/01/one-lovely-blog-award.html
Wow! what an incredible find! Sorry you didn't get to know her. I don't remember one of my grand fathers. He died when I was 1. The other one wasn't much of a grand father. One grand mother wasn't much of a grand mother either. Different sides. I would check the census records to find out where she was living and it would list her occupation, if she could read, if she owned or rented her house, other children she may have had. It may not have been her choice to give him up. From the picture, she was a beautiful little old woman. Hope you find some answers that you might be wanting answered.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Angela
What a lovely picture. It is always comforting to see ourselves in our ancestors.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a poignant post. Isn't it sad all the family history we will never know...only discovering mysterious bits and pieces as the years go by.
ReplyDelete