When I was growing up, I saw my maternal grandparents (Ed and Millie Drake, who we call Nana and Papa) nearly every day. Papa would take my sister and I to and from school every day. He was very interested in our school lives, and knew all of our friends. He had attended high school in the same building as me, 68 years before. Papa had lots of hobbies, but he was never a huge sports fan. He’d casually watch whatever sport was in season at that time, and always followed the Cubs, but otherwise wasn’t devoted to one sport or another. That’s why I always found it puzzling when he asked how our high school basketball team was doing. I wasn’t friends with anyone on the basketball team, and I barely followed our high school teams anyway. I didn’t find out the reason for his interest in high school basketball until I was a freshman in high school.
Category: Personal memories
Wedding Wednesday: Anniversaries past and present
My grandparents Ed and Millie on their wedding day 70 years ago.
Our wedding day, one year (and a few days) ago.
My grandparents were married 70 years ago today. Before they passed away, they had celebrated 64 anniversaries. This is the first wedding anniversary that they’ll be celebrating together in heaven. My husband and I just celebrated our first anniversary. We hope to share just as many years together!
Mothers are special
This Mother’s Day I’ve been thinking of all the mothers, grandmothers, aunts and mother figures in my family. Mothers play a unique part in every family. Here’s a quick tribute and thank you to the mothers in my family!
Mothers will always think of you as her little baby…
It runs in the family… Birthdays
Sometimes I’m amazed at how often certain dates repeat themselves in my family tree. For instance, five living members of my family have birthdays in July, three of which are on consecutive days. My birthday is within a week of my sister’s and my grandfather’s consecutive birthdays, and sometimes we would have a triple birthday party together! My paternal grandparents and cousin share birthdays within 5 days of each other in November. My husband’s family also have birthdays within a few days of members of my family. Further back on my family tree, certain generations will have close birthdays as well.
Although our birthdays were close together, my mom would always make sure that each of our days was special. But some of my fondest birthday memories are the birthday parties with three delicious cakes- especially Papa’s favorite, German Chocolate cake! Continue reading “It runs in the family… Birthdays”
Where it all began…
Welcome to my new family history blog! I am so excited to start writing about my research into my own genealogy! I decided to start writing about my experiences in family history research because I have learned a lot from other genealogy bloggers like Young and Savvy Genealogists and Nicole from The Family Locket, as well as several online communities. I wanted a way to give back and share what I am learning about genealogy research in today’s world. I also hope to record fun tidbits to share with my own family, near and far! Continue reading “Where it all began…”
The Family History Librarian 