I was looking (not hard enough) for old photos in the winter and gave up. Instead I will introduce you to my paternal grandfather Harold, known to everyone as Pop.
He was born in 1901 to Maud and Lewis. Lewis would pass away before Pop's second birthday (ruptured appendix) and Maud would die in the Influenza Epidemic when he was a teenager. Pop lived with his maternal grandmother Isabell until he got married, then Isabell lived with Pop and his first wife until she died.
I learned all this information by researching genealogy. I was one of the three youngest grandchildren and I do not ever remember having a conversation with him. He was a huge man and very stern with a great deep voice. I was terrified of him. He passed away when I was in middle school.
This was labeled with his name so I will take someone's word for it. But I don't think it resembles anyone I ever knew.
This is my dad's family picture with his two much older brothers, mother Mary Loretta and Pop on the far right.
My grandfather and two uncles were long distance truck drivers. Pop is pictured on the left and my two wild and crazy uncles on the right.
I have lots of stories about the uncles but they aren't fit to share on the internet.
As a grownup grandparent myself I have a very different opinion of my grandfather than I did as a child. I can't imagine the hardships and sadness of his early life. His grandfather also died in the influenza epidemic and the grief of his grandmother and himself must have been so great.
I also learned his mother had remarried and he had two sisters who remained with their father. I do not remember any contact or even knowing of their existence.
A brief but still compelling tribute to Pop, Miss Merry. As always, enjoyed the early photos and those old trucks--I want to hear those uncle stories! 🙂🙃 PS We have something in common, my paternal grandfather's name was also Harold.
ReplyDeleteThose old photos really are pretty neat. That is so interesting.
ReplyDeleteI so enjoy the old photos you share. It's good to look back at things with fresh eyes as an adult.
ReplyDeleteMy paternal grandfather tended to be stern too, although I wasn't afraid of him. His Dad died when he was 14 and he had to quit school and run the farm at that age. Hard to imagine.
Oh, Merry! I can just hear that big gruff man scoffing at seeing himself in a "dress," for we have several pictures of that era, and the older guys hated those exquisitely-worked/smocked/lace covered garments.
ReplyDeleteAnd what a life for a child to survive---his big stature surely didn't lessen his several seasons of grief. My own Daddy's two older brothers died in that epidemic of 1918, at five and seven, before he was born---I never knew how my petite little Mammaw survived that blow (and a rattlesnake bite as well, up in the thirties). She beat all odds and circled the century---her stone reads 1887--1987.
What bittersweet memories you're curating---all the facets of life in sepia and black and white.
The Influenza epidemic in 1918 took a real toll on many families.
ReplyDeleteIt's always interesting to research your family. Your grandfather sounds much like my paternal grandfather who died when I was in elementary school. I never knew him well either. He never remembered my name and always called me by my cousin Cathy's name. I remember having hurt feelings about that. However, my grandmother and I were very, very close. She's the one who taught me to bake, cook, crochet and clean well. (She was German. Everything sparkled.) I wish I could say our condo is that clean now. :-)
ReplyDeleteI hope your Monday is going well. I'm missing my family in London, especially the early morning kisses from "J".
Blessings and hugs,
Betsy
My grandmother also died in the Great Flu Epidemic when my dad was very young. He and his brother (as adults) looked for her burial site for decades and only within the last five years we learned that she was burying in a mass grave because there were so many deaths they couldn't keep up with them. This was in Illinois.
ReplyDeleteSo many Sorrows of the Past and Life was certainly harder and less convenient and spoiled, that's for sure. My Dad had 10 Siblings but Lost Three Brothers in Childhood, Child and Infant mortality among the Native American Tribal People was, and still is, much higher than the National average. My Mom lost a lot of people with various plagues that spread thru Europe, and of coarse with WWII as well. Your Family at least were able to have Photos taken, which was a Luxury way back then, so those are definitely things to Cherish and pass along with the Stories of all these Ancestors. I have no Photos of my Dad until he was a grown Man and in the Military, perhaps the 1st Photograph he'd ever had taken? I think there is only One of my Mom as a Child, taken in her Elementary School Years and put on a Photo Christmas Card, I have it and Cherish it. I hadn't realized how much like her I looked when I was the same Age, because I always had people tell me I looked more like my Dad's side of the Family. Usually we are a blend of both, now I'm Older I look so much like she did as a Senior that FB Tags Pixs of her as me sometimes!!!
ReplyDeletePS: I'd love to hear the salacious Stores about your Two Wild Uncles. *winks*
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine losing your mother and having your stepfather deciding to ship you off to your grandmother? The fact that you never even knew of his two sisters underscores what must have been glaringly, hurtfully evident to him: that he did not belong. Painful.
ReplyDeleteIt's so interesting to follow the genealogy and learn stories we never knew about our ancestors. It gives us a whole new perspective on things.
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