When I was 14 I moved in with my maternal grandmother, whom I call Granny. Yes, really, Granny. Most of us call her that now, although some of the cousins call her other things. Don't look at me like that! NICE things. She's a sweet Granny, long as you behave. Just like other grannies, probably. This year she turns 86, and she has many health problems, not the least of which is fibromyalgia. It's taking her down, bit by bit, and I HATE IT. And she lives 1676 miles away. I can't afford to go see her anytime soon. She is though, a tough old bird, raised three daughters and numerous grandchildren all on her own for the most part, and has a very strong spirit. I call her as often as I can, and her favorite thing to ask about? My geneaology research. She askes about my munchkins too, of course, but then she wants to know if I've found anything else about this person or that person. And lately, it's been her grandmother that she's interested in. I also ask numerous question too, because, folks, once that spirit has passed, we may not get another chance to ask those questions.
Her grandmother was born in 1876. I think she was still young when her mother died, probably about 10. She was the third out of 5 children, and married when she was quite young, to boy her own age, and they started raising a family just as the century turned from Victorian to Edwardian. Their marriage certificate was signed by her husband's grandmother, the woman who raised him after the mysterious dissappearance of his own parents. (Thats a whole other story!) They had 5 children before he died, still young, from silicon poisoning from the foundry where he worked. She eventually remarried, but before that was the first woman to ever recieve welfare in her hometown. She had two more children after she remarried, the youngest (only six years older then my Granny) had down syndrome and died at the age of 19 from complications of congenital heart disease. She told my Granny once that she loved him more then any other of her children, which seems strange to me, but who am I to judge? Sounds to me like she was a very strong and graceful woman, and I wish I could have known this Great-Great-Grandmother.
Now, the only information I got from my Granny about her grandmother was that bit about her loving the youngest the most. She's told me more of course, but I'd be writing all night if I wrote it all! Everything else came from online records, hardcore searching and researching over the last six months. I love it. It's a puzzle, and usually whenever I find a piece, it only creates more puzzles! But it's also like painting a picture of someone from a description. You don't really know exactly what they look like, the nose just so, and the arch of the brows, so you get details here and there, and sometimes those details are hauntingly familiar, and part of your own reflected image.
It is one of those things we tend to take for granted, we know someone all our lives, but often what we don't know about them could fill a book. My great-grandmother was like that, in the last couple of years of her life, we learned things that none of us (my parents and grandparents included) knew about her likes, dislikes and childhood. I think it is fascinating to hear about different times and especially in regards to family.
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