Monday, June 15, 2009

Saved

I confess I am an incorrigible. I was pretty determined to get rid of stuff with the big sale—and really I was good! Got rid of tons. But as I watched things walking away I felt a few twinges and I sneaked a few things back into the house. I looked at my ice cream maker for a long time and reminded myself how long it has been since I used it, but I also remembered how wonderful homemade ice cream and sorbet is. It's back. I also saved the little crock above. It was from my great grandmother's house out in the eastern Colorado prairie. It once held something like butter, or cream or pickles. Now I like it with roses in it. It is very old.

I ran across a folder of old photos, while I was pulling out things for the sale. This is the house on the prairie.

Those are my great grandparents in the middle, my grandmother Clarice next to the horse and my great aunt Caroline is the other little girl. The two other men may have been my great grandmother's brothers. We visited there in the summers when I was a child. By then a little town had grown up around it and there were big shady trees all around as well. My little crock was probably somewhere inside when this picture was taken. Needless to say, all these people are gone, but I love that I have pictures of them.

Here's my other grandmother, Hazle. (That's how she spelled it) This is her High School graduation picture.

I am working on a small quilted piece based on this photo. I wish I could show it to you. I will eventually, but it is for something special and cannot be shown yet.

Grandma Hazle had that same bold gaze as long as I knew her. She was a vivid personality—a force. As a child I knew her only from summer visits, but I ended up living in the same town with her after I was grown and married and we were close until her death, just a few months shy of her 100th birthday. She lives on in funny stories and memories of her adventures, as well as a small book of her poetry.

13 comments:

  1. How good you kept this! You would feel sorry if you hadn't. I know what this is like, I dumped lots of things before we moved, and I'm glad I did; but there are a few things I regret to have given away. -- Where did these ancestors come from originally?

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  2. I have my grandmother's embroidery hoop and use them. There's nothing like a tangible connection to the past. Is it my imagination, or do you have the same level gaze as your grandmother.

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  3. It's difficult for me to get rid of history. I've hoarded many items from both grandmothers and find it nigh impossible to let go.

    The pictures are wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. You are so lucky to have these things. I really have nothing - my punishment for going west, I guess. My siblings have been reluctant to share any family mementos with me.

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  5. I have a photo almost exactly like that one, though I think mine has the trees. My great grandparents in Missouri. I love those pictures. Your crock is beautiful with the roses in it. Like being inside the picture somehow.

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  6. I thought the two men were Dallas' two sons. Our great grandfather, Dallas, was quite a bit older than Cora (our greatgrandma--Bam). They left Kansas and went to Colorado because of Cora's health. Colorado must have been a very healthy climate--the house was a boarding house and she did ALL the cooking, cleaning, managing for years and years and years. She lived to be 96 years old.

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  7. I'm glad you saved the little crock. It's a family heirloom!

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  8. These pictures (and the crock) are priceless. I like old pictures even if I don't know the people. I frequent the Goodwill Outlet and am always finding old family photos. It makes me sad that someone would just toss them away, or maybe they were the last in the family line. I'm afraid to cart them home though, for fear I'll get labeled as someone's loopy Aunt merely because they connected me with the mystery photos!

    I'm glad you saved that crock; the ice cream machine, well... ;-)

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  9. There is no way to part with these, Terry - how wonderful! Hazle has the most intense eyes -- she must have been quite special.

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  10. I keep wanting to rhyme Hazle with "razzle" or "dazzle." I love her direct stare.

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  11. Becky, you are right I think. They were Dallas' sons. I've always loved the way they look in this picture, with their natty clothes and casual poses, each with a slight tilt--near mirror images of one another.

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  12. Having just spent some time with you in the flesh, I can say with confidence I definitely see the family resemblance between you and Hazle. How wonderful that you had time with her and were close.

    Look forward to see what you do with this photo quilting-wise. Makes me want to dig out my own old family pictures.

    Sheila

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  13. I think you have some very distinctive Hazle looks.

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