Happy Birthday, Tattie!

Tattie and Heather, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

I finally found the photo I took on an Easter Sunday of my great-aunt and my baby daughter on the first Easter after she was born. Notice that they have a similar expression on their faces!

Born in 1895 on April 7, Dorothy was the "baby" in her family. She was small and blonde as compared to her siblings, my grandmother and her robust brother, Harold. She had bad vision and hearing but she was very smart. Math was easy for her.


She's our divorced woman but that's a story for another time. She once had the cutest little girl who died way too young.

After Tattie died, my mother bemoaned that the holidays weren't the same without "Tattie" but then, my mother said that every time someone died. Change is hard for us New Englanders.

Somewhere along the way we switched from the traditional Ham dinner to Kentucky Fried Chicken  I thought it was so much more fun. Isn't it crazy what you miss?

So many recipes that I have inherited make way too much food for the size of my family. Many are things we no longer eat or even enjoy. Family food changes with the time. 

Fortunately, birthday cake doesn't go away! Happy Birthday, Tattie!

Hannah and her Sister

Hannah and her sister, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

 My grandmother, Hannah and her sister

Searching the images of the 1940 census is making me lonely for my "old" family. You know what an "old" family is, don't you? It's a family that was already in place when you were born.

I took this photo at a holiday meal in 1976 of my grandmother, whose first name she hated, which was Hannah, and her only sister, whose name was Dorothy. My grandmother preferred to use her middle name, Josephine, and of course, my mother was named after this Aunt Dorothy. We called her Tattie.

The holiday in this photo, which was Thanksgiving, is really unimportant to the story because this is a story about Easter. 

My great aunt Dorothy lived in Westerly, RI but in the part that was Pawcatuck, CT (a village in Stonington, CT). Huh? You say, how can she live in two states? Well, she lived in a family home that was so close to the border of the two states that her mailing address was Rhode Island and her car license plates were CT.

 So, you can see why I am reminded of this as I search for her in the 1940 census.

One Easter, when I was about 11, we switched to having Easter at our house instead of my grandmother's apartment. She had just moved into an apartment from her beautiful house. She was a little sad and not completely unpacked. 

We decided that we would celebrate my great aunt's birthday at the same time. She was born on April 7. When she came to our house, she was wearing a new necklace which was a string of pearls (or so we thought). My mother admired them and then to our horror, my great aunt pulled at them and they flew all over the room.

They were pop-beads! How we laughed and laughed! It was so unlike her to do such a thing. It took all of us half an hour to find them all. I bought a bag of pop-beads to remember her by and I think I will wear them this Easter.

Brothers and the Easter Baskets

Easter Basket, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

 Brothers and Easter Baskets

Some photos are just too funny to pass up writing a blog post about. I found a large number of Easter photos in the pile of unsorted photos that belonged to my in-laws.

This is my favorite funny photo of my husband Steve, (the big kid) and his younger brother Michael taken on Easter in 1948.

Clearly annoyed that he can't be the one holding the basket, Michael is complaining and pulling on Steve's jacket.

Before this Easter, the only photos I can find are of my husband's older brother, on Easter 1942. There are many photos because he is the first born child and oh, so cute. He's 2 years old.

But, by 1948, here is the photo of all three brothers. In this massive pile of photos there are FEW photos with all the boys together. The difference in their ages makes it clear, boys are not nuts about Easter egg hunts.

 

Bunny Nesting Toy

1. 

Bunny Nesting Toy, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Is it Really Spring?

Here in chilly New England, we had our first warm day yesterday.The snowstorm from last week left us several inches of crunchy snow. It is slowly melting. It gave me a bad case of spring fever or maybe it was the full moon.

Hubs and I have been shopping for the essential items in our grandson's Easter basket. After St. Pat's Day, I will take down the green and gold decorations and put up the Easter and spring decorations.

These are my new nesting bunnies. My first Easter toy was a nesting chickie and I look fondly at him as I pass by. It is great to have a reminder of your childhood out so that you can talk to others about what you remember.

Taking a day off today to do some shopping and go out for an early dinner.

The Spring Bunny

Three Generations Bunny, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Not too many people have a three generation photo with the Easter Bunny. Although we are different ages, this certainly is a joyous thing to have for this season.

Happy Easter to all my readers!

Easter Past

Steve and Tulips Framed, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

I took this great pic of "wonder-hubby" at my daughter's house a couple of years ago. It is a favorite shot. This is post 1, 100. Who knew I could write that much?

Easter Happenings

Easter Bunny
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy, 18th Edition: "Easter and Passover Traditions"

When I look at this photo of me, it is hard to me to believe that in New England we ever wear anything but winter clothes for Easter and certainly that holds true this year. I decided to take time today to post old Easter photos taken from 2000 to 2007 (Easter 2008 is already posted) so I could think about what Easter traditions have lasted in my family. In short, not very much.

I still put out some Easter decorations and buy some chocolate eggs. I love Peeps and jelly beans but we have given that up this year. {Too fat} As a family we are having breakfast together which is the only real tradition left from my childhood.

My grandmother always bought me a toy (I still have one to write about next year) and she set out jellybeans for me to gather. The family ate ham and that meal tradition is gone as both my husband and I don't like ham! What would the older people think of us today?

It's been a long, snowy winter here in Massachusetts and we are glad to be leaving it behind. But, like so many of us, remembering our loved ones who are gone makes us sad but spring flowers remind us we must move on.

This is our last holiday before we will have a grandchild.