Capturing Moments in Time

 

This picture is of the last trip my Grandma and Grandpa took to California a couple years ago.  It was spontaneous.  Unplanned, and with the way my Grandpa's health was deteriorating we knew it was his last chance.  He passed away last year.  My Grandma is my last grandparent still alive, and I make sure to visit her a minimum of once a week.

My Grandpa left my Grandma when my Mom was 13, so after his second wife, my Grandma R, died and Grandpa moved up here to Utah to live with us, it was interesting watching my Grandma and Grandpa interact.  My Grandma is a prime example of forgiveness and service. Everyday she drove here and took him out to lunch, something most people would never do, and yet she did.

These last few weeks I've been buried, literally, in memories.  Going through pictures. Organizing them. Searching old hard drives and computers. It's been a monumental task I'm only halfway through.

And while searching I stumbled upon a gem: a short little audio clip of my Grandma and Grandpa talking while I sat in the front of the car, waiting for my Mom who ran into a store, sharing an experience they had before they were married.

Grandma: One Sunday afternoon Grandpa had just baled the hay on our farm, and so I went out to drive the truck and Paul climbed up on the hay, or on the truck, and there was a bale loader on the side of the truck where you'd pick up the hay bale, and the bale of hay would go up the loader, and then the guy on the truck would take them off and stack them on the truck.  Well, I think it got up a couple/three bales high, and the bale of hay, I don't know what happened, but the bale of hay was going up the loader, and all of a sudden this little guy... *laughs*

Me: Grandpa?

Grandma: Grandpa, Grandpa Paul fell off the top of the truck, hit the bale of hay, and bounced onto the ground. The hay broke his fall. And Dad, Grandpa E, come running over to the truck, and ran up to where Paul was, and when he saw that Paul was okay he started to laugh.

Me: How far did Grandpa fall?

Grandma: Off the top of the hay...

Grandpa: I was up about four or five tiers.

Grandma: No, we never filled it that, I don't think it was ever, made the bale, I don't know.

Grandpa: I was stacking the hay and the truck bumps.

Grandma: Anyway, He got up and he says, "I'm going to go into the house and get a drink of water."

Grandpa: And you never saw me again.

Me: That was his excuse to get out of it?

Grandpa: *laughing* Never saw him again! I think that was the last time, and he accused me of making him fall, but I think he just lost his footing.

Grandpa: She went over a rock, see...

Grandma: No, I didn't.

Grandpa: And the truck went Wuwuwuwu and around bang bang bang!

Grandpa: No I didn't. It only went Wuwuwuwu when you fell off. *laughs*

Me: Was this in Riverside?

Grandma: Yeah, it was Arlington then, but then they incorporated it into Riverside.  That was our little farm that we had there.

Me: Was this when you were just married?

Grandma: No, it was before we were married.

Me: Before you were married.

Grandma: Yeah, he used to come out all the time.  If he wasn't on the base doing something, he was on the farm. And he and your Uncle Harry, or your Mom's uncle Harry, your uncle Harry too, he used to sit out on the bales of hay with Harry's pellet gun and shoot the roosters in the behind.

Grandpa: We did not.

Grandma: Yes, you did.  Because one Sunday Mom decided to kill the big ol' rooster and have him for Sunday dinner.

Grandpa: Full of bullets. *laughs* Full of pellets.

Grandpa: *laughing* it was full of pellets, the rear end. It was full of pellets!

(Then Grandpa's cell rang, and my Mom got back into the car.)

A moment captured! And listening to it brings all the feels.

A while back I thought I lost a bunch of audio files I'd recorded, other interviews and my Grandma Stuff's funeral, other stories, etc, and I was heartbroken over it.  Felt it for days. But then a couple weeks ago I found the files in a place it shouldn't have been, that I swear I checked a few times.

Getting all this stuff sorted, combed through, saved, etc, is going to take a bit of time.  I'm the family historian!  Self appointed title, really.  I guess being single with no family of my own allows me the time, but it's sad, too, recording other peoples stories with their family (technically my family, too), feeling like I'm losing time.  Well, it is what it is, and I'm glad I'm able to do it, and had the foresight to record what I've recorded.  Just wish I'd done more!!  I've got a lot of work with this. I want to put a book together for my family with stories and pictures. I need to interview my Grandma more, get more stories. And I need to start recording my parents as well.  My nieces and nephew are interested in family history, and they love the photo books I put together.  They fall asleep reading them some nights!  I know they'll appreciate all this work one day. I'm doing it for them.

Until next time, don't put off talking to a loved one. And if someone in your family shares a story, write it down!  One day you'll be glad you did.

Seeing My Grandpa's Updated AncestryDNA Region Results Has Me Dreaming of Ireland

(Last September in the Wicklow Mountains, Ireland)

A few months ago there was an update to AncestryDNA results.  They always send the message that our DNA doesn't change, but their information, samples, algorithms, etc, get better.  My percentages changed: 55% Ireland & Scotland, 37% England, Wales & Northwestern Europe, 4% Sweden, 2% Norway, 2% Germanic Europe.  So I think this means I'm 55% Celtic and 37% Anglo Saxon.  Could be wrong.

I was excited to see what my maternal Grandparent results had changed to, did it better match what I know from research?  My Grandma A: 50% England, Wales & Northwestern Europe, 31% Germanic Europe, 15% Ireland & Scotland, 4% Norway.  All her Iberian Peninsula, which was about 14%, gone.  My Grandpa R: 90% Ireland & Scotland, 8% England, Wales & Northwestern Europe, and 2% Norway.  His 90% Ireland and Scotland are no surprise.

Then yesterday I got an email that said AncestryDNA has 150 new regions, 92 regions in Ireland.

I had to see what Irish regions my family taps into.

 

I personally only tap into one: East Cork & Waterford.  I might have to collect more crystal. :0)

 

My Mom taps into four: South West Munster, East Cork & Waterford, East Cork, and Iveragh Peninsula.  My Aunt Tam taps into those four plus North Munster.

 Then I looked up my Grandpa.  9 whole regions, all in the South of Ireland: South West Munster, Iveragh Peninsula, Beara Peninsula, East Cork & Waterford, North Munster, East Cork, West Cork, Killarney, and East Beara Peninsula.  The Mahoney's, in which I'm connected, originate in the south of Ireland, so these results match that.  My Mahoney line dead ends in Newfoundland, so having this regional confirmation is nice.  My O'Neil line dead ends in Maine, USA, though the clan history is more north Ireland.  The other Irish family names in my line aren't prominent enough to have a coat of arms or clan history.

 This is exciting, because the two times I've visited Ireland it was this region, and it felt like home.  It was wonderful.  Beautiful landscapes and very nice people.  Now I want to return and see so many places, mainly the Ring of Kerry, but traveling up the coast from Cork to Waterford would be fun as well.

Okay, I just want to go back to Ireland.

Remembering My Grandpa Paul R., 1932-2018

 My Grandfather passed away July 14th, 2018.  My Mom, Aunt Tam, our French friend Patou, and I were in California when his health took a turn for the worse, and we knew we wouldn't make it back in time.  His burial was last week.  He didn't want a burial.  He wanted his ashes spread somewhere between Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands, no funeral service.  Instead we found a Veterans cemetery, which we feel he would have liked.  He was proud of his military service, and we feel he would be happy being close to us.  When deciding what should go on his grave my brother Michael came up with, "Sailing the Interlude."  Interlude was the name of his sail boat, and there's a wonderful double meaning there.

Grandpa, I love you.

Have fun Sailing the Interlude.