Julie Isa is leading a journaling project called 'It's My Life" and I have decided to join in. One of my purposes in keeping this blog is to record _for myself_ what I am doing and making (and, maybe, thinking). A secondary purpose is to make the record for my descendants. I often wonder about my female ancestors and what kind of lives they lived.
Whenever I think of my childhood, the iconic images I come up with are right out of my elementary school Dick and Jane readers. :) Of course, I was oldest in my household so that picture above is a little off-base. :) Here are this week's questions:
1. What was your mother's name? Olga Octavia Moles (She told me once that her mother named her for the heroine in her favorite dime store romance novel.:)
Your Father's name? Otto Hampton (no middle name, a fact that often came up in conversation when he complained about 'official-dom'. Apparently his parents liked the name Otto a lot but none of his older siblings did ... so his parents went off and registered his birth while the kids were in school. In their rush to get it done, they did not give him a middle name -- all his other siblings had them. He used his mother's maiden name (Pennington) if anyone pressed him.)
Your grandmother's names? (paternal) Edna Mae Pennington; (maternal) Gaye Nell Hatfield.
Your grandfather's names? (paternal) Vollie Patrick Hampton; (maternal) Richard LeRoy Moles.
What did you call them? Hmm. I think I called my grandmothers both Gran'Maw or Mamaw. My grandfathers were Gran'Paw or Papaw.
2. Do you have brother's and sisters? Oh, heavens, yes! I am the oldest of five children. Linda Jane (me), Doris Elaine, Jeffrey Darrell, Alan Patrick and Kevin Otto.
How old were you when they were born? I remember each and every one of them coming home from the hospital very clearly, even my sister (I was only 17 months old!). What I have no memory of any kind is of my mother being pregnant. :) Let's see, I was 17 months when my sister was born, three for Jeff, six for Alan and exactly eight years old for my brother Kevin who was born on my birthday. :)
3. What about your aunts and uncles? Both my parents are from very large families. MY Dad was fourth born (had two older brothers and a sister and two younger brothers and a sister; two of his siblings died when he was little -- the next older sister died of Scarlet Fever and the next younger brother died of Typhoid). My Mom is oldest of seven (if I can count high enough on my fingers at this moment:).
Did they play an important part in your growing up? We visited both sets of grandparents fairly often during my childhood. My mother's youngest siblings were only a little older than me (my youngest uncle is 18 months older than me) so they were playmates during my childhood. My dad's younger siblings were older and were away at school.
My paternal grandmother LOVED children and we used to spend a month or two each summer with them on the farm in Virginia (the backroads of Wise County, near The Pound). Best times of my childhood! My maternal grandmother was still raising her brood so our visits tended to be shorter. They, too, lived in the mountains , in Kentucky (Mom is from Betsy Layne, Pike County, KY, near the Big Sandy River).
Did your family get together much casualy or did you have to travel to spend time together? We went to one grandparent's or the other at nearly every holiday. I have many happy Thanksgiving dinner memories ... and Christmas ... and Easter. :)
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