Where I Was

May 1979. I can still feel the freezing cold of the water as I walked through the stream to the dunes. The warmth of the sun and the chill of the morning breeze. The quietness broken only by the occasional laughter and voices of other visitors. It was a time of change. One stage of life ending and another beginning. A return to civilian life after 9 1/2 years in the Navy.

I purchased a postcard at the gift shop that I still have posted on the bulletin board next to my computer. It included a few words written by Ann Zwinger ". . . even in winter there is the promise of spring. . . The white of snow becomes the white of summer clouds. . . part of each season is contained in every other."

Anyone care to venture a guess as to where this picture was taken? A little hint, western United States ;-)

Update May 21, 2008 11:00 a.m

Craig Manson of Geneablogie fame has correctly identified the above scene as the Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve. Located in the southwest corner of Colorado, it is an amazing area. It's on my list of places to visit, again. Someday.

Some incredibly nice photographs:
http://www.nps.gov/archive/grsa/resources/photos_dunes.htm

Children's artwork inspired by the dunes:
http://www.nps.gov/archive/grsa/artwork.htm

Links to more photographs:
http://www.nps.gov/archive/grsa/resources/photos.htm

There are a lot of other nice websites, just do a search for Great Sand Dunes...

Two Stylish Ladies

My grandmother, Hazlette (Brubaker) Phend, and her sister Jane Stoffer Jacobs at Goose Lake, Whitley County, Indiana during the summer of 1954. They may well be "rolling in their grave" at my posting this picture but I think they'd be rolling over with laughter.

Submitted to the 49th Carnival of Genealogy, swimsuit edition.

Lots of Smart Ladies at the Carnival

Jasia has posted the May 18th Carnival of Genealogy, 48th Edition the topic is "Mom, how'd you get so smart?" and is a tribute to the wisdom and knowledge of our beloved mothers and mother figures. There's some pretty neat stories I'm sure you'll enjoy.

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: Swimsuit Edition!

Why should Sports Illustrated have all the fun? This is your chance to show off the bathing beauties in your family. Pull out the old photos of Grandma Moses in her seaside bloomers, Auntie Mae in her pin-up girl suit from the 1940s or 50s, cousin Paula in her psychedelic bikini from the 1970s, or even yourself in your Speedo! Let's have some fun here! Memorial Weekend is knocking on the door and that means the start of the summer sun, sand, and seaside season so let's get in the mood with summer fun photos. What? You don't have any swimsuit photos you dare to share? No problem! Tell us your best family beach stories instead! The deadline for submissions is June 1st.

Articles can be submitted to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

Desktop Genealogist has an RSS feed!

Perhaps I'm the last one to learn of this, but Terry Snyder now has an RSS feed available for her blog Desktop Genealogist. Her blog also has a new URL.

I've been checking her "old" blog "manually" and noticed the site had changed a bit but there had not been any posts for a few days, which is unusual for Terry ;-)

Anyway, I clicked on the "blogs" tab and discovered that Terry had posted something today and that she now has a "new" blog. With archives and an RSS feed, and she doesn't even have to wait on her editor to approve her posts! Congratulations, Terry. I know she's happy about the change, and so am I.

And why does this matter, you ask? Well, because I really like Terry's blog. Her wit and humor is refreshing and she writes good stuff. She puts her own unique twist on the topic of genealogy and family history research.

Terry also has another blog that I've been following: The Thacker Chronicles which went online in April. Terry calls this her "not ready for primetime (aka the local newspaper) blog" and is documenting her exploration of a branch of the family that left her "a little off balance" when she discovered something that took her by surprise. I applaud Terry for tackling this touchy subject and for airing her thoughts publicly. I'm looking forward to reading about her discoveries. Good luck in that search, Terry.

Lessons Learned

Larwill, Indiana combined 3rd and 4th grades, 1936-37 class. Mom is the 4 child from the left in the top row, she was in the 3rd grade. Two of her classmates are still good friends and they attended the birthday open house for mom's 80th birthday last Saturday.

Larwill, Indiana was (and still is) a small rural community about six miles west of Columbia City. Mom's family had moved there in 1935 and she attended the Larwill School for the rest of her school years. Classes for all grades, 1st through 12th, were held in one building, which was only a few blocks from their home.

Of course, mom learned reading, writing and arithmetic in school, along with history, home economics and social studies, but she was an "average" student, and according to her she didn't excel in anything, except making friends! Mom was the middle of five children and since their home wasn't far from school, it was the natural gathering place for all of their friends.

Along with the book learning, she learned how to do housework and help take care of her younger sister and brother. Life lessons learned through firsthand experience that served her well when she had children of her own after graduating in 1946.

When the time came for her to go to work outside the home, she was more than ready! Her first paying job was working in a factory, Playtime Products, in Warsaw, where they made toy baby buggies. Then my grandmother opened a restaurant in North Webster and mom went to work there. Her social skills came in quite handy while working with the customers and the other employees. In 1964, the restaurant was sold and mom got a job in another factory, North Webster Products. They made electrical wiring harnesses for refrigerators, freezers and other appliances. It wasn't easy work, but she was good at it. The company went through many changes over the years, but mom made it through all the lay-offs and downsizings and retired in 1993 after 29 years of service.

One of the most important lessons I learned from mom and the secret to her success, she says, was flexibility and a willingness to learn. Whenever she was asked if she had ever done a certain task, which she hadn't ever done before, instead of just saying "no" she always said "no, but I can give it a try" and invariably she would do just fine, not always, but most of the time. Many of her co-workers were women and many of them refused to even try a new task but she was always willing. She wasn't a perfectionist, but she always did the best that she could. Another lesson learned.

This post was written for the 48th Carnival of Genealogy whose topic is "Mom, how'd you get so smart?"

1st Edition of Smile for the Camera

footnoteMaven has posted the first edition of the Smile for the Camera Carnival. And it is a wonderful tableau depicting "Mother Love" which is the topic for this inaugural edition of the carnival. Congratulations to fM and all of the contributors for a great start to this new venture.

The deadline for submissions to the next edition is midnight June 10, 2008 and the topic is belles and beaus - select a photograph of an ancestor, relative, yourself, or an orphan photograph that shows a memorable wedding, courting/dating, or a photograph depicting young/old love. Additional information and instructions for submitting your post can be found at Shades of the Departed.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mom and Me - Summer of '49

If you'd like, please revisit my post from last year on Mothers and Grandmothers.

Happy 80th Birthday Mom!

1928 - - 1943

1945 - -1966


1970 - - 1993

1996 - - 2008

She did it with Love

My mother holding her firstborn child, Charles Douglas "Doug" Wiseman. Two months shy of her birthday, Mom was not quite 19 years old when Doug was born in March 1947. In the next two years, two more children would be born, me and Jack Lynn. Four and a half years after Jack was born, my sister Teresa Jane arrived on the scene.

The pictures below were taken on Easter Sunday in 1955 at grandma's house in Auburn. Jack's coat is too big, Doug's is too small. I wore that coat for more years than I care to remember. Terry was a handful. Mom was a stay-at-home-mom. Of course, back in the 50s that's what moms did. When Terry started school, Mom got a job outside the home and things changed. That's life. Deal with it and move on. She wasn't the "perfect" mother, like Donna Reed or Harriet Nelson, but she did the best that she could with what she knew. She did it with love. Thanks Mom.

Contributed to the 1st Edition of the Smile for the Camera Carnival.

Happy Birthday Uncle Bill