Saturday, December 20, 2008

Precious Memories and More ...

FOUND something this morning that I want to share.
My brothers and sisters will enjoy the photo maybe more than most everyone else, because it features someone dear to our hearts: our father's mother - our grandmother Anna Stanford Fenimore.
I was wondering about her age in this photo and think she probably was about my age now. That is incredible to consider.
She has the typical black "grandmother shoes" which you can't see in this picture, but trust me. They rose to just below the ankle, had short stacked heels and tied down the front with laces. The heavy nylons were rolled around her legs and held up with garters (most of the time they were held up). She made her dresses, since she had to have a special pattern for her humped back. I realize now it must have been severe osteoporosis. She said it was from carrying heavy pails of water uphill to their house when she was young.
She had a life I can only imagine. Her father died from an accidental gunshot wound during a hunting expedition. From stories I heard, he was shot in the stomach and it took him a while to die. What haunting memories those must have been. She married and had two children and then lost them in to cholera. (Any family members reading this who remember things differently, please let me know.)
She married Pop Pop and they started a new family together. Eventually they came to Oregon from Texas. I always wonder what a life in Texas would have been like. Of course, my father never would have met my mother and I wouldn't have had to wonder at all!
Outside it's snowing powdery, light fluff. I know what it's like, now, to be a sugar cookie and have someone sifting powdered sugar over you - femminismo

1 comment:

angela recada said...

What a wonderful post about your Grandma!

My Oma also wore sensible shoes - she wore them so long that the leather was pushed out to accommodate her bunions. I think they were probably very comfortable because of this. She could walk for hours at a time in them, far into her eighties.