I love old family photos. I mean I really love them. So much so that it makes me sad when I find “orphaned” family photos in antique shops or on the walls of restaurants. How did they end up here? How could anyone give up these family heirlooms? And I’m always certain there’s someone in that family – someone like me who would give almost anything to have those precious photos back. Continue reading
The story my father told me so long ago about his grandparents Andrew and Brita Dalin left me with two mysteries – well, at least two. The first is the mystery of Brita’s maiden name. I remember my father saying, “Well, it was something like Anderson or Johnson – I think.” In all my years of research, I’ve managed to narrow it down (if you can call it that) to either: Continue reading
Yesterday morning my sister put her dog to sleep. A beautiful 13 1/2 year old German Shepherd named Misha. It was time – but that never makes it any easier.
Misha was possibly the last of a long-line of German Shepherds in our family – two generations worth. The first was “Valiant Lady” who came into our family when I was about two years old. And we have been in love with this breed ever since, particularly my mother. Continue reading
This is a wonderful photo of my grandmother, Nora Marie (Kieron) Blacker (1900-1937), comfortably lying next to Samuel Thomas Hauser, III (1878-1941) and his wife, Retta Brown (Clark) Hauser (1878-1940). The Hausers were very good friends of the Blacker family. In fact, they were such good friends that my mother has always referred to them as “Uncle Tom” and “Aunt Babe”.
After their homes were destroyed in the 6.2 magnitude earthquake of October 1935, several members of my mother’s family (10 in all!) lived with Uncle Tom and Aunt Babe in their “mansion” on Floweree. Continue reading