SEPIA SATURDAY 1st December 2012

Time for Sepia Saturday and bridges,  water or even dogs are the theme. Swim suits or fishing could be ideas for this posting. 
My mother told me that as a young child about 4 or 5 my great uncle Wayne would take me fishing. Sadly I have no pictures or memories of this, but I have wonderful memories of Uncle Wayne. Sweet and jolly man he always made me smile.
Uncle Wayne was the half brother to my grandma Grace and he and his wife Mary would visit often from Michigan. No date on the picture but from the early 1960s. It was taken in their home, I can tell from the picture of Jesus hanging on the wall. I love grandpa's tie, he always wore a tie for pictures, church or any time he left the house.
This is a picture of my uncle Wayne and Aunt Mary with my grandma Grace and grandpa Bill

While going through PILES of photos I did find this treasure of a photo. I need to get copies of it to give as a gift to my sister and brother, children and my nephew.
This photo is of my mom and dad sitting at the end of a pier and is dated 1949. It is taken some where in Texas. I was born in 1948 and my sister would join us in 1950. If you read my blog you will find the story of my mother contacting polio in 1952 and how we almost lost her at that time. With prayer and a gift from God she survived to live until 1998. Daddy left us in 2008 but had been slipping away from us with the disease of dementia for over 10 years before death came.

This picture takes my breath away, It is a gift to look at these two beautiful young people in picture. I no longer take pictures with film using my digital camera or phone. These pictures I take may never be found by my descendants 60 years from now. Just may be time to get some real film and grab my camera from the shelf in the closet.

I hope that you will take a moment and visit other postings at Sepia Saturday. 
Thanks for stopping by for Sepia Saturday. Next stop is the thrift store to find some cheap photo albums to start putting these piles of photos in. Grace

TREASURE THURSDAY ~ ENVELOPE OF FAMILY PHOTOS 70 Years Old ~ A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

A small white envelope with photos can be a real family treasures. A way to glimpse at faces from years ago.

This photo was taken in 1941 on the 30th anniversary of my grandma and grandpa Days wedding. It was probably taken in either Mora or Ogalvie Minnesota at my grandparents home.

I see a picture of my mama in her late teens ( back row 2nd from left, next to her is my beloved aunt Daisy and uncle Don. Of course my sweet grandpa and grandma are in the front row on the right hand side.
It looks like grandma Grace is sittinga bit forward and straight so she appears taller than everone else sitting. She is surrounded by her husbands family.

What I can glimps at is a picture of my great grand aunt Grace and her first husband Lloyd.  I remember her but never met him. They are are the left hand side.

 Next to grandma Grace is my grandpa Bill's mother Carrie.  She is small and much older than my minds eye of her. I see a sweet soft gentle face and wish I had known her. I am guessing she was strong and a survivor. She survived the early death of her first husband.  She went on to meet a second man and lived a quiet life by a lake. I am guessing she was very happy in her later years.

I am glimpsing for the first time the face of great grandma Carrie's sister Stella and her husband Harvey. I know nothing about her at this time.

It is interesting to look at pictures that are over 70 years old. To see faces you remember and faces you never met.  To wonder what they talked about and how they felt about what was happening in the world at that time.

I bet the cake was good, my grandma made fantastic cakes. And of course there would of been coffee with cream and sugar. The table would of been set with the company dishes. They would of been placed on a crisp ironed table cloth.

I sure there was laughter and lots of talking about what was happening in their lives and the lives of those not there.

Grandma Grace's mother and step father were dead. Grandpa Bill's father was dead. Grandma Grace's siblings were not there with two having moved recently to Michigan and the others in the twin cities of Minnesota. No matter I am sure they had a good time at the party.

Thanks for stopping by for Treasure Thursday. If you think we may be related I would love to hear from you.

 I have shared this picture at ancestry for other family members to see and have.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY ~ GRANDPA SENDS LOVE NOTE TO GRANDMA 1909

Sometimes it is hard to think of your grandparents as sweethearts as lovers. They are your grandparents, but when you get a chance to own early postcards or letters they wrote before or even after married to get a peek into the romance part of their life.

Here is a post card that my grandpa Bill sent to grandma Grace before they married. The front may not be fancy and romantic but the back tells the story.

December 2nd 1909
My dear sweetheart
     I have waited all my life just for you.  Now  I know since I met you and looked into your beautiful eyes, and read there my answers.  It is the happiest moment of  a man's life when he meets the girl he loves and his love is returned.  Your devoted  W H Day

They married January 12th 1911 in Mora Minnesota and had five children between 1913 and 1922 with the youngest being my mama.
I wish I knew how they met, but I never asked.
Happy Valentines  Day to all of you.  Grace

Sepia Saturday Theme - Hats 14 January 2012 All Dressed In Their Hats

 The theme for today's Sepia Saturday is HATS. Perfect time to dig out some old family photos of hats.

 The above picture is of my grandma Grace Daly Esler Day and grandpa Bill Day. They are pictured in their Sunday go to meeting hats. I think they look adorable. This is dated 1945 or 1946.

Next is a picture of my mother and great aunt Mary wife of my uncle Wayne Esler. It is marked 1948 and was taken in San Antonio Texas. Since that is the year I was born I am guessing my mom is pregnate with me just a few months. I loved my great aunt Mary, she had a warm smile and laugh and wore bright red nail polish. No one else in my family wore nail polish so as a child I always thought she was so daring. I love her hat tilted to the side. Boy she was so cute and adorable.

I love to see pictures of my mom before she got polio. It is fun to see her in pretty shoes. Once she had polio she no longer could wear pretty shoes like these pictured. She wore sturdy shoes and a brace on one leg.

And last picture is a wonderful vintage cabinet photo of some relatives of mine. Not sure who they are as of yet but are related on my great grandma Katherine Gallaghers side of the family. Her mother my great great grandma Joanna's maiden name was Riordan. This picture was in a vintage family album. On the paper of album is written May and Frank Riordan.
This family is full of brick walls. Maybe I can start breaking down some walls with this family album full of old cabinet photos.
I am sharing this over at Sepia Saturday. Hope that you have enjoyed seeing a couple of my vintage photos. Grace

On This Day 100 Years ago My Grandparents married

Wow exactly 100 years ago today January 12, 1911 my grandfather William H Day and my grandmother Grace C Esler married in Mora Minnesota at the Methodist parsonage.

I grew up very close to them and I know that they adored each other right to the end. They had a total of 5 children with 2 dying at an early age.

Happy anniversary grandma and grandpa. I believe you are together and celebrating this year as you did every year you were with us.

This picture is of girls celebrating some anniversary with them.

Thanks for stopping by to see what happened on this day in my family... Grace

Wordless Wednesday ( Almost) Birthday Greetings From Grandma Day

I have been going through piles and piles of pictures, letters and cards. I have been the keeper of all since sometime in 1998.



My plans all these years has been to sort, make copies and put in family history binders and share with cousins, children, grandchildren.



My grandmother Grace and grandfather Bill Day sent me lots of birthday cards the first years. We lived in Texas and they were in Minnesota at that time. I have not been able to find any Christmas cards as of yet.








Here is a very pretty Birthday card that was sent to me September 1949. I was one year old and the first grandchild. Within days my cousin Bonnie would be born.

I am sharing this post on gratituesday

Thanks for stopping by and sharing some of my memories. Now back to the piles of treasures. Grace

Treasure Chest Thursday My Collection Of Family Photos

One of my most loved treasures is the collection of family photos I have of my ancestors. Most are on my mother's side of the family, but thanks to my aunt Alice I have photos and copies of photos of some of the family.

This darling picture is of my grandfather William H Day 1889 - 1964. He is so adorable with his sweet smile. He was the first child of William A 1867 - 1920 and Carrie ( Lockwood) Day 1870 - 1946. This picture would of been taken in the about 1892 in Ortonville Minnesota. Photographer was Carlson.

This photo has grandpa and grandma Day, in front is me in front of grandpa, my cousin Bonnie, sister Mary and in the front is cute little Cheryl. This was taken some time in the late 1950's at their home.

I adored my grandpa Bill and grandma Grace and to this day miss them terribly. Grandpa was so cute right up to his last days.

Sentimental Sunday Grandpa Bill and Grandma Grace Day

This picture is of grandpa and grandma Day with us girls left to right is me (Grace) , my cousin Bonnie next to me and the little one is my cousin Cheryl, next to them is my sister Mary. It was taken January 12th 1959 for their 48TH wedding anniversary. No smile on my face, I must of been going through a serious phase.

Today I am sharing a story of my grandparents on my mother's side. William H and Grace ( Esler) Day.

I grew up with them being only 2 blocks from where we lived . Every Sunday I would walk to their house and from there walk to church with them.

Sundays were spent at their house after church. Noon time dinner was usually a roast beef and was fantastic. The adults would sit in the dining room, my sister Mary and cousins Bonnie and Cheryl and myself sitting in the kitchen at the smaller table.

The dining room table always had a white table cloth and white cloth napkins. The best china was used and the coffee cups were decorative china cups. I have several now and remember watching them sip their coffee from these dainty cups

This picture was probably taken for another celebration of my grandparents anniversary. Front row is my Aunt Daisy, Grandpa Bill and Grandma Grace. Back row from left to right is my father, my mother, Aunt Lil and Uncle Don.

Sundays were always church and then family time at the dinner table. After dinner my father and my grandfather would go into to the living room to watch a baseball game. My grandfather loved the New York Yankees. My father would be for what ever team my grandfather was not for so they could have a little fun teasing each other.

While the men watched TV the other adults would sit at the dining room table and drink coffee and visit.

My grandparents were always so loving, and I miss them terribly even now. This picture is how they looked at that time. They always dressed up to go to church. This picture was taken for their for their 50Th anniversary.

Sentimental Sunday is a time to share some of those stories of our family. As I post about my family members, I print out my postings and put in my family book so that years from now family members will not only have the stories but maybe some of my thoughts.

My Grandparents William and Grace Day

William Henry Day and Grace Celestie ( Daly Esler ) Day are my mother's parents. William was born October 21, 1889 in Clinton Minnesota. Grace was born July 6 1892 in Winona Minnesota. Grace is the birth daughter of my mystery Andrew Daly from my brick wall ancestor. They married January 12 1911 in Mora, Minnesota. Grandpa passed away February 21 1964 with grandma passing away August 18, 1972. They were married 53 years. I remember a warm loving couple. You always knew that they loved each other. They had 53 years together, had a total of 5 children with 2 of them passing away shortly after birth. There home was always filled with warmth and the smell of home cooking. In the living room hung a picture of Jesus on the Mount and in the dining room a picture of the Last Supper. They never had a lot of money but they always had a cup of coffee and a plate of cookies for a visitor. It was a close knit religious family. We would go to Church every Sunday and then walk with them to their home. Dinner was usually Roast Beef with Mash Potatoes and Gravy. There would be corn , a jello salad, dinner rolls and dessert.

Being the oldest grandchild it was my responsibility to go to their home every other Saturday to mow the grass. It was a small yard but would take me about an hour to push this old mower. Grandpa would say " Rest Grace , don't get worn out . Part of him probably did not want me to not over do but I also think part probably wanted me to stay with him a little longer. When I would finish mowing I would go into the back door and sit at the kitchen table for a ginger ale and cookie and a quarter. These are probably the only times I had with my grandparents alone. No other adults or kids to share them with. These are wonderful memories that I have cherished for about 50 years. One more thing I have that the other grandchildren do not have is my Grandma Grace's name.