Where was this, Florence?

Jeri

Jeri--I grew up in Lakeside park----a little community on a lake south of Trenton N.J.-----My father built a little bungalow next to this home where I grew up----He lost the house during the depression but was able to buy it back for $2,000------I think it cost $3,000 to build around 1927----now it is worth around $94,000---
sad thing is a huge highway went right through the community and the lake very close to my parents home------My mother fought it but politics were involved and the neighbors couldn't fight them---
I wanted to raise my children in my grandmothers home but it didn't work out---makes me sad to this day
Florence

Oh, that would make me sad, too. We've lost the sense of families associated with a piece of land, or a loved home, I think. I hate that.

Jeri

Oh, what memories! My DH grandparents lost their home during the Depression, too, and his parents were able to buy it back from the bank. Believe me, it wasn't anything fancy, but I heard stories of 20 people living in the house when husbands had gone off to World War 2. My husband is still close to cousins, etc. who lived in the house then. Can you imagine what that was like, LOL!

My dad had a foot that was terribly deformed, was brought up as normal and made quite a successful career in his life. This was before all the programs and financial help available these days; interesting how they somehow overcame these obstacles and still made their lives meaningful...

Florence

Thank you for the sequel to your story. I am like my little girl--always wanting to hear more. The photos of your father are a treasure as was he. What an amazing man! I sense his indomitable spirit in you. If your posts are any indication (and I know they are), you are a wonderful writer! I encourage you to preserve his story in paper and ink.

I'm with Jeri. I worry about loss of connection to family and home. I worry about the pervasive rootlessness that has become so common. So many young people I work with feel like refugees. If stars could grant my desires, I'd wish us all healthy families (however we choose to create our families) and homes to come home to on land that has savored the work of kindred hands.

I am so glad you are blessed with photos of your grandparents' home. Your paintings capture the spirit of the place. I wish my great grandparents' home was still in our family, but at least we, too, have some photos. My great grandparents on that side of the family (Dad's mom) were Missouri farmers, and my grandmother told me many stories about her childhood. I have a few items from the farmhouse--old books, a lamp made out of the barn's lightening rod ball, an old carved picture frame, my great grandfather's flow blue cereal bowl, and some photographs. Dad's dad came from a branch of the Lee family, and I have a photo of Great Grandmother Sarah and a couple of pieces of her Civil War era furniture. A chunk of my mother's side of the family came from closer to your neck of the woods--the Dana family from Massachusetts and New York. I have an ancestor that seems like he must have had some of your father's strength of character. He was visually impaired for a time, spent two years on a sailing ship and wrote about his experiences in the forecastle, and then returned to the east coast to practice law. He helped found the anti-slavery Free Soil Party. Wish I could travel back in time to meet him.

Thank you for the second installment of your gallery show. Your work is such a joy! My grandmother (the one who grew up in the Missouri farmhouse) dabbled in oils and pastels but said she never stuck with watercolors because the medium is so technically difficult. I applaud your hard-earned skill with the brush!

In return for your gifts to me, I'm going to attempt to attach images of two of my grandmother's magnolia paintings. Wish me luck!

With great appreciation and gratitude,
Carol

This post was edited by PortlandMysteryRose on Fri, Jun 21, 13 at 3:42

And the second magnolia.

Wonderful memories, stories and treasured paintings. These days we need such things more than ever.

What a wonderful thread. I remember years ago, Florence, when you first shared your father's story with us. He was such an amazing man.

Hi Florence,

I have been thinking of you and wondering how you are doing. I hope you are feeling better and are able to ride down to LBI and say hello. Great pictures and story. What is the name of the area south of Trenton?

Take care,

This is a very poignant thread for me. As a wanderer who has lived in three different countries and at least 30 different locations, and whose first memory as a child is of living in a refugee camp, I love the sense of continuity that some families still have. My good fortune was to have grandparents who lived with us when I was a child, and who told many stories that connected me to their lives (in yet another country). A close family connection, and connection with relatives, can often substitute for a place, since there is a commonality of past lives lived together and shared memories that go back far in time. That is sadly missing in the younger generation with all too many instances of broken homes, violence, and drug and alcohol abuse. Without a solid base they're often doomed to repeat the mistakes of their elders.

Ingrid