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| This is my grandmother's mother's side of the family. I can recognize a few members, but not all. |
One interesting aspect of the family history project is that different people and lines of my family attract my attention at different times. It's as if they are calling to me from the past to pay attention. Right now I'm exploring my grandmother's mother's family. What intrigues me about this family is that there are more women than men and that in all the pictures they look happy, close to one another, and full of life. Also, my grandmother spoke less about them than she did about her father's side. On her father's side there was less cohesion, but more public recognition and newsworthy stories.
As I look at my grandmother's mother's side, the followng facts interest me:
- My dad has mentioned how generous and nice so many of the members of that family were. He tells of one family member, Johnny Galvin, that would bring his brother and him to the Knights of Columbus picnic where they had a great time--a family member that was filled with good spirits and kindness. He also repeats how kind and nice his spunky grandmother was time and again, a woman who would sit in the front seat of their car with his father on their many trips to Nantasket Beach by in the 1930's. That family had warmth.
- The family had fortitude too. They lived through many tragedies of babies lost, the early deaths of loved ones, and little means.
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| This is a picture of Helen and her twin brother, Henry abt 1910. |
So now I'm trying to glue together the pieces of this family. I'm trying to figure out the truths of the family lore that exist including the story of Henry who disappeared after the war, the young twin who seemed to die early, and the life of one woman who lost her mother at a young age. There is also the interweaving of cultures that occurred in this family when Irish immigrants married French and Polish immigrants. I'm wondering how that affected their traditions, customs, professions, and travel. And, there's the lifework they chose or were relegated to as police, typographers, union members, laborers, and homemakers.
Who are these people?
What role did the geography of their homeland play in their lives, strength, and choices?
What traditions and lifeways belong to me today because of who they were?
The family history project is truly a kind of jigsaw puzzle that intrigues me--I'm very curious about how people's choices and circumstances affect their lives and the lives after them. In some ways, I find myself searching for the secrets of good living via this pasttime.
I welcome your insights as I journey this path. And in the meantime, I'll continue my work. Onward.