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August 17, 2014

Sharing Memories Week 33: Let's Visit Grandma!

Sharing Memories Week 33: Let's Visit Grandma!
Here is a Challenge for all genealogy bloggers. I want you to keep a weekly journal called Sharing Memories. Some of you may recall that in 2010, 2011 and 2012 I provided weekly prompts to help with writing up memories of ancestors and ourselves. 

If you missed this weekly series called Sharing Memories you might want to have a look and see if any of the prompts appeal to you. Many readers asked me to continue with the prompts this year so that is what I am going to do.

This week's prompt is Let's Visit Grandma!

Was visiting Grandma a favorite time for you? Did you get to see her very often? Which grandmother was it? What did you like best about the visit and was there anything you didn't like?

We went to Guelph Ontario about once a month to visit my Grandma McGinnis. I loved going although I hated the actual car ride as I got carsick every time. But I loved getting to see my cousins much more than Grandma. Grandma rarely spoke to us children. She wasn't unkind, she just didn't  talk to us except to say hello and ask how school was. 

We'd make the rounds to dad's brothers Joe and Roy. His other brother Clare lived with Grandma so that was two visits in one. I didn't like Grandma's house on Water Street - it smelled and the only bathroom was in the basement. Her basement scared me. It had a dirt floor and a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The bathroom was very small and the sink was stained and yellow. There wasn't a shower, and in fact I can't recall if there was even a bathtub! I've never quite gotten over my fear of basements and I make my husband go with me when I go to ours. it doesn't have a dirt floor but it still makes me anxious.

The one cool thing was that Grandma lived just a few houses down the street from John McCrae's house (author of In Flanders Fields). She lived there from the early 1900s so it is quite possible she knew him.

I never thought of this as a child but as an adult I have to wonder why we never visited my mother's mother. She lived in Guelph too but I don't remember us taking time to drop in on her. 

 

 

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:51 AM

    Hello,
    I have been following your Memories topic posts and find the topics useful for me to begin writing down my own. I followed your link to your yearly lists entered on "Sharing Memories" but prompts for the year 2013 are not there. Did you not share memories for that year? If so, are they included in your booklet through Amazon.com?

    Thank you,

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello! I am very pleased that my prompts have helped you to begin writing your own memories down.

    I did not share memories in 2013. Due to many requests I started in 2014 but am ending them at the end of August. My Ebook will be the "go-to" spot from now on for those wishing to participate in Sharing Memories.

    My Ebook on Amazon has some duplicate prompts (that can't be helped as many topics are a must for a sharing memories story!)

    It also has new prompts. Each prompt in my Ebook has several questions designed to guide you further into pulling up old memories.

    Hope this helps you decide!
    Lorine

    ReplyDelete
  3. What great memories, Lorine! These prompts are such a great way for people to reflect and reminisce. Another great tool to utilize in writing memories is music. You'd be shocked at the things you remember when listening to one of your favorite old songs!

    ReplyDelete