Throwback Thursday: Couple Playing on a Wall

From my "old and known" file:

Man—“I’ll hold onto you real tight so the wind doesn’t blow you away.”

That's my caption. What's yours? Leave it in the comments below.

Throwback Thursday: A Couple's Formal Picture

From my old pictures file:

WOMAN—If I stand taller, do you think I’ll look 5 pounds thinner?

That's my caption. What's yours? Leave it in the comments below.

Memory Monday: Our Christmas Tree

3 generations around the Christmas tree in 1982

OUR CHRISTMAS TREE

It is that time of the year!!! I love the last two months of the year. And this year is even better. First of all, by Thanksgiving weekend, I already had all my Christmas shopping done. Then the day after Thanksgiving, my husband and I got out the tree and the decorations. I spent the afternoon putting on the ornaments. Now, this is my favorite part of my favorite time of the year. I have never been one to want a themed tree—like snowflakes or teddy bears—or one that was color-coordinated—like silver and blue or gold and red. No, my trees have always been memory ones.

I didn’t really plan it that way. It’s just the way it happened and I liked it, so I continued doing it. Both sets of our parents always had lights and tinsel garlands on their tree. I can’t remember if they gave us any of those, but I do know that we couldn’t afford to buy ornaments—I was a college student and my husband had only a part-time job. We didn’t have the internet at that time, so I tried to figure out what we could do to decorate a tree. Months before Christmas, I figured out that we could save the shells from the eggs we used for breakfast and use them for ornaments. I would poke holes in the end of each egg and blow the egg yolks and whites out into a bowl. I almost blew my eardrums out doing this because I didn’t know until much later that I should have inserted a skewer and broken up the yolk before I tried to blow it out that little hole at the end. Still, I saved about four dozen intact shells. My husband and I dyed the shells with Easter egg dye the night of the only night launch by NASA. We used those egg ornaments for several years, then slowly started to replace them. Still, they were special, and for the last 44 years, we have had at least one eggshell ornament on our Christmas tree each year.

Later as my husband’s grandmother and parents passed down some of their ornaments, our trees became memory Christmas tree with each of those ornaments hanging on our tree. Then, our children made ornaments in school that we just had to add to our tree. A great-aunt and her daughter sent our children some very special ornaments that still hang on our tree. I made some ceramic ornaments, among several other homemade ones, when I was in my “crafty stage.” When our daughter married and moved out, she took a few of her ornaments and a couple of our egg ones, as well.

When our son was in grade school, he saw one of those Hallmark ads about getting a special ornament each year. He asked if we could do that, too. For those, we tried to select things that were important to him each year—like Boy Scouts, computers, and cats. A couple of years ago, he moved into a new apartment and I passed on his special ornaments, but I also gave him a couple of our egg ornaments.

This year, we are starting a new group of memory ornaments on our tree. As I have said before, our daughter and her husband are adopting a two-year-old girl. I have already started her ornament collection, dating the back of each one. This year’s ornament is a see-through snowman because she loves “nowmen.” And Grandmommy has to get her little darling what she wants.

Throwback Thursday: Man and Woman Smiling and Staring at the Camera

From my "old and known" files:

Man: Keep smiling. I don’t know who they are, but just keep smiling.

That's my caption. What's yours? Leave it in the comments.

Memory Monday: The Tale of the Veil

My Wedding

THE TALE OF THE VEIL

My husband and I were married in the 1970s. My mother made my dress and veil. Five years later, we bought a house and took all the things that had been stored at both sets of parents’ houses. Sometime later, I unpacked the dress and veil. Unfortunately the crown of the veil had been crushed beyond repair. So when our daughter got older and wanted to place dress-up, I let her use a lacy top and the crushed veil when she wanted to play bride. We played it over and over so many times. As she got older, we put away those make-believe clothes and they stayed packed away for many years.

After our children moved out, my husband got his study back and I got the third bedroom for my library. The one thing I made sure to do was make a corner into a grandchild’s play area, including make-believe clothes. The time has come to take that old, worn veil out again. My granddaughter has worn it a couple of times. But she is just two and I see her wearing it many more times as she plays at Granddaddy and Grandmommy’s house.

I look forward to telling her how her great-grandmother made the veil for Grandmommy (and show her our wedding pictures in the albums), then how her mommy played with it. Just think—four generations have had their hands on that bit of fabric and netting.

I like tales that link the generations in our family.

Memory Monday: Our Ancestors, Us, and a Poem

My husband and I shortly after our honeymoon

OUR ANCESTORS, US, AND A POEM

The other day, I was talking to a clerk at the store where we were shopping. Something came up about marriage. I said we had been married a little over 44 years. The clerk said her parents had been married just over 19 years.

This got me thinking about how many years my parents, grandparents, great-grandparents had been married—which for many of them was a long, long time. These thoughts, in turn, caused me to remember a favorite poem of mine, even though my husband’s name is not John Anderson (see how my mind works).

I’d like to share the poem with you, but first I need to define a few words: jo is sweetheart, brent is smooth or unwrinkled, beld is bald, pow (Scottish, N. England) means head, snaw is snow and canty means cheerful. The poem was written by Robert Burns. He died in 1796, which was years before my grandfather’s great-grandfather was born.

John Anderson my jo, John
John Anderson my jo, John, 

      When we were first acquent,
    Your locks were like the raven, 

      Your bonie brow was brent; 

     But now your brow is beld, John, 

      Your locks are like the snaw, 

     But blessings on your frosty pow, 

      John Anderson, my jo! 

    John Anderson my jo, John, 

      We clamb the hill thegither, 

    And monie a cantie day, John, 

      We've had wi' ane anither; 

    Now we maun totter down, John, 

      And hand in hand we'll go, 

     And sleep thegither at the foot, 

      John Anderson, my jo! 

     I love you, my husband. May God grant us many more years tottering down together.

Throwback Thursday: Couple and a Line

Man—"Now, Dear, this is the latest in clothes line. See, there’s already clothes pins attached."

There's my caption for this picture, but what's yours? Leave it in the comments below.

Throwback Thursday: Couple with a Toddler

Lady—"Slippery little one, isn’t he?"

That's my caption. What's yours? Leave it in the comments below.

Memory Monday: My Grandparents' Marriage

My grandparents' 50th Anniversary

MY GRANDPARENTS’ MARRIAGE

My husband and I have recently celebrated 44^th wedding anniversary. This is longer than either of our parents’ marriages. Both of those marriages last about 38 years, and they only ended because my mother-in-law died of cancer and my father was killed in a vehicular accident.

My maternal grandparents’ marriage lasted over 56 years. I remember their 50^th anniversary. Before then, my grandfather was well-known for hating to have his picture taken, even a casual snapshot. After all the hoop-la and picture-taking at the party, he changed and loved to have his picture taken. Also (and something I didn’t realize before, being a kid and all), my grandmother never had a wedding ring all those years. But that anniversary, she got one and (as far as I know) wore it the rest of her life. Oh, and one more interesting tidbit, although it was not about their anniversary, but rather about their marriage—my grandmother said one of the reasons she married my grandfather was that she thought he would give her beautiful children. And he did—all seven of them.

By the way, for our 50^th anniversary, we are thinking of going on an Alaskan cruise.

How many years have you been married? What interesting tidbits have you heard about your parents’ or grandparents’ weddings/marriages/anniversaries?

Throwback Thursday: Lean on Me

"Who do you think will give in first?"

There's my caption, what's yours? Leave it in the comments below.