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From: "sbysinger" <>
Subject: Re: [IRL-CAVAN-L] Need some opinions
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 00:59:32 -0700


Nancy---

My mother has only been over the rainbow now for almost three years
now....and I've been asking myself why didn't I ask more questions....before
she had the strokes that took most of her speech and really most of her
memory.....and later... her life......

If I could ask questions of my mother about her life and her
parents.........I would ask what she did to have fun as a child?...She had
so many siblings and they had little money and were country folks and lived
far from town and then the town was so tiny.

Why they only went to school to the ninth grade...I know Dad had to
work.....wasn't there any one else to teach them?
I would ask how she and dad met and try to get more detail? All I know is
that they grew up together.
I would ask more about how my grandparents raised such a large family ? All
I know is they lived with only a big garden and very little money. They had
thirteen children altogether. They lived far out in the country. How did
they get to town ?....only a few had cars..... and what about the tiny
houses? And no bathrooms...just a path!!
I always wanted to know more about how they "dated" and where they would
have gone?
I regret not asking my dad to tell me more about the time he spent in the
Navy. I know he was in Japan and Hawaii and I know he was discharged and
came home on my birthday. So, what did they do that day???
I would ask more about what they did during the depression? And how about
the wars?
Why they didn't they take more pictures? No money? ...No cameras? Probably
both.

Why didn't they all ask more questions about their beginning??.....so this
job wouldn't be so difficult for us.....I think they weren't allowed to ask
a bunch of questions! And you can tell they raised me the same way....we
could ask but they didn't tell us much. Children were to be seen and not
heard back then. My Grandma died at 93 in 1973 in and Grandpa at 84 in 1953
and as far back as I can remember they were very deaf so as a child I
couldn't speak up enough to ask them anything.....all I remember is that
they smiled a lot Grndma made her hearing aide ring loud to make us all
laugh and Grandpa smoked a pipe and blew smoke in my ear when I had an
earache.
Sorry, this got longer than I intended....I hope this is what you had in
mind....and others are not offended. Thanks for the memories.....Sandy

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter & Nancy Pfaff <>
To: <>
Date: Friday, October 22, 1999 9:05 AM
Subject: [IRL-CAVAN-L] Need some opinions


>As I forward in the family genealogy, or rather, backwards, I find that my
>ancestors are becoming less real to me as people. They're becoming just a
>collection of names and dates. So, in an effort to help my children and
>(future) grandchildren "know" their ancestors better, I have been asking my
>aunts & uncles, now in their 70's, cousins and brothers to help write down
>recollections of my great and great-great grandparents (many in our family
>lived late into their 90's). My family is glad to help, but they ask me
>what I want to know.
>
>Well, now, what do I want to know? Fraternal organizations, jobs, etc are
>just more "facts", but what I think I want to know what kind of people they
>were. Were they kind? Were they funny? I don't know - these are awfully
>awkward questions.
>
>Has anyone else done something like this? What kind of questions did you
>ask? Or, even if you've never done this, what kind of questions would you
>ask your relatives? I welcome any kind of input to help me put together
>something that's more than a collection of facts.
>
>Nancy Pfaff
>List Owner
>
>______________________________

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