Many years ago at a church activity I was given a copy of prompts to help in the writing of my own “Book of Memories”. I don’t know who wrote it and where it came from but I’ve been wanting to use it for a long time. I’ve had many stops and starts, but now its for real! I think it will also help to have you, my dear readers, to keep me going.So, lets get to it!
Every week I’ll post a new topic for you to write about. Come back to this post and link it up in the comments. Feel free to write about yourself or your child, parent, etc. You may even wish to ask a family member to write along with you. Enjoy!
Week 1: Birthday & Birth Place
I would like to suggest that you begin your “Book of Memories by writing the phrase: “I was born on …” and then complete the sentence with the day and date of your birth.
Is there anything significant about the day or date you were born? Did your parents tell you about anything unusual or special that occurred that day? If so, tell me about it.
I would like to know where you were born. You might start with the phrase: “I was born in the _____ hospital (or in a house, etc.) in city, state, country.
Was there anything unusual or significant about the circumstances of your birth? Any complications? Any notable people present? Any notable people absent at your birth?
Were you an adopted child? Foster child? When were you adopted? How old were you at the time of your adoption. Have you always known these circumstances? If not when and how did you find out? Do you with this had been handled differently? We’ll go into more questions concerning adoption later on, for now I am interested in your birth circumstances.
If you were not born in this country, have you acquired a new citizenship? When? What is your new citizenship? Is this new citizenship important to you? Why is it important? What does it mean to you?
Later, in the Chapter titled “Early Life Memories”, I will ask about your memories of the home(s) you grew up in. For right now, is there anything else you would like to tell me about the day, date and/or circumstances of your birth?
Posted by jullianalund@gmail.com on 1 May 2011 | Posted in Book of Memories |
I collected a few old pictures from my Grandmother (Deolinda) many years ago and am finally going to do something with them. As they make the move to an acid free photo album I thought I’d share them. I emailed my Dad and asked for some more information.
Here’s what he said about this picture: I’m the baby, Walter is the 6 yrs old (or a few months before his b-day). This is the house where I lived my first 13 years.
Later, I received another email with a story he thought of when he saw this picture. It’s really cute and says a lot for the type of father, and grandfather, that Genival was.
The stork trip to Vista Alegre back in 1956. by Nilton deMacedo
If there is one thing that my dad did well was to tell stories. He would resort to vivid details, so specific that I still can see (in my mind) how the story came to life when I heard them as a little boy. He was very good in telling the story almost verbatim every time, and he never sounded bored, on the contrary, he seemed to enjoy as much as I did.
The first story I can recall I heard for the first time when I was very, very, small. The versions I recall come from when I was about 5 maybe 6 years old. Every birthday, or when a neighbor or family member had a baby, I would ask him to tell me this story. Besides telling the story he would walk around our yard and show me where the fictitious story would have happened, as if he wanted to prove it true. As I said, the details were precise, down to specific facts that made the story so believable. I will try to re-count as close to what I heard, in his words, and in brackets I’ll add my comments to clarify items that may not make sense for someone outside of the family.
I guess this story came as a result of me (or my brother, who was six years older than me) asking about our birth. The question must have been something like: Why was I born into this family, and not any other? How did I get here?
This gave origin to the story of the “Visit from Ms. Stork”, and it went like this [the times I recall he was alone in the yard with me. Maybe my brother was getting too old for these stories]:
When babies are ready to be born, a Stork is called to take that baby to their future parents. Your mommy and I were waiting for a visit from Ms. Stork for more than five years (so your brother could have a brother or sister to play with). Because of the large avocado tree by the side of the house, and a coconut tree on the front, our home was not very visible from above and every time the stork came by with a baby she would (by mistake) deliver it to the neighbors instead. [That explained why they had nine children, at least to me].
I had enough of it [again, these are my dad’s word], so almost daily I went to the upstairs room [we had an extra bedroom above on the second floor with a window to the front of the house, with better visibility because it was a little above the avocado tree]. I decided to look for the stork as often as I could, to make it sure she wouldn’t miss our house again. Every day I would go up there, go to the window and watch the skies. It took a long time, but one day I saw it coming in our direction with a baby in its beak. That was you. I started waiving my hands, screaming, trying to get the storks attention. At first she ignored me and flew past our home, towards the neighbors house [the lady with nine kids]. I didn’t give up. I ran downstairs, grabbed a dish cloth in the kitchen and started waiving it towards the stork that was now going in circles, round and round, preparing to land.
[At this point my dad would take me outside, if we were not there already, and show me exactly where all that “happened”].
I waived the dish cloth, I screamed, I waived my hands. Your mom and your grandma came out to see what was happening. I started climbing the avocado tree and jumped from there into the neighbor’s roof. The stork was very close to landing when she saw me. I told her that I was expecting that baby for so long; it wasn’t fair to give you to the neighbors, who already had their hands full. The stork finally ended the slow descending and landed on the neighbor’s roof, gave me a curious look (they don’t talk, but she understood what I was saying) and I guess she decided I was right and slowly walked my way with you in her beak. I was so happy! I got you in my arms, and I could hear your mom and grandma screaming in excitement down below us.
I couldn’t get down through the avocado tree, because I could slip and drop you, so I walk carefully towards the window of the bedroom on our house upper level and by then your grandma was already there, arms open to get you.
Can you see that bent rain gutter and the cracked ceramic tile? [I would acknowledge that I could spot them]. I bent the gutter and cracked the tile when I was walking on the roof, because I’m so heavy for those fragile tiles. I never fixed them because they remind me of that wonderful day, March 12, 1956. [I still remember vividly that every time I saw the bent rain-gutter and the cracked tile I would think about the story and how I was “born”]
After grandma got you, your mom came in also and you were going from one to the other. I just climbed in through the window, and you were now part of the family. That was a close call. If I had missed the stork’s visit, Abel and Wilma [Our next door neighbors – I don’t recall her last name, we never used it!] would have had 10 kids instead.
That was an adventure for all of us, but it was well worth.
Posted by jullianalund@gmail.com on 27 April 2011 | Posted in de Macedo |
As the story goes, Deolinda worked as an Accountant in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Federal government. I’ve been told she was one of the, if not the, first female Accountant in Rio. Below is her Identification card and transcriptions of what it says. (Click on images to see larger)
Around the outside: Departamento Federal de Segurança Publica, Instituto Felix Pacheco (Federal Department of Public Safety, Felix Pacheco Institute)
Registration Number: 592 986
Order Number: 99379
Photograph, right index print, and signature
TOP
Cartão de Identidade (Identification Card)
Estados Unidos do Brasil (United States of Brazil)
Instituto Félix Pacheco (Felix Pacheco Institute)
BOTTOM
Marca D’água – Armas da República (Watermark – Arms of the Republic)
Nome (Name): Deolinda Ferreira de Macedo
Natural de (Native of): Distrito Federal
Data do Nacimento (Date of Birth): 4.1.927 (4 Jan 1927)
Da Cutis (race/skin): Branca (white)
Filiacao (Parents): José Ferreira da Fonseca e (and) Anna Ferreira
Issued 26 de…1954
Signed by the director.
Posted by jullianalund@gmail.com on 26 April 2011 | Posted in de Macedo |
Grandfather [Oscar Alfred Sr.], then homesteaded a ranch near by at Dry Creek. They had seven children born to them, Mary Elizabeth, Oscar Alfred Jr., Haken William, Joseph Doyle, Denis Marion, Harriet Elnore and Thirza Lavinie. They prospered and was a happy family enjoying farm life and they enjoyed visiting the neighbors and have the neighbors visit with them. The people in this farming comunity [sic] were very friendly and close to one other. They were always there when help was needed.
Then one day tragedy struck their home. Grandmother [Thirza Jane Lee] was stricken ill and passed away on July 16, 1894, leaving Grandfather and his small family, the eldest was 15 years old and the youngest, was 2½ years old. Grandfather’s sister Nora took the youngest, Thirza Lavinie to raise.
Elizabeth being the eldest and learned many things from her beloved mother on how a house was run so she was like a little mother taking over and with the help of the other children and her father they got the situation well in hand life was recaptured and things soon on a happier out look for that family once again.
It seems that Kanosh was the hub of everything in those little communities and there is where their Social lives would begin. They had Saturday dances at the Church and Sunday afternoon picknicks. So as time went by and Mary Elizabeth became a beautiful young lady and was permitted to attend those dances, she met a fine young handsome man, Clarence Albert Barney, their romance began. When she was just past eighteen they were married on August 10, 1897. They stayed on at Grandfathers so as to help with the children.
To investigate:
- Find BLM records for the homestead.
- Verify names and birth dates for children.
- What illness did Thirza Jane have? Verify death date. Where is she buried?
- Is Thirza Lavinie in the next census with Nora’s family? Does she ever come back to live with her family?
- Research Kanosh and what went on there. Is there a county/town history that can give more information about the social activities there?
- Verify marriage date for Mary Elizabeth.
Posted by jullianalund@gmail.com on 25 April 2011 | Posted in Aliene's Family History, Anderson, Barney |
