Putting My Lives Together

A little update. I have not posted a blog since December 2019, but I feel like I've been blogging the entire 2020 year posting to my journal in a private blog. The working title is called Putting My Lives Together and I thought it was an appropriate title because I was constantly getting my life's facts wrong. This isn't like a genealogy post or research, but I was dealing with my own documents and memory. The thing that started me on this trail was I discovered I had seen the Gateway Arch in St. Louis three times instead of one time, and since I didn't remember that, I decided to do something about it.

So, my 2020 New Year's Resolution was to do a journal about my life. I knew I had lived in 18 different locations covering four states (California, Connecticut, Virginia, Massachusetts, and a few months in Texas when I was in the service).  I also remember the four different fourth grades (in three different states), and the two high schools in different towns in Massachusetts, the last year was my senior year.

I've never used scrapbooks or journals, but I did have a 5-year diary for years 1963/4-68, and a lot of loose papers, some with a date of what I did. However, I was a huge collector of mementos, playbills, tickets to concerts, theaters, various events, a lot of letters because I was always moving, flyers, newspaper clippings, photos, and other items. These were always stored in a big Rubbermaid container. Nothing organized (just like genealogy sometimes). When I began going through my paper treasurers, I found my baptism certificate and had no idea I had been baptized in Illinois! That along with finding photos of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis got me thinking about my life. I also couldn't remember the chronological order of some of my jobs and dates to many of my moves. And, the letters from my grandparents, aunt, and mother (hidden away for 25 to almost 50 years) provided a wealth of information. I had everything saved that mattered.

In January 2020 I made eight piles of what I wanted to cover. Where I lived, various friends in each location, jobs, plays, my family, trips all over the United States. Doing this helped me immensely. I always knew I saw the St. Louis Gateway Arch in 1979 with my sister on a west-to-east coast road trip. but I had completely forgotten a 1988 trip from Virginia to the midwest with my husband, and a 1976 road trip from Virginia to St. Antonio. Thank goodness I had photos of all three and they were dated on the back. New York City trips were pretty much jumbled, I just knew I visited about 25 times, but with whom, where did we stay, and what we did was driving my mind crazy.

Fortunately, after a week or so, I got the piles done but wasn't sure how to begin putting them together. So, I began with Journal #1 sharing all I knew about my birth in New Britain, CT, and that my grandmother was the attending nurse. My grandfather was an architect of the house, and I only lived there for about 9 months before moving to California...that location was covered in Journal #2.

When I began this journal I told my husband that I would allow myself one year. So, my friends, this is why I didn't write any genealogy blogs last year. The project was very therapeutic because my husband died on April 14th. Throughout the 2020 year, many of my memories with past boyfriends and former husband, my DAR and VA jobs in Virginia cheered me up. My husband and I began our lives together about 52 years ago, so there was a lot of coverage regarding him, both in Massachusetts and Virginia.

We loved genealogy, cemeteries, and libraries. This is my favorite photo of him. Thank you Bill for the memories.

I put this information into a new Blogger file, printed it out in color, and copied it to Dropbox. I went through so much ink and paper of course, but the 350-page pile was worth it.

If I had children, I believe this would be something they could be interested in, rather than reading about the old people in my genealogy reports.

So, I have spent the last few days working on some posts, one is recent, the others were done in a draft in 2019. You will see a few new posts down the road very soon.

Visiting the Monuments and Old North Bridge 67 Years Ago!

My mother's college friend, Mrs. Williams and her two daughters came to visit us in Lexington, Massachusetts in 1958. We had already lived in that town for about four years, so I am quite certain the 1958 visit wasn't my first time there. One of the daughters, Dee Williams Malan and I were about the same age and when I lived in Alexandria, VA, she did too. We saw each other often, and once she came to Lowell,  MA for a quick visit. I am in the middle back, mother on the right and my two sisters are in front. So, who is who here? The two girls in front are ,u sisters. I am in the middle back, my mother on the far right.

HERE

On the 19 of April

1775

was made

the first forcible resistance

to British aggression

On the opposite Bank

stood the American Militia

HERE stood the Invading Army

and on this spot

the first of the Enemy fell

in the War of that Revolution

which gave

Independence

to these United States

In gratitude to GOD

and

In the love and Freedom

this Monument

was erected AD 1836.

Below photos taken 2013, 2015, Concord, Massachusetts.

I never knew the name of this monument, so Wikipedia came to the rescue. It appears it's just called the 1836 Monument. While on that site, I discovered some other very interesting bits of information, shared below:

"Bridge

The original North Bridge was dismantled in 1793 by the town of Concord because its use as a bridge had become impractical; a new bridge was erected a few hundred yards away. The bridge was rebuilt multiple times in 1875, 1889, and 1909. The current replica was built in 1956 and was based on drawings of the bridge built in the 1760s. The bridge was restored in 2005.

1836 memorial (above)

In 1836, when there was no bridge at the site, the residents of Concord erected a memorial obelisk on the east side of the river, the side closest to the town center. Inscribed on the eastern (approach) side of the monument is: "HERE On the 19 of April, 1775, was made the first forcible resistance to British aggression[.] On the opposite Bank stood the American Militia[.] Here stood the Invading Army and on this spot the first of the Enemy fell in the War of that Revolution which gave Independence to these United States[.] In gratitude to GOD and In the love of Freedom this Monument was erected AD. 1836."

On Independence Day, July 4, 1837, the memorial was dedicated, an event for which Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote his "Concord Hymn". The first, and best known, of the four stanzas of this poem is:

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.

1875 memorial (below)

The first stanza of "Concord Hymn" is inscribed at the base of the statue Minute Man by Daniel Chester French. The statue, which stands on a 7-foot-tall granite pedestal, was cast in the Ames Foundry in Chicopee, Massachusetts and was made from seven American Civil Warcannons donated for the project by Congress. The statue, and the 1875 bridge, were dedicated on April 19, 1875 at a centennial recognition of the original battle of April 19, 1775."

1875 Memorial, more commonly known as the Minuteman Statue.

Past photo posts about the North Bridge Visitor Center, park and bridge in Concord, seen HERE and HERE. In reviewing the photos, I don't think I need to take any more photos!

Beads and Things from New York City

I used to visit various stores frequently to buy my Christmas ornament supplies. M. and  J. Design was my favorite store. The beads were used to make my own designed Christmas balls. At one time, I had over 150 ornaments, all different. The hobby began around 1965 when I used kits, but soon after I designed my own. The last one I made was around 2000.

The www.mjtrim.com website on window.

With Needle in Hand -- Wordless Wednesday

Follow Friday -- One year Blogiversary

I debated whether I would even mention my Blogiversary, then when I saw I’ve written 302 posts in one year, I decided it might be worth mentioning. Especially, since I never thought I would make it through the first month!

My first post, dated Oct. 15, 2009, was a guest posts for blogger Stephen Danko, but it was actually something written for him on September 3, 2006. Even after seven early guest posts, it took another few years before I got my courage to begin the writing.

Now, I’ve decided to make a few changes to the blog, as some of you may know, it looks the same since day one…and it will still look the same. I just want to fix the labels and check links.  For the next few months, I plan on posting mainly on Saturday and Tuesday, and perhaps a few other things, as time permits. My main goal now is to work on my brick walls.

Thank you to each of you who have followed me, left comments and / or encouraged me. Without you, I wouldn't have made it.