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Jun. 23rd, 2013 08:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jianantonicMy nine-year-old (!!!) niece Lucy recently finished a school project where she had to write an essay about one of her grandparents. She wrote about my dad, and the details she included are just so precious. Precious that he thought it was important to share, and precious that she thought it should be featured in his life story. The first time he had soft-serve ice cream (1951, in a movie theater). The time his pants split on a date (playing tennis with my mom). How much a full bag of apples would weigh when my dad worked on the farm during the harvest (50 pounds). I love it.
I wrote Lucy a letter yesterday, and I started off by telling her how much I appreciated her essay. I then dove into family history. She likes history, but at her age, that basically means she likes memorizing the presidents' names and a few macro details of the past. I couldn't stop myself, though, once I got on the subject. She didn't mention in the essay that the town my dad grew up in is named after our family. My guess is that it didn't come up so she doesn't know. But I went on and on about how special it is that our family has such a rich history, and even though it's not all GOOD history (i.e. slavery), that doesn't mean it can't be interesting and fascinating. I don't know how much she'll care about it right now, but I told her some stories that I hope she'll think are cool, anyway. The main one was about her great-grandparents, Cap and Margaret. My grandfather was born in 1901 on the family farm, 14th of 15 children, and dropped out of school before high school (I can't remember if it was 6th or 8th grade when he stopped) to work on the farm. Marma was 7 years younger, but I believe they began courting when she was just 13. At least, that's when they met. I don't know for sure what year they were married but I think it wasn't until the 30's sometime. I should figure that out. Anyway, even though her husband only had a partial formal education, Marma went to college AND graduate school, earning her master's degree in a time when many women didn't go to school at all. I wonder if Lucy will understand just how exceptional that is.
Marma was a Latin teacher, and she didn't tell a lot of stories about her work, but I do remember the one she told about the time her school burned down. A student was leaning against the wall and noticed it felt hot. Turns out it was a fire. She never mentioned if anyone was hurt or killed, so I'm going to assume that everyone got out safely. (In the south, death is golden gossip, ESPECIALLY sudden and tragic death, and children are not shielded from these things. My guess is that if anyone had died, she would have proudly eulogized them for me.)
I don't know much about my grandfather, because he died in 1971, 12 years before I was born. I know he was a smoker and lived the last several years of his life with crippling emphysema, which made him quite grumpy. Before that, though, he was active on the farm, a sharp investor, and worked for DuPont, which as I understand is pretty much what every young man in Virginia did at that time. His name was Bland Barksdale Massie, and I have no idea why he was called Cap, but he was. I'll ask my dad.
I wonder what my nieces would say about me if they were asked. I think they'd probably all mention that I love to write, and play bridge, and travel, and run...and that I have cool/crazy clothes. Hehe, I'd love to see what they'd come up with...
I wrote Lucy a letter yesterday, and I started off by telling her how much I appreciated her essay. I then dove into family history. She likes history, but at her age, that basically means she likes memorizing the presidents' names and a few macro details of the past. I couldn't stop myself, though, once I got on the subject. She didn't mention in the essay that the town my dad grew up in is named after our family. My guess is that it didn't come up so she doesn't know. But I went on and on about how special it is that our family has such a rich history, and even though it's not all GOOD history (i.e. slavery), that doesn't mean it can't be interesting and fascinating. I don't know how much she'll care about it right now, but I told her some stories that I hope she'll think are cool, anyway. The main one was about her great-grandparents, Cap and Margaret. My grandfather was born in 1901 on the family farm, 14th of 15 children, and dropped out of school before high school (I can't remember if it was 6th or 8th grade when he stopped) to work on the farm. Marma was 7 years younger, but I believe they began courting when she was just 13. At least, that's when they met. I don't know for sure what year they were married but I think it wasn't until the 30's sometime. I should figure that out. Anyway, even though her husband only had a partial formal education, Marma went to college AND graduate school, earning her master's degree in a time when many women didn't go to school at all. I wonder if Lucy will understand just how exceptional that is.
Marma was a Latin teacher, and she didn't tell a lot of stories about her work, but I do remember the one she told about the time her school burned down. A student was leaning against the wall and noticed it felt hot. Turns out it was a fire. She never mentioned if anyone was hurt or killed, so I'm going to assume that everyone got out safely. (In the south, death is golden gossip, ESPECIALLY sudden and tragic death, and children are not shielded from these things. My guess is that if anyone had died, she would have proudly eulogized them for me.)
I don't know much about my grandfather, because he died in 1971, 12 years before I was born. I know he was a smoker and lived the last several years of his life with crippling emphysema, which made him quite grumpy. Before that, though, he was active on the farm, a sharp investor, and worked for DuPont, which as I understand is pretty much what every young man in Virginia did at that time. His name was Bland Barksdale Massie, and I have no idea why he was called Cap, but he was. I'll ask my dad.
I wonder what my nieces would say about me if they were asked. I think they'd probably all mention that I love to write, and play bridge, and travel, and run...and that I have cool/crazy clothes. Hehe, I'd love to see what they'd come up with...
