Continuing to follow the series of blogs posted by Lisa Alzo of the "Accidental Genealogist," today she asks if you had a female ancestor who had a special talent.
This one took me some time to think about, because I happen to think that all of our women had special talents, but the first one who came to mind was my maternal grandmother, Jettie Weaver Raley. Her talents continue to amaze me.
She was a terrific cook, and although she had her own cookbook full of recipes she had written down, I believe that much of cooking skills came from her time learning from her mother, Caroline Susan Martin, and the German influences she had all around her. I have written about her Christmas specialties, but my older brother and sister often speak of all the day to day meals that she put together.
The other talents, though are the ones that really touch my life. She was a scrapbooker, and a very good one at that. She was a talented writer, and could transport you with her words. She wrote a spiritual song that was published. I am blessed to own her sewing machine, the one she had "electified" that I know belonged to her mother and even though I cannot sew, just knowing her hands worked so diligently at that desk gives me inspiration. My grandmother crocheted many blankets, painted, and she dreamed of learning the ancestry of her family.
I have often told my daughter that I believe our personalities skip generations. When I look at my family, my daughter is very much like her grandparents in temperment and personality and interests. Mine follow my grandparents, and so forth as I look at several generations in our family.
Without knowing it, through the years, as I have learned more about my grandmother I have to laugh inside as I find my grandmother in my life over and over again. These are the stories that bring our history to life, the ones to give breadth to names on a pedigree chart, and why genealogy is more.... more to all of us.
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