Ancestors and Pictures - and Dedication to my Grandma.
Today would've been my Grandma's 68th birthday, but she died ten years ago (on June 14th this year). I've been thinking of her a lot lately and miss her tremendously, so on her behalf I thought it would be nice to put a few pictures of her up in my journal and write a bit about her. It's not a lot, but it's not the shortest entry either. I love reading and learning about others...so those of you who like to do the same, here's an entry for you. :)
My Grandpa Joe & Grandma on their wedding day. Isn't she GORGEOUS?
I think she's one of the most beautiful women who ever lived.
Nonna (Great Grandma) and Grandma on her graduation day.
Grandpa Joe and my Mom. He's such a stud, seriously! Doesn't he remind you of those rico suave letterman jacket guys from the 50's?
Great Grandpa Cavarretta, my Nonna, Mom, and Grandma. My great grandpa died in 1960 when my mom was two years old, but my Nonna got married to another Sicilian after my great grandpa's death - Anthony Ales - and he's the great grandpa I knew.
Great Grandpa Cavarretta (the same in the above picture)
I LOVE this picture. Whenever I'd go to Grandma's I'd always look at it. He reminds me a bit of Edgar Allen Poe in it (whom I loved growing up and read his entire unabridged works). I always thought he looked so handsome and elite in this picture.
My Aunt Diane (the younger one) and my Mom. This pic is so cute, so I had to add it. :) My grandparents sure made pretty children!
Her maiden name was Antonina Katherine Cavarretta. Somehow her first name evolved to Annette, but she went by Toni. [Yesterday I also learned that my Nonna's name is actually Angeline, but she changed it to Angela, which is what I always thought it was at birth]. So I just called my Grandma just that: Grandma. I was closest to her, so she didn't need any first or last name attached on.
She married my Grandpa Joe in 1957 and became Annette Casper.
She divorced my Grandpa Joe when my mom and aunt were very young and soon married again and became Annette Lester. I never met that husband, and he was a jerk anyway, so I didn't care to. They got divorced after quite a few years. He was good buddies with my Grandpa Joe though.
Around my birth she married and became Annette (Toni) Fry. I knew him as my grandpa as well growing up...so I had two grandpas on my mom's side that I loved. They were married until she died. He ended up being a jerk, too. Sad.
Grandma only lived 20 miles from Grandpa Joe [who had a wife, Marilyn, that I also loved and knew as a Grandma], so I always visited both. They never talked or saw each other, but I remember I sat by Grandpa Joe at Grandma's funeral and I remember him crying. I've never seen him cry in his life.
Anyway. My Grandma was amazing. She did everything. I think I am who I am because of her. She was involved in dozens of charity organizations and even created Habitat for Humanity in her county. She knitted, baked, raised, and donated her time, money, and skills everyday of her life to charities and helping others. To be honest, I feel that her second two marriages were solely because of her love for people and need to be the nurturing, charitable woman and rescue others from distress.
She was very into the arts. She taught herself to read music and play piano [like me!], organ, and the accordion. She was an outstanding singer and was in every theatrical play and musical she could get her hands on. I've recently found many article cut outs of her acting. She always had some pretty major roles, too [example: Eliza Doolittle, Maria von Trapp/Supreme Mother, etc.] I found old report cards and she took the most random classes...her schedules looked like what I want mine to be. She knew how to do everything, and had a passion for learning. She was an amazing Italian cook! And she was very spiritual. She joined every church in town throughout her life...and in the end of her life, she joined our church...the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Her meeting/conversion with the missionaries is a great story! It was so amazing to see her baptized, especially since she's deathly afraid of water.
She always worried about others. She even knew when she was going to die...she knew it was coming. And so what did she do after her first stroke? She had everyone help her walk to the kitchen, and she called everywhere in town and made her own food/reception/funeral arrangements.
And then she baked brownies for the gathering after her funeral.
Some REALLY Cool Genealogy Tonight - Dad's Side
Feeling connected...loving those you've never met...lost pictures.
I got on a little genealogy spurt tonight when dad gave me a binder called Book of Remembrance he's got stuffed with letters from way distant cousins who hand wrote family trees, copies and laminated pictures. I've never seen of his aunts and uncles [many of which died before he was born, all of which died before I was born], and stories and accounts written by his grandma and great-greats. It was so great to read, especially since I came across a story that jumped out to me right away; it was about my great-great-grandma Clara Brade, who for some reason I've always felt very drawn to just by simply reading her name, even though I've always sort of "ignored" my paternal grandmother's side of the family (possibly because I don't remember her being alive). I always thought dad was 100% French-Canadian, but through Clara, I learned that she was full blooded German, and through other relatives close to her on the pedigree chart, tonight I learned that there were also direct descendants from Scotland, Ireland, and England all on my dad's side! When I was young, I never wanted to be any other heritage. Now, I'm very proud and excited to learn about more family lines!!!
I will have to share the stories I found later. They're typed up very long ago and cannot be replaced. I am so excited to enter and compile all of this information. 15 years of saving my dad has, and hasn't shared or put the information anywhere. I can't wait to dig in deeply. I wonder what kinds of things I will learn? Just looking at pictures today I felt very moved and connected. I was staring at a picture of my great-aunt Mary Mae Bernadette who died in 1916 when she was 8 (my paternal grandpa's sister). I remember when I was little I always felt drawn to her as well and loved her name. Seeing pictures of her tonight was absolutely amazing. My eyes started welling up as I looked intricately at all of my grandpa's brothers and sisters in the pictures. I've never focused on my dad's side of the family before (always had some infatuation with mom's Sicilian family). I always feel like we don't have any family and it's so small. Truth is, almost everyone in my dad's line has had 10 children. Seeing pictures of my grandpa's brothers and sisters tonight made me really emotional because I realized how close they all were...and that they lived [and many died] in the same exact town I live in now.
I'm becoming addicted to my ancestors.