More on the Women in My Family

In response to Megan's questions on my last post, I'll write another one! Mostly, I want to know about the things you have seen the women in your family do. For Megan, I might add that you've seen Grandma Buis loving her family, including the in-laws, and making some things for you girls, serving in the church, always offering food to us, and reading, writing letters, and watching animal shows on television. And your Grandma Cripe did lots of beadwork and baked cookies, at the least! (Harder for me to remember her. I know she kept busy!) Both grandmas loved old houses, and so do I and I know you do, too. My mom would've loved your old house! As for your aunts, well, that defies explanation! I will mention Sandy's cooking and crazy-cool haunted houses, even if you've only heard about the latter ones. :) With Grandma Jeanie, you would've seen a very gracious lady that's devoted to her family and the Gospel, and who makes her surroundings and herself very beautiful. And, with me, I might add that you've seen me do some clay sculpture and painting, crafts and jewelry making; also, you still remember me being a runner and exercising, growing roses, selling cosmetics, loving the outdoors, going to college, and opening our home to others. (I won't mention the cluttered papers and too much used furniture in the garage, having too many toys, not to mention too many pets!) It's easy to think of things I have done or not done! It's amazing that you love to sew, since you didn't witness it growing up. Thanks to MamaJo for filling in some gaps! Of the things you've seen, tell me what you will continue with yourself, okay? (After you tell us what you've seen the women in your family do.) I think it would be great to journal/blog about this, and then make a family collection/history of the women, then do the same for the men. That would give a clearer shape to a narrative. As for the quilts, I didn't think the quilt we sold was made by a family member, or I wouldn't have sold it. But, even so, I still sooooooooo regret selling it!! The red and white one was made by your great-great grandmother on my mom's side, probably her mom's mother, who was Malinda, but I'll have to make sure what her last name was - or you can look it up on Family Search. Thank you for the questions and responses! I look forward to receiving more, from all of my readers!

On Learning: The Women in My Family

Right now Sheri Howard is having a giveaway here, of some scraps from making her book quilt, and an autographed copy of her book, Ruby Dots. Sheri dedicates her book to her mother, who was always sewing clothes for Sheri and her sister. The comments on her post run the gamut, from no sewing taught, to the many who credit their mothers with inspiring them to sew. As I reflected on those comments and considered what I have seen the women in my family doing, I thought about how skills are learned almost by osmosis, if you see your grandmother, mother, or aunts doing them. My mother didn't sew with a machine at all. My dad even bought her a new sewing machine when I was 12, but she never used it. I used it to sew my cheerleading outfit, with incredible frustration, I might add! And I made an a-line paisley skirt for home ec. That was it. But in later years, my mother hand-sewed. She made little aprons for Megan and Melinda, and little tied quilts for my first four children (the other kids were born after she died). And I like to hand sew. I think this translates into my love of beadwork and painstaking art and craft projects. It feels so traditional and comforting to make things carefully and slowly by hand. It's like reading a favorite book slowly, or writing letters by hand, or sketching outdoors: I feel connected to the past, and to my female ancestors. I don't think I ever saw my grandmothers do any sewing, although my father's mother, Grandma Buis, was forever surrounded by balls of material she was winding for rag quilts. (How I wish I had some of that material now!) I remember her entire attic was filled with multi-colored balls of material. Most of them seemed to be dark-colored with small patterns. I imagine they were made from old clothing, so that may have been the colors she wore. I wish I could go back in time and see her wearing her dresses, see her house and what she did. The same goes for my mother's mother, Grandma Wakefield (later, Gray). I don't know why, but I've always felt a strong pull towards the elderly, wanting to ask them questions about long ago. I asked my Grandma Wakefield lots of questions, and we got some of her responses on tape. :) Nowadays, you can scan old photos and zoom in on their clothes, hair, jewelry, and the backgrounds. That's the best part of the picture! (I notice that there wasn't much grass in the yards, and what grass there was wasn't mowed very often. Reel mowers cut the grass differently than lawn mowers do today. The grass looked more natural and unshorn when you were done. But they could be heavy to push! At least to a little girl of four, which was the age I tried mowing our grass with one. I think I held out for two or three pushes.) Anyway, sometimes I wonder if I'm wrong to edit the backgrounds out of our photos (unless it's a background I like). Maybe I'm cheating our descendents out of a peek into our lives! So, although I don't have a heritage of sewing in my background, I did see gardening, canning, baking, cooking, doing church work, telling stories, loving books, storing keepsakes, writing letters, being frugal, and serving others. And I saw a lot of love... I wonder what female traditions you have observed in your families. Would you write about them? Include your aunts and older sisters, if you have them. Thanks! xoxoxo

Today in Primary

I sat with the Sunbeams this week, along with their teacher and another adult. They are a very wiggly bunch! A little boy eyed me suspiciously. "What happened to your legs?" This was in a stage whisper. I whispered back, "The doctor removed them for me, because they didn't get enough blood." I always add the caution that it won't happen to them, when children ask. "Why did your dog harm your legs?" I tried to answer him, but I never did get him to understand, in our little game of telephone. Who knows what idea he ended up with, but he soon thought of something else to ask me. "Why do you only have one tooth?" "I have other teeth. That's just the one that shows up." He didn't look quite satisfied, but then a little fellow Sunbeam named Aubrey started yelling at him about not having a turn (throwing the candy corn beanbag into the pumpkin during their activity), and she was very indignant about it. The little boy didn't have anything at all to do with picking the tossers, but I could tell she was just getting started with him. Al Pacino in curls. So, I had her sit next to me... Aubrey sat quietly for a few seconds. Then I heard a very loud stage whisper. "Something stinks in here." I didn't smell anything, so I tried to ignore her. "You have stinky breath." This said very loudly, with fingers up her nostrils. I got a piece of gum out of my purse and plugged her nose with it. No. That's a lie. I chewed the gum. Next, "Why do you have a bird ring?" I tried to look attentive. "Oh, it's a flower ring." This inspection and dissection of my being continued until the senior sharing time. This time, I sat behind the classes... Sweet Alexandria pulled a chair out of line and placed it at my side. Next thing I knew, I heard her whisper, "What is that white thing on the end of your leg?" At least she whispered quietly. "My sock," I replied. She reached down and pulled on my skirt, arranging it to cover my socks. A little while later..."What happened to you?" She was looking at my temple. "I don't know," I said. I wasn't sure what she was referring to. "I must have bumped my head." She seemed satisfied. Then she arranged my hair to cover my temple. That apparently wasn't adequate to the job, so she stood up, got behind my wheelchair, and arranged my hair to her liking. We ran out of time before she could fix my makeup and file my nails. Next Sunday I'm bringing a marker, so they can design a jack-o'-lantern on my head. :)