My father was born on November 17, 1924; the first born son of Raymond Sherwood Hamilton Sr. and Margaret Conover Hamilton. He joined an older sister, Margaret, who was called Peg and was 3 years his senior. This picture not only shows Dad during the early months of his life, it also shows the house where he was born. Some years later, my grandmother and grandfather built a house across the street from this one and two more sisters and a brother joined the family.
Dad always had a very loving attitude toward his mom. After "Pop" died and the big house became too much for Gramma, Dad and his siblings found her a cute little home not too far from his birthplace. They all agreed to help take care of the property but it's my father I remember going over to Gramma's to mow the lawn, fix a broken hinge, or to make sure the faucet stopped leaking. He also managed her finances. I'm sure the others helped too, but it's mostly Dad that I remember "checking in on Mom" and bringing my sisters and I along to chat with her while he fixed things.
He also had an impish streak which I'm sure gave her a few premature grays while he was in high school. And it surfaced again, but in a different way when I was first married and still living in the same town as my folks. Sunday was the traditional day for all of us to go to church and then gather at Mom and Dad's for dinner. Gramma would be there too, but by then her hearing was starting to go. Dad took a lot of pleasure in teasing her by deliberately muttering things under his breath that she could not hear or understand. But his antics would make the rest of us laugh. First she'd scold him but in the end she'd laugh and shake her head at him, enjoying the humor at her expense. You could tell she loved him anyway.
The fun thing about family stories is how they sometimes repeat themselves. While my father was born at home because that was the natural thing to do in 1924, eighty-six years later his great grandson and namesake was also born at home because his parents believed it was the natural and best thing for the baby. So not only did Samuel Sherwood LeFevre share his great grandfather's middle name, he also shared a similar birth story! And I hope when he grows up he will love his mom in the same way his great grandfather did.
How wonderful to still have those photographs! Babies still look the same but the Mums wear different clothes and hairstyles. Our oldest boy carries the Hamilton name as his first Christian name.
@kerristephens thank you Kerri! @dibzgreasley thank you Debs! yes, a double project of sorts. First to participate in Dixie Goode's "Self Stories" challenge for the month of September, but secondly to do a personal project I've been procrastinating in doing for a couple years ago now- sorting out the pictures to divide between my sisters, my children and the grandchildren. They are scattered in a number of places throughout my house and now I'm consolidating them and organizing them better- some to be sent on to my sisters and others to stay where they are. @maggiemae Thanks Maggie! They are special and I think that's why I ended up with a lot of them. In my teens I became very interested in the family history and started "collecting" the family stories in my head. This has been a good way to start putting them on paper. @digitalrn Thanks Rick! yes, they are very special. @nicolecampbell Thank you Nicole. Yes, I do treasure and appreciate them. It is also special to live not too far from these spots as I can go and take current shots of so many of them. Something I hope to do before the completion of the sorting project!
@prttblues Thank you Bev! I can't believe you're reading all of them- they go on and on!! @vesna0210 Thank you Vesna! I appreciate you taking the time to read the stories too!
Wonderful old photo--and great family story, too. I've been away from 365 for a couple of months, so I'm catching up on your scanning project. I did the same thing a few years ago. I tried to get my cousins interested in scanning their old photos, too, and making an online family album, but got no takers.
@vesna0210 Thank you Vesna! @pandorasecho Thank you Dixie. I take that as a very high compliment coming from you!! @eudora Thank you Diane! I'm doing this for my sisters as I have all the family pictures from Dad's estate right now. After they're all scanned it's up to me to divide them equally among us. That's going to be harder than all the scanning!! Glad you're back too!
October 3rd, 2014
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@dibzgreasley thank you Debs! yes, a double project of sorts. First to participate in Dixie Goode's "Self Stories" challenge for the month of September, but secondly to do a personal project I've been procrastinating in doing for a couple years ago now- sorting out the pictures to divide between my sisters, my children and the grandchildren. They are scattered in a number of places throughout my house and now I'm consolidating them and organizing them better- some to be sent on to my sisters and others to stay where they are.
@maggiemae Thanks Maggie! They are special and I think that's why I ended up with a lot of them. In my teens I became very interested in the family history and started "collecting" the family stories in my head. This has been a good way to start putting them on paper.
@digitalrn Thanks Rick! yes, they are very special.
@nicolecampbell Thank you Nicole. Yes, I do treasure and appreciate them. It is also special to live not too far from these spots as I can go and take current shots of so many of them. Something I hope to do before the completion of the sorting project!
@vesna0210 Thank you Vesna! I appreciate you taking the time to read the stories too!
@pandorasecho Thank you Dixie. I take that as a very high compliment coming from you!!
@eudora Thank you Diane! I'm doing this for my sisters as I have all the family pictures from Dad's estate right now. After they're all scanned it's up to me to divide them equally among us. That's going to be harder than all the scanning!! Glad you're back too!