So if you have an aging family member, I hope you'll take time today, this week or this month and ask them some questions. I guess the other question is, looking back, is there any one thing in particular you would like to know but you never asked? There are some vague stories I wish I had either paid more attention to, or asked again before it was too late.
It is well known by dads family that he was good with dynamite. I never asked him where and how he learned that very unique skill.
I asked my mama a little while before she passed. “Mom what kind of horses did you and dad have?”
She looked at me like I was very dense, “Son, we never had a horse. Horses were for the folks up in the papers, they were for show. Your dad had a pair of matched Roman-nosed mules. Mules could work all day and then pull the wagon to town is we needed to go. Mules paid for themselves and your dad treated them like babies.”
In relation to this subject, I decided to put into writing something about our early life. The info is not super interesting, and most will not read the book, but wait for the movie,
but I am going to publish it. total sales should be <10, ha!
Along this line I just read an article of a writer who just now decided to ask her ailing 85 year old mother some questions. She suggests the following questions:
• What have you enjoyed about aging?
• What are the biggest challenges of growing old?
• What has surprised you the most in your years?
• What has brought you the most joy?
• What would you do differently?
• What words of advice do you have for my generation, as we try to grow closer to -- and guide -- our children?
I will be honest, I am not smart enough to even interpret a couple of the questions, but something is better than nothing. I might try to make a few posts concerning the questions and solicit ideas.
Thanks for any input you have and thanks for coming by the blog.
Nite Shipslog
PS:
I keep trying to remember the names of Dad’s mules, that was very important to mama. One was ‘Beck’ I am thinking.
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More 50’s customized cars.
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9 comments:
Maybe the other mule's name was "Call"? (LOL)
bonnie k.
You are right it is important to get a verbal history of sorts from your loved one before they pass on. So many times we have gaps that need to be filled in.
Interesting! I remember the mules my daddy farmed with getting struck by lightening but I don't know if they belonged to the owners of the land or to my daddy. I'm inclined to think they were owned but the owner of the land.
You know Jack that is so true. There are so many things I can think of that I wish I had asked my mom and dad. Now that my brother is gone there is no one to answer my questions. Good idea.
That's one of the things I learned after my mom passing. She shared a lot but there were a few things I wish I had remembered to ask and no one now that would know the answers. So that, along with marking pictures, LOL, I get on the soap box about and tell people with aging parents to make sure they ask whatever they want to know and if they aren't sure what to ask, just keep asking things for their parents to talk about.
betty
hee hee....
You and Obama are exact opposites. You are the horse's head...
Re your comment about the Packard «Louis» showed - The cars in the Blackhawk Museum are flawless. They are what some would call "over-restored" in that they are in better condition now than when brand new. As beautiful as this Packard is, «Louis» thinks it falls in the "over-restored" category.
Others call cars in this condition "trailer queens". They are too perfectly restored to be driven and must be trailered for every move. None of that diminished «Louis'» enjoyment of seeing this Packard! :-)
«Louis'»fist car was the same year and body as the Ford hot rod in you Nite Ships Log image: a '57 Custom - the bottom of the line 2 door "Custom" series. hee hee... There was nothing "custom" about it - it was bare bones. The color was Dresden blue. «Louis» replaced the rubber mats - remember when the cheapest cars had rubber mats instead of carpet? - with the carpet from a Fairlane 500. He added a Hurst floor shifter. It had a 272 cubic inch V8. «Louis» added the heads and the 4 bbl carburetor from a 312 V8. He replaced the single exhaust with dual exhaust and used "glass packs" It was one fast Ford!
We should have ask more questions.
I remember Grandmother Darnell
had a nice built merry-go-round in
the back yard and we would play
on it while visiting. I remember
Grandmother LLoyd and they would
bring a straight chair to a special place for her to sit in Church. I remember Great Great Grandpa Hilly. The Judge in Ga. and the small court house in front of his house. I remember sitting in front of the fireplace and him telling us some of the laws in the
books and his son was a deputy.
When my mom and dad were older we had plenty of opportunities to hear their stories. We spent a lot of time with them before they died. Hours in fact around the table with a good cup of coffee and I'm glad we had that time. I learned a lot about their families but I also know that they held a lot back and we still have questions, sadly they felt it necessary to keep so much to themselves. The stories we pass on are important. Glad you are putting yours in a book.
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