Grandma

This post was written 3 years ago today.   My older grandchildren have not seen this - so this is for them.




Beatrice (changed to Bertie) Ellington Hartgrove. - 12/17/1896 - 11/28/1987 Grandma, that is what I always called her. She was my maternal grandmother. I can remember spending time with her during my young years the summers I would come to Tennessee. I enjoyed visiting her home in the country. She loved flowers and I guess the first gardener in the family that left a desire within me to one day have a garden. I can remember the many different varieties in her yard and how she would take the heel of her shoe and dig out a weed she spotted. She had a small garden house that was filled with African Violets. I would say that is where a part of my deep passion for nature and flowers comes from. Especially since I was raised in an apartment building with hardly a blade of grass in sight. Memories of the fresh milk from the cow that my grandfather milked. The cream would rise to the top and she would make a plate of fresh butter. I had never seen this done before or since that time. The best butter I have ever tasted. I remember that!

The only grandfather I ever knew I learned later in life was not my real grandfather. His name was John Crowe, he lived a military life which included World Wars 1 and 11 and months in France. His retirement years were spent with my grandmother on the farm I visited while growing up. I remember the deep affection they had for each other. The strong love was so apparent. My grandmother married young and had two daughters, my mother and my Aunt Bea. The marriage did not last for many reasons and that is another story at another time. When she married again it was to this grandfather. They had two daughters, my Aunt Betty and Johnnie.
As I go through this family history file on this early morning there is so much I do not know. So many names of people that are a part of my biological makeup or DNA, whichever is the correct way to describe it. My real grandfather's name was Robert Carmichael who lived in Lexington, Kentucky. 10/12/1892 - 10/13/1976. He remarried and had a daughter and 3 sons. Relatives I never knew existed. At times in the past I would wonder about them. When this was shared with me I had thoughts of driving to Lexington. Just a thought that soon left my mind. Here I had a grandfather and aunts and uncles I never knew. A cousin of mine who has done extensive genealogy searching, sent me some of his discoveries. Interesting that it goes back to the Revolutionary War.
So much of this information about my mother's real father has only become available to me since my grandmother's death. All of this was a subject that was never discussed while she was living. Wonder what other secrets are in the family?
So maybe some of my memories, information and the file that this One Woman keeps will be interesting to one of my grandchildren. Anyway, I feel that I should document all I can. Guess I have been assigned the keeper of memories for my family. Some information shared from One Woman on her Journey Through This Life

6:50 AM - jUST RECEIVED EMAIL THAT MY SON ARRIVED SAFELY IN THAILAND

SO MOM CAN CONTINUE MORE LIGHT HEARTED THROUGH THIS DAY. ESPECIALLY SINCE I HAVE MY SPECIAL 3 YEAR OLD WITH ME TODAY. WRITING WITH A THANKFUL HEART!!!!

Lunch statement from Amelia. Spotting my stack of journals "is that your homework grandma".