The Labor of Love: A look into the restoration of a Civil War era home

Have you ever looked at an old house or building and thought if only it could talk, just imagine what it would say? Well, I have. In fact once many years ago I told my husband old buildings talk if you just open your eyes and listen.  Of course they don't actually speak, rather it is usually the details caught by the eye that fuel the imagination as to the lives lived within the walls. Today though I have a treat to share with you. A rather detailed look into a fabulous civil war era home; the High Victorian Italianate architecture, The Confederate Army Colonel who built the home, mysteries and possible scandals surrounding the original family and the excitement and struggles faced by the current owners who are trying to preserve this small part of American history.

My first glimpse into the interior of this fabulous Civil War era home came last year on a crisp December afternoon when Civil War reenactor Helena and I set out in the Freemason Historic District in down town Norfolk Virginia to shoot a Civil War era Victorian portrait session. While photographing Helena in her beautiful Victorian clothing at various locations in the neighborhood we were approached by a very vibrant woman and asked if we would like to shoot in the sitting room of her home as it was "very Victorian". As it turned out her home was none other than the historic John Cary-Weston House on Freemason St., and that sitting room is absolutely heaven to a lover of the Victorian era. I have had the opportunity to return on a few occasions for portrait sessions with different models, and once again more recently to sit and visit with Lisa and learn more about the home and it's history.

At first sight I was enthralled by this house that nearly screams Victorian yet has a very definite French vibe. I was mesmerized by the exterior with it's fancy ironwork, carved friezes and fancy work all around, including the beautiful bay windows, carved brick, wrap around porch and mansard roof.

carved brick and ornate iron window trim

On that first visit, Lisa explained to us that the home had been built in 1870 by a former Confederate Army Colonel named John Cary-Weston and that she and her husband were in the process of restoring the home to it's original glory.

Showing us into 'The Parlor' I was struck not only by the beauty of the architecture with the 12 foot high ceilings, 9 foot high arched windows, and rich walnut woodwork, but by the fact that the home was in fact decorated in the High Victorian style with American Eastlake or American Gothic furnishings, statues and all sorts of artifacts from the civil war era. As I was to later learn in my interview with Lisa "in the Victorian era they loved the juxtaposition and would incorporate different elements of style together". Her love for this old home goes far beyond a love for Victorian architecture but to the very depths of Victorian culture.

Many owners of Historic homes go to great lengths to restore and maintain the external architecture of the homes they preserve, yet few go to the lengths that Dr. Guy Trengove-Jones and his wife Lisa have.  It is common for historic home owners to restore the outside and then during restoration of the inside to fully modernize it even to the point of changing floor plans. Yet not only are the Trengove-Jones restoring the outside of the home to it's original appearance they are also returning the interior to is Victorian glory. No longer is the 17 room home that boasts 10 fireplaces divided into five apartments as it was in the '50s.

Once again this house has the opulent look of money both on the outside and inside just as it must have back in the late 1800 and early 1900's. One main difference being that the furnishings and interior decorations would have cost the original owners much more than it cost to decorate a home in this style today. As Lisa explained "Nowadays antiques are really cheap, 10 years ago they had great value but not anymore. Anyone who wants to decorate with Victorian style can snap up a bargain left and right and make it look just like this."

With few exceptions everything from the wall and window treatments to the ceilings and furnishings exudes Victorian opulence. The 1 1/2 story brick kitchen house that still sits on the property is no longer the homes kitchen but it hasn't been overlooked or forgotten. The Kitchen house is now a very quaint living quarters.

Not only have they taken on the enormous task of restoring this historic old home but they have also taken on the task of discovering and preserving the memory of the original owner and his descendants. John Cary-Weston Confederate Colonel and member of the Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal Company purchased the land back in 1852 to build a summer home for his family. Construction of the home took nearly 20 years, beginning  sometime during the 1850's only to be halted by the civil war and then resumed after. The home was finally finished in 1870 just months after his first wife Jane Parks Weston died. Although she had been ill for years with an illness that kept her bedridden in a centrally located bedroom on the second floor of the house, the exact cause of death remains a mystery. Jane's death was just the beginning of the tragedies, mysteries and possible scandals surrounding The John Cary Weston family.

One of the second floor bedrooms

Area to the right looks into that centrally located bedroom.

Scandal soon followed when within a very short time of his first wife's death John remarried to a woman named Nannie  who is believed to have been a former household servant. Then in the beginning of 1871 John's son by Jane, Cary Parks Weston died at the age of 26.  In her research Lisa had gone to the nearby Princess Ann Cemetery and located the family plot. During that time the family cemetery plot was another way in which family's proclaimed their status and she found the Cary-Weston family plot very intriguing. As she explained  "… after the patriarch passed away, his spiral top enormous tombstone is in the middle with his first wife on one side and his second wife on the opposite side with their tombstones being identical even though their deaths were 26 years apart." Another oddity is the fact that the 26 year old son was not buried in the family plot but in another section of the graveyard some distance from the family plot and even stranger is the fact that buried next to him is Julia the first child born from the second wife. The intrigue captured me further when Lisa said "I studied the dates on the tombstone and it is very odd, there is an overlap." This overlap she explained put the birth of the 2nd wife's child less than nine months after the first wife's death, leading one to wonder a number of things first of which, what was the real cause of the first wife's death? Second, why bury Cary Parks Weston and Julia Weston so far from the family plot?

Could it be that Jane Parks Weston was the daughter of Marshall Parks Sr. and sister to Albermarle & Chesapeake Canal Company president Marshall Parks Jr. Was she John Cary-Weston's connection to his position with the Albermarle & Chesapeake Canal Company? Could Nannie's daughter have been buried so far from the family plot because if anyone saw the date of her birth beside the date of Jane's death a connection may have been made that there had been possible foul play which could have jeopardized not only his position with the company but the social standing of the entire family, by this time John and Nannie had another child a son they named Cary Parks Weston II? And Why was the first Cary Parks Weston not buried on the family plot? At first I thought that maybe he had fought opposite his father in the Civil War as did unfortunately happen, but that was not the case. Cary Parks Weston was a V.M.I. cadet sergeant-major and later a lieutenant in the Confederate Sates of America under Stonewall Jackson. According to Virginia Military Institute archives Cary Parks Weston died in February 1871 of scarlet fever after a four day illness.

Cary Parks Weston source V.M.I. archives

Lisa told me that just after they purchased the home, Mr. Roper who is "somewhere in his 70's with an encyclopedic memory", and whose family has lived in the grand old house across the street since the civil war told them he was pretty sure that the Cary-Weston descendants had long since passed away. So that is what was put on the plaque in the front garden outside their home, however they have found that isn't the case.

The line has lived on through the descendants of  Cary Parks Weston II [the second child of 2nd wife Nannie] [b1873 - d1942]  Cary Parks Weston II's daughter Cary married one of the most eligible bachelors of the 40's one of the sons of the Sloane family of the Hermitage museum fame,  and they had a daughter which they named Cary Patricia Sloane. Mrs. Cary Weston Sloane and her daughter left Virginia after her divorce from Mr. Sloane and after a great deal of searching the Trengove-Jones' have located and been in contact with a descendent of John Cary Weston. 

A Weston family portrait which hangs in the dining room

When asked what drew them to purchase such a historic home, not just an old Victorian home but one that was on the National Historic Registry, with a smile on her face and a glint in her eyes Lisa quickly responded "the romance". She further explained that the "lure of the romance of visiting beautifully kept large Victorian homes that you could sit in or stand and picture yourself in that era, it's a fantasy."

Although when they first saw the house it was in ruins and thousands of potential buyers had passed up the chance to purchase the home because of the restoration and upkeep would be extremely expensive, this particular home had everything they were looking for. As Lisa put it "Viewing the house on this street  with it's corner lot, with it's Frankenstein elements, it looked like Eddie Munster's house it was really creepy and cool, in it's run down situation it needed us to save it."  It's corner location with the historic cobblestone road, view of the water and obvious need for someone to care about it made this home ideal to the Romantic Victorian Fantasy. (click here to watch a short video of the area. The waterfront, cobblestone road, intersection and house are visible within the first minute of the video.)

I have often wondered what difficulties other than financial might be associated with owning a historic home and Lisa was kind enough to explain that there are different levels of recognition with historic homes stating that "When you are on the National Registry it just means that they can't bulldoze the place, although they can find ways around that.

The second level is a Chartered Historic District which this house is part of. When your home is in a chartered Historic District  they [the charter] will tell you what you can and can not do to your home from the outside, such as repairs or improvements, replacing a window, painting or fixing a door. All these things you can only do after receiving approval from the city…It can disenchant you and drive you crazy."

current renovations

Still this home, this Labor of Love as Lisa calls it, has it's rewards. Those rewards come when Lisa and Guy can share their home as it was meant to be shared when it was built. Regarding those rewards Lisa recently wrote me "It is a privilege to share this crazy old house with people who have an interest in it (like you) If I never let anyone inside, or I didn't keep it in a good order to show it occasionally to a house tour or a Girl Scout or Boy Scout Troupe, etc., I think it would be a terrible WASTE. It really feeds on itself for my motivation. If someone sees it and really "catches" the character of it/beauty of it, they have made my week! People like that (like you) are constantly inspiring me to have ideas to make it better, more "user friendly" for other people to enjoy, even people I haven't met before! … Whenever we have a gathering or a house tour, it is a VERY interesting house in that we see it was meant to be USED, and the house "likes" lots of people, over 50 and under 200 for an event. The doors all open, the verandas, and the wrap around porch, the back porch, the courtyard, all the pass-throughs, it is pure MAGIC when the house is humming. We ONLY get a sincere glimpse into the golden age when this occurs. "

The welcoming side entrance

There in lies the fantasy and romance, the immersion into a time of grace and beauty, mystery and intrigue. A glimpse into the golden age that I hope to enjoy next time I am in Norfolk, Virginia. Maybe just maybe I will be lucky enough to also take in the annual Freemason District Ghost Tour hosted by the Trengove-Jones and group of talented actors, featuring over 10 historic homes and notable caricatures such as Robert E. Lee, Edgar Allen Poe and Jack the Ripper to mention a few. 

P.S. I hope you have enjoyed a glimpse into this beautiful historic home that sits quietly in my former city of Norfolk, Virginia. You can continue your virtual travel by visiting Unknown Mami's Sunday In My City. ~ Nita Davis

Resources

The house and The Weston Family:
Interview with Lisa trengove-Jones
Resource 2
Resource 3

Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal:
Resource 1
Resource 2


Cary Parks Weston:
Interview with Lisa Trengove-Jones
Resource 2
Resource 3


Cary Parks Weston II:
Interview with Lisa Trengove-jones
Resource 2

What Really Matters

I am sure life has always been a steady stream of challenges. Youth striving to find their place in the scheme of things; young parents struggling to make a better life for their offspring; everyone trying to make some type of mark on their own personal world or even more, a mark on the world as they know it, all the while doing what it took to survive day to day.   

Throughout the ages of time the one group that appeared to have left the challenges behind were the matriarchs and patriarchs of the families. These elderly ones appeared to have left the challenges and worries of youth behind them. Instead they became the holders of wisdom and the jewels of each family because they alone seemed to completely understand what really matters, Family! 

Unfortunately the drastic change in the makeup of the family nucleus that began in the early to mid 1900's have thrown these jewels back into the steady stream of challenges once more. Few children today understand what it is like to spend time with extended family let alone with a great grandparent. 

While the rapid growth of technology seems to pull families apart with each generation becoming immersed in their own challenges, technology can play a part in bringing generations back together.  With the ready availability of phone calls, text messaging, emails and the internet we can now quickly and easily keep in touch with family all around the world. My favorite though is the availability of video calls, while I do have to admit that for this to work one does need to have a quick internet connection. 

Yet even with all the advancements of technology making it easier to stay connected to extended family many are still strangers. Personally I think two factors play a major part in diminishing the use of technology in drawing families together. The biggest is personal interpretation of the term family in regards to 'what really matters', and the second is in teaching the older generations how to access and use this new technology. 

Family has always been very important to me and yet I have come to realize that my emphasis was always on the immediate family and thus I allowed a drifting away from the larger extended family. With the exception of trying to make sure my children spent time with their grandparents, keeping in touch with the extended family was not as important. Sure I can defend my actions or lack there of by stating that our work took us many hundreds of miles from our extended family, yet that is a feeble excuse. In truth we were just too wrapped up in navigating the steady stream of challenges life sent our way to realize what really mattered. 

I must be nearing the matriarchal stage of life for in recent years I have more actively tried to re-unite myself and my children with our extended family. It is slow going but the use of Facebook has made it possible for me to reconnect with some of my siblings that I had lost touch with and has made it possible for my children to become acquainted with aunts, uncles and cousins that they have only seen once or twice or have never had the opportunity to meet in person.

While of course it is not the same as spending time together in person they are making connections that without technology would be difficult to make. Where once they were complete strangers now they are getting to know each other and even build bonds of friendship. 

Although my children are all grown and all live miles apart I am happy to see that we all keep in touch through the use of technology. Even with the many miles between my grandchildren they are able to see and talk with their extended family thanks to the availability of video chat. Now if we can just teach my children's grandparents how to use this tool, they too can spend time together via video chat. 

Do you find technology a help when it comes to staying connected with family? 

PS.
The memory photo above that inspired this post is of a wonderful couple that I had the honor of meeting and photographing while visiting the Grand Canyon with my Mother and Father-in-law.

Family History Month

I knew that October was Hispanic Heritage month but what I didn't know was that in 2001 Congress passed a resolution making October 'Family History Month'. Going into the month I kept thinking it was a great month to get myself back on track. I love my Hispanic heritage and family history in general so what better time than October to pull myself together. Well the month is almost over and as you can tell I am still not really 'With It'.

I did do a bit of looking around for ideas of fun ways to celebrate both Hispanic Heritage and Family History. I found some good links at Family Tree Magazine. I also found some fun activities being held at public libraries and genealogy societies. Yet each time I sat down to write a post sharing these finds and remind everyone of the fun way to collect family history which I wrote last year, my mind went blank. So not only did the post never get written but my motivation to get out and take part in the many activities never appeared. 

So when My Mother-in-Law called and asked if I would fly out and spend a week with her and my Father-in-Law this month I was overjoyed. I will be leaving VA this afternoon on a plane headed for Arizona. I am looking forward to visiting with my late husbands' parents and hopefully they will share some of their families early history with me so I can record it to pass on to my children and grandchildren. 

What heritage based activities have you participated in this month if any?

From Hobbyist to Professional

Taking my art from hobby to professional is probably one of the biggest challenges I have faced. After years of creating composite artwork for others at little or no charge one might think the transition would be easy. Let me tell you it is anything but easy. However I still believe it is well worth the challenge.

When developing Artistix Network LLC, there were a lot of decisions to make including the following very important decisions.

1. Our Mission statement: Our mission is to enable clients to preserve their cherished memories for future generations with high quality professional artwork that captures their style and emotions.
Which means:
A) We will not limit the photo's used to create a memory composite to photo's we take for the client or limit the number of photos that can be included in the artwork.
B) We will not use quick labs or only offer digital files and recommend the client print them at a quick lab.
C) We always consult with the client and allow them a wide range of design options.
D) We will make every effort to keep the cost of our services affordable to the general public.

2. The company will not incur any outside debt and will operate entirely on funds generated by sales or contributed by the founders.
    (This may not have been the wisest decision toward the success of the company as it has limited the company to a shoe string marketing budget primarily made up of word of mouth marketing.)

Deciding what services we wanted to provide and how we wanted to provide those services was probably the easiest part. Although, even that took may hours of planing. Add to that months of research on marketing, organizational, product and web development. Followed by months of putting everything into action and the whole process took almost two years before we even opened for business. Needless to say it is easy to get bogged down with all the 'business' aspects and loose sight of 'The Mission', you know that little reason why you ever decided to go professional in the first place.

Throughout the process there have been many times while working with marketing and business development professionals we were advised to do the following:
    1. Double our charges so that we were more in line with other photographic design agencies.
        Benefit: Increasing profit margin and potential of corporate clients with deep pockets.
        Disadvantage: Complete deviation from our mission.
    2. Limit the number of options available to clients.
        Benefit: Increasing profits by decreasing design time.
        Disadvantage: Hindering the clients ability to have created a piece that expresses their style and emotions.
    3. Limit the clients to using only photos we took.
        Benefit: Increasing profit by charging both for photography and design.
        Disadvantage: Hindering the client from having created a memory art piece that captures the moments they personally photograph.
    4. Limiting the number of photos included in each art piece.
        Benefit: Reducing production time thereby increasing profit margin.
        Disadvantage: Hindering the clients ability to have created a piece that expresses their style and emotions.
    5. Market to businesses and those within upper income brackets.
        Benefit: Increased profits
        Disadvantage: In direct opposition to our mission to provide professional corporate style design services to the average person.
    6. Market the digital design file as an affordable substitute to printed format, taking advantage of the clients desire for both connivence and savings.               
        Benefit: Increase sales
        Disadvantage: Potential to be in opposition to our mission to provide high quality artwork that will last for generations.

 We did decide to offer the option to purchase the digital file with full print release. But decided that when doing so we make sure our clients understand that quick lab prints deteriorate in as little as 15 years as compared to a life span of 75 to 100 years for a chemically processed photograph. We also let them know that they can contact us in the future to have their design sent to print at the professional lab we use for only slightly more than a quick lab will charge for the same size prints. In this way we are able to offer the savings and convenience while still remaining true to our mission.

As you can see by the above list, being committed to ones mission is not always the easiest or the most profitable. Which can result in the temptation to take the easy way and change your mission.

Of course that means that growing the business has been a very slow process. Taking almost two years before we actually started to break even.  Now in our third year although we are starting to make a profit it is still not what one would call profitable. Some might say we should give in to the all mighty dollar and make the changes to our mission statement and business strategy.

To me family memories are just too important, even if they aren't my families memories. So for me there is no option but to remain committed to our mission. Even if it means taking a second job while the business grows slowly. So far my partners agree with me, so instead of changing our mission we chose to keep our mission and add a gift division of the company that offers fun non-memory art gifts through a convenient online quick lab. In addition we continue to look for creative ways to market the business and other services that might fit in with our mission.

So what do you think, should a company change its' mission to compete with other companies that provide the same service but don't share the same mission? Have you gone from hobbyist to professional? If so what was your biggest challenge?

Contemplation

I have driven past the Forest Lawn Cemetery many times since moving to Norfolk but have never ventured inside. This month I am practicing my black and white photography, and decided the cemetery would be the perfect place to capturing images that were not dependent upon vivid color for their richness. Wandering this beautiful resting place I could not help but think about the individuals and their families. What life was like for them, if these beautiful markers were all that was left to say they had lived, loved, cried and must certainly have been missed. I certainly hope that is not the case.

This monument is dedicated to the some 240+ foreign sailors who died at sea and were buried here during the early 1900's. I had to wonder if the families of each sailor had known that this is where their loved one was laid to rest.

All throughout there are many beautiful mausoleums like this one. Intricately carved markers and statues adorn the last resting places of the very young and the very old and every age in between. All set in a lovely garden of lush green grass and the shade of beautiful trees and shrubbery. As you can see I almost forgot I was there to practice my black and white photography.

Of course I saw many angels big and small, but this one just called out to me that it needed no color to touch the soul.

Your Sunday Best Submission

The heavens must have known I was looking for a shot that would capture the beauty and turmoil one surely feels when their loved one is laid to rest in such a peaceful garden. When I looked up and saw the emotion I was looking for.  I hope that I have captured that in this last black and white photo.

Being in this setting and seeing all the markers of lives lost I couldn't help but wonder if we put to much thought into our day to day lives and not enough into our legacy?

Today I am linking up with:

and

Mysterious Past a short story

A little over a month ago Jeannette at Mysteries in Daily Life posted a photo of this fun house and talked about what kind of story might be written around this house. With her permission I have taken on the challenge. While I had originally thought to write something along the lines of a Grimes Fairy Tail, while staring at the photo a story began to form that was unlike anything I have ever written before. I got so wrapped up in the story that I do believe I have enough material to write much more. I hope you enjoy this short story.

Mysterious Past

by Nita Davis

photo copyright Jeannette StG @ http://castlestgermain.blogspot.com

The sun was just setting over the horizon as Elsie turned on the old lamp with the fluted milk glass shade which sat on the small table near her favorite over stuffed chair. It would be another quiet evening. Just her and her faithful companion Maxwell. At fifteen Maxwell was nearly as frail as Elsie. They had long since given up their search for excitement and were now content to sit quietly of an evening reminiscing over tea. Elsie leafing through her old photographs, making notations and writing down stories of adventures long past, while Maxwell snoozed and dreamt of younger days.

Elsie always knew when he was dreaming of some long off chase, as he would begin to pant and his legs to move as if he were running. She would smile and gently caress his greying fur. Sometimes she wondered why she stayed here and continued to pour over these photos writing down a lifetime of stories. Not just her lifetime but stories her parents and grandparents had told her as a child. Sure she was nearing her centennial but her children didn't seem to understand the importance of heritage. They had grown and moved away, had children and grandchildren of their own and all but forgotten her.

The house wasn't big and her son made sure it was kept up, but even a small home can be lonely without the laughter and chatter of youth. Why didn't she just sell the house and move into a retirement home? At least in a retirement home she would have others around to share stories and laugh with. But oh, there were so many memories. It was more than a house it was a home, her home, and had been for nearly 73 years now. She had raised her family within these walls. She would never forget the day her dear Samuel  showed her the scroll work he had cut for the eaves of their newly purchased home. He had promised her a fairy tail and what better way to start than with a fairy tail cottage for a home.

They had planted the first tree in the front yard when their first child was born. Samuel had wanted it to shade the porch from the hot afternoon sun, as Elsie liked to sit on the porch and rock little Thomas. Later two more trees were planted in the back yard, one for each of the children that followed Thomas into this happy family. It wasn't long before they noticed the shadows cast from that first tree turned the white trim to a delicate teal. Elsie loved the soft inviting feel it gave their home, they even considered painting all the trim teal but decided it wouldn't be the same. The water pump out front had long sense stopped working and the gate holding Elsie's much loved Welcome sign hung at an awkward angle but the home hadn't lost it's inviting appeal. So why didn't the kids ever come to visit?

Elsie reflected on how drastically life had changed since she was young. She could remember sitting on her Great Grandmother's lap on the front porch of their huge family home in Oklahoma. She would spend hours just listing to the stories of how her great great grandparents had boarded a ship during the second big year of the Irish Potato Famine in 1848 with no more than the clothes on their backs to start a new life in America. Stories of the hardships in their home country were followed by stories of the hardships faced on their arrival in New York. She wondered if Móraí (MO ree) ever thought of her life as a fairy tail, for that is surely what it had sounded like to Elsie. Samuel had been Elsie's knight in her fairy tail and now she dreamed of having the final chapter Móraí had lived. She really must write those stories down. The old coo coo clock on the mental chimed ten times. Maxwell stretched his long body and raised his head. It was already an hour past their normal bedtime. 'Awe, where had the evening gone?' thought Elsie as she put down her pen. She would have to wait till tomorrow to start writing the stories Móraí had told her. 

It was already mid morning and Elsie still hadn't had a chance to return to her task of recording the family history. The morning had gone by quickly with chores. Maxwell had been more energetic than usual and had wanted to walk just a bit further than normal on their morning walk. Now he was curled up with his favorite blanket taking his mid-morning nap. Settling in to her comfortable chair with a tall cool glass of ice tea, she opens her book to where she left off last night. Ah, that's right she had just started to write about Móraí's mother and father. She closes her eyes for a moment and focuses on the memory of Móraí's voice as she tells the story. Opening her eyes she picks up her pencil and begins to write.

'After two years of struggling to survive in the squalid conditions of New York and the death of their two sons one due to the Cholera epidemic of 1849 and the other due to malnutrition my great great grandfather William O'Flynn goes to work for the Pennsylvania Railroad helping to build the tracks. After two years of saving they finally have enough money to move out of New York with their infant daughter and settle in Philadelphia in 1852. A year later my great grandmother Christine O'Flynn is born. Life was better in Philadelphia but still difficult. Daideó (Daddo) as he was called by his children was gone most of the time working on the railroad. Then on July 17, 1856 tragedy struck and Daideó was killed while on his way home from Gwynedd  his train collided with a train carrying a large group of children on a special outing. Móraí called it the Great Train Wreck of 1856.'

She begins to write about Móraí's sister when she hears Maxwell whimper. "Poor Maxwell how long have you been awake and wanting to go out?" Going into the kitchen she lets Maxwell out the back door. Maxwell can hear Elsie as she says 'I can't believe it is already past noon. I really must get to the market so I can fix lunch.' By now he knows the routine and heads to his favorite patch of shade with a semi fresh bone to gnaw upon. He will wait there while Elsie makes her trip to the store. Elsie pulls the pitcher of lemonade from the refrigerator and heads to the front door. With a quick stop at the hall table she puts on her hat, picks up her purse and the note she has all ready for just such occasions. In a moment she is walking through the front gate after having deposited the lemonade on the porch table and locking the front door and securing the note.

Just days before when Lisa had turned eighteen her father had given her a polished oak box. As he handed her the box he told her 'This belonged to your mother. I could never bring myself to look inside, She said it belonged to her mother so I thought you may want whatever it holds.' In a daze Lisa stared at the box. Her mother had died when she was very young, so young in fact that she could not even remember her. Her grandparents were just as much a mystery as they had died in an automobile accident just after her parents had married. Her father had told her what little he knew of them but it really wasn't much. Their last name was Garcia and her Grandfather was a migrant worker. He thought her Grandmother had siblings but he had no idea who they were or what their last name was.

Taking the box to her room Lisa sat on her bed and slowly opened the box. There really wasn't much in the box; a small Saint Christopher pendant on a very delicate gold chain, 2 thin gold bands, A few old newspaper clippings, some old photographs and a stack of letters held together by string. One newspaper clipping was an obituary for a Mr. Murray born 2-21-1871 died 7-10-1963. Who was he? He must be related, why else would my grandmother keep this, Lisa thought to herself. She scanned the names of the survivors, Garcia wasn't among them. The other newspaper clipping was an article about a strawberry festival held in Garden Grove California, dated May 30, 1962. Next Lisa picked up the three photographs. There was one with a cute little house with fancy white scroll work all along the eaves and a white picket fence. She looked on the back but there was no writing. The next photo was of two girls and a boy on a carousel. Turning the photo over she was excited to see it had writing on the back.  It wasn't much just 1950 and the names Tommy, Mary and Margret. The last photo was of a nice looking couple probably in their late 20's early 30's and also dated 1950.

Rushing from the room Lisa showed her dad. "Look, these photos must be my Grandmothers parents and siblings. There is a newspaper obituary also and a stack of letters. I bet I will be able to figure out what her last name was!" Sure enough when she turned the letters over she saw the name on the return address, it was Elsie Richards. Looking at the obituary she noticed that Elsie Richards was listed as Mr. Murray's daughter. Reading down further it said that Mr. Murray was also survived by 20 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren. "Elsie Richards must be related to my grandmother in some way. I can't believe I have so many relatives. Dad, how am I ever going to find them now?" Glancing down at the envelope her father replied, " well dear I would start with that address, maybe one of her children or grandchildren live there now." "Of course! I should have thought of that. I don't have to work Thursday so I will leave around 10 o'clock, it isn't too far to Capistrano just a little over two hours." Lisa let out in a gush of excitement. "Alright just be careful" her father had said as she quickly kissed his cheek and ran off to her room to read the letters. "Thank you Dad for the best present ever" he heard her call as she closed her door.

On Thursday Lisa's excitement was bubbling over as she pulled up in front of the house. It looked just like the photo, well maybe not exactly. The trees were a bit taller and even though it is March there are holiday lights lit up on the porch. Oh and the gate is painted teal, how odd. But it matches the teal shadow cast on the trim by the shade of the tree. She still can't believe this was the home where her grandmother grew up. She had spent the last few days reading and rereading the letters from Elsie to her daughter Margret. It was still hard for her to believe she knew her grandmother's name finally after all these years. As she neared the porch she prayed that one of her relatives still lived here and that they were home. But the windows were dark, although the screen door looked as if someone had recently left and forgot to close the door. But it really didn't look like anyone was home. Then she noticed there was a note on the front door. She read the rather shaky but still elegant script of the note

Lisa's heart skipped a beat as she realized her Great Grandmother was still alive and living in this very house, even more exciting she would be home any minute. On shaky legs Lisa turned to her right and sure enough on a small table covered with a crisp white lace table cloth was a pitcher of ice cold lemonade right next to a cane back rocker it's soft white cushion covered  cheerfully with tiny embroidered red strawberries. Pouring herself a glass she eased herself into the rocker and took a deep breath. Soon she would be talking to her Great Grandmother Elsie learning all she could about her mother's family.

Author note: Please let me know what you think. Should I continue the story?

Linking up with these fun blog hops:
 

This is the Face of Genealogy

Mother and sister to my grandfather Jose Taffolla

 

For the reason behind this post, please refer to GeneaBloggers article The Face of Genealogy.

Genealogy Video sample

This isn't today's official blog post. I thought maybe you might like to see the sample video I created to show how Artistix Network helps families create a vivid family legacy for their family's with Genealogy Photo Albums, Scrapbook page prints and Genealogy Video's. For individuals privacy much of the text in the video has been blurred and pages that exists in the original album and video which have text detailing family history and cherished stories have been left out.

Why I do what I do

Have you ever looked at your child and thought "Wow, that expression is the same one so-and-so use to get all the time"? Or wondered what life was like for your grandparents, great grandparents or even more distant relations? I have, of course we have a general idea what life was like for the general populous during certain time periods, but what I am talking about is what it was like personally. Unfortunately my family for whatever reason did not take or preserve photographs to pass from one generation to the next, nor did they make any written record of their lives. For me this is the type of thing that adds to ones sense of belonging which I feel is one of the most important things in life.

My father passed away when my oldest son was only four years old so by the time my youngest son was born my older children were confused when their little brother turned out to be blonde with blue eyes. "Where did that come from Mom?" they would ask me, you see my husband is a red head and I am a brunette and no one else in the family had blue eyes that our children knew of. Now had I still had the photo I once saw of my father as a toddler with his blonde curly hair and bright blue eyes, my children would have known right away that is where it came from. But no all I have are a few pictures of him after his hair had darkened to a light brown and in none of those can you actually see the color of his eyes. We have one or two pictures of my husband and I's grand parents and each of us remembers a story or two told to us by our grandparents but that is where the connections to our ancestors ends. So I decided I want more for my future great grandchildren and maybe even for their great grandchildren.

Of course to accomplish this my first idea was to help my kids put together scrapbooks as they were growing up. I am ashamed to say it but that plan did not turn out well. Sure they put a few things in their books but soon lost interest in them. So my second attempt was to make a scrapbook myself for my granddaughter that covered the first five years of her life. WOW, was I ever shocked at how expensive it was to create that book. Not only was it expensive but I was a bit discouraged because I had so many photographs that captured special memories and of course I could only fit a few on each page without it being too cluttered and no room for descriptions. I looked around at the collages available at the quick labs and by collage artists on line and decided they were so limited and all pretty much looked the same. By this time I had been digitally creating photo collages and doing photographic enhancements and manipulations for a few years so I decided to turn my artistic eye and skills to create photo art collages that would capture not just the photos but the emotions. Soon friends and family were asking me to create collages for them.

By this time my husband had become disabled and I was looking for a way to help support my family and take care of them at the same time. I left the doldrums of the 9-5 office world to work on my new dream of using my talents to help other families capture and preserve their cherished memories, and Artistix Network was born. I love creating memory art prints that I know will be cherished for many generations and helping families learn how to preserve both print and digital photographs so that none of their precious photos are lost because of environmental damage, crashed computers or inkjet printing which fades in just a few years. Doing what I do now ensures me that 200 years from now maybe even longer my descendants and those of the families I create memory photos for will have a much better chance of  knowing precious details of their ancestors.