Memories!

I have been busy lately cleaning.  I do NOT love to clean, but it is a neccesity.  I don't want to live in clutter and dirt.

I decided the other day to tackle a closet in the spare bedroom which is no longer a bedroom, but my office.  I have to share it with my husband as he likes to get on his computer and look at things.  I used to call his computer the "Danger Zone" as every time he went to it he would get this urge to buy something.  I will admit that he has gotten a lot better the past couple of months.  He looks a whole lot more instead of buying something. 

Back to cleaning out the closet.  I had plastic bins in there with items I hadn't seen in a while.  So going through them, I found items that my mother had saved.  My mom saved everything!  I found these little pink baskets. 

Now I can remember these at one of my birthday parties when I was around 10 or so and they had little mint candies and peanuts in them.  Why I remember that, who knows.



I found these two old hand fans that my mother had.  As you can see, the one on the left is of the Mackinac Bridge that connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan.  The fan on the right shows the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.  If you ever get the chance you need to visit Mackinac Island.  You have to take a boat to get there (it is located between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan) and there are no automobiles on the island.  You either walk, ride a bike or take a horse drawn carriage.  It is 8 miles around the island and a lovely bike ride.

I found this birth announcement.  Nothing was written in it, but wondering if my mom saved it and these were what she used to announce my birth XX years ago.  (Put those XX there on purpose!)

In this box I found a puzzle.  I looked on the back of the box and the date was 1918!  I told you my mother saved everything!  Kind of glad she saved this. 

I want to work more on our "Family Tree".  In Ancestry.com I have been going back on my side and my husband's side as far as I can.  On my dad's side, I got as far back as the 1500's.  On my mom's side I wasn't as lucky as my grandma was pregnant with my mom when she came to the United States from Poland.  I hit a dead end in Poland as the records were most likely destroyed in WWII.  Same on my husband's side, as the records were likely destroyed in WWII.  But my dad's heritage is Dutch, English, Scottish and Irish, so I lucked out on going so far back on his side. 

It is so fascinating to learn all this history.  A few years ago I found out that my great, great, great, great grandfather (may have missed one there, not sure) fought in the Revolutionary War.  He lived in Conneticut.  So I may have long lost relatives in the Northeast.  I was born and raised in Michigan.  Our whole family was and is from Michigan.  My husband, our four children and I moved to Florida in 1985.

My goal is to leave our children as much history of our family as I can.  It will take a while, but I enjoy doing these kinds of projects.  Just need to fit it in with everything else I am trying to do!  History is important!  So try to get your family history to pass down to your family.  They should appreciate your efforts.

Until next time.........................

As Always,

Marilyn