One Year and 199 Posts Later

One year and 199 posts ago, I wrote my first blog post. It was scary. And it was exciting. I had no idea what I was getting into, but I plunged ahead wholeheartedly. As I wrote on the blog’s two-month anniversary, “It probably will come as no surprise to anyone that I was not exactly blog literate when I undertook this task. I had an idea, a chance to pitch it, and finally the thumbs up to try it.”

 As I did then, I will again thank all of you who have stopped by to read a post or two. Your support has meant a great deal to me. I have discovered a few things in the year that I have been blogging. 

 1. I discovered that I probably should have paid more attention in English class. 

 2. I discovered that a girl, who could never keep a diary for more than two weeks, could indeed blog for a whole year. 

 3. I discovered that spell check is a girl’s best friend. 

 4. I discovered that spell check isn’t idiot proof (me being the aforesaid idiot.) 

 5. I discovered that geneabloggers, though diverse and unique, are of one voice in their mission to support and encourage other geneabloggers. I can’t think of another group where ego is so checked at the door. These people genuinely celebrate each other’s success. 

 6. I discovered that writing apparently has some healthful benefits. Since November, I have been off my high blood pressure medication. While the doctor is sure I have taken his advice to meditate (yeah right), I think whining aloud is the ticket to better health. 

 7. I discovered that I’m not as smart as I think I am. I could have saved myself that very public discovery by just listening to my family. They have been giving me that same message for years. 

 8. I discovered that I have my own voice, however warped it may be. 

 9. I discovered that some of my writing is not written for you, dear reader. Nor is it written for me. Rather it is written for those who are yet to be. I often think of a time 25 years or maybe 50 years from now, when a relative or a descendent discovers my words, and feels the same excitement that I feel when I read the words of my ancestors. (Note to self: Eighty-six the post with the picture of my foot. Don’t want the great grandchildren to worry about mental instability running through their gene pool.) 

 10. In writing posts about my own family’s history, I discovered that each of our lives is just a brief flicker on a long, flowing timeline. This is it folks, This is your one shot to get it right, to find the joy, and to give yourself permission when you fail, to get up the next morning and take your shot at getting it right all over again. 

 11. And finally, I discovered me. And while that only has relevance to those nearest and dearest, for me it has been an interesting journey. 

 I have no idea where I go from here. I know that for now, you can find me slicing and dicing pieces of my life and my family’s history like some mad chef - serving it up for your reading pleasure here at the Desktop Genealogist Unplugged Blog. 

 Until Next Time – Happy Ancestral Digging!

© 4 September 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Almost Wordless Wednesday - I knew he loved me when ...

He agreed to wear a matching pink tie for our wedding ceremony.

© 3 Sept 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Our Family Treasure

For 102 years, various members of my family have been responsible for keeping the documents that my great grandparents Leo and Emma Schrader brought with them when they immigrated in 1906. Without these items, much of our family’s history would have been lost. Many records belonging to those areas east of the Oder-Neisse line, where my family originated, were destroyed during World War II and its aftermath. It is doubtful that we would have been able to reconstruct this information without these originals. Below is the marriage certificate of Leo and Emma in Muttrin, on April 5, 1904

The next item, which I had to have translated, was written by the minister of Budow’s church. It was needed to prove the details of Leo’s birth. It gives Leo’s parents as Wilhelm Schröder and Caroline Quetschke. (Quetschke, I am told is an uncommon German name.)

Below is the Kirchliches Zeugnis or Christian Certificate that shows, the birth, baptism, marriage and confirmation of Leo, Emma, Willi and Max.

These are pictures of an unknown German family. The woman bares a family resemblance, so my guess is that she is related to either Leo or Emma.

One of several papers relating to Leo’s military service.

The definition of an heirloom is something that has been in the family for generations. These papers are my family’s heirlooms.

This post written for the 55th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. 

Note: German family names – Schröder, Gleffe, Quetschke, Hingst Related German family names – Tuschy, Kollat, von Malottki

© 1 September 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

It's A Girl!

I was at work in 1984 when we got the news that Walter Mondale had named Geraldine Ferraro as his VP pick. I was so excited I quickly called home to tell to my eleven-year-old daughter the news. It didn’t make much of an impact on her, because she only vaguely remembers the event. But I can still recall the palpitating excitement that Mondale’s choice created. 

It was the first time I carried a presidential bumper sticker on my car. It was the first time I voted Democratic and the first time I watched every nuanced element of election night coverage.

Of course, as Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC put it earlier today, the Mondale/Ferraro ticket lost in a stunning landslide. Who would have thought it would take another 24 years before we had our first serious female presidential contender? Who would have thought it would be another 24 years before we had our next female VP candidate? And who, in their wildest dreams, thought it would be the Republicans doing the honors? As Gomer Pyle use to say, GOLLLLLEEEE! 

I don’t know much about Sarah Palin. I don’t know if she has the chops to go along with the great cheekbones, when it comes to the VP slot. And I certainly don’t know if John McCain has just made the dumbest choice next to Bush senior’s selection of Dan Quayle. What I do know is that come Election Day, no matter which party wins, history will be made. Oh, and today, it was my daughter calling me when the rumors started flying, wanting to know what I thought of the whole idea. We both agreed, no matter how we vote in November, it will be a thrill seeing a female name on the Presidential ballot. To Geraldine, Hillary and Sarah – thanks for doing the heavy lifting.

© 29 August 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder

Wordless Wednesday - Scenes Along Lake Erie

Oops, there goes another chunck of my heart

I decided that this summer, instead of having my favorite four-year old every Friday that I would switch off and on with his eight-year-old sister, Little Miss Freckles. 

LMF and I have a stormy history. Once, when she was about eighteen months old her Dad, my stepson, brought her over for a visit, and LMF was NOT amused. She pulled her hat down over her face and refused all overtures to coax her out. Finally, exhausted from her very loud and persuasive protest, she fell asleep in the middle of the family room floor, her hat still pulled down over her eyes. 

 Now, I’m usually a hit with young children. I have no problem talking in funny voices, making funny faces, and in general acting the complete fool, all in an effort to raise a smile on a child’s face. Nine times out of ten it works, but not with my granddaughter. 

 I soon learned that if I met her on her turf, she would throw me a bone or two of acknowledgement. But get her in unfamiliar territory – read my house, the results were not stellar. So, over the years I have given her a wide berth. But she had been asking to spend some time with Grandma Terry, and I thought that this summer would be the perfect opportunity. 

 Of course, I was a little nervous, in the way you are nervous, when the flashing lights of a police card pull you over. Like a rolodex, your mind spins through all the possibilities, none of them good. So I googled queries like “activities for eight year olds.” I asked others for advice, and finally panicked, I chose several items off Amazon.com (my go to place) and had them sent two day delivery, damn the expense! 

 Over the summer, we have played several games of Putt-Putt, tried out the cheap crochet set that I had bought (and found out why it was so cheap.) and played a few school inspired computer games. We’ve eaten lunch at a variety of eateries and once, fixing her lunch, I learned that while my hot chicken sandwiches were good, she readily assured me, the school’s were even better. Sigh. 

 She taught grandpa and me a new card game, she and I played hangmen (she’s quite good) and we sang some songs, and told a few stories. Only once, did I hear the dreaded words, “I’m bored,” which lasted all of two seconds until we started a game of hangman. 

 We discovered that the game, Guess Who, might be great to play, but it was way too much work for busy women like us. By far, her favorite activity was Klutz’s “The Fabulous Book of Paper Dolls,” by Julie Collings. 

 For those of you who have never heard of these paper dolls, let me tell you they are cute and imaginative. There are six different punch-out dolls, and you can make them male or female, simply by the hairstyle and clothing you choose. The clothes are two-sided and because you stick them on with two-sided reusable tape, you have a variety clothing options. They also come with six different scenes that you can use as a backdrop to your play. Below is our birthday party/picnic scene that LMF and I created.

  We decided that because we often LOVED both sides of the two-sided outfits, Grandma needed to order a second book. One Friday, LMF and I almost attacked the mailman as we waited impatiently for the second book to arrive. Thank goodness, it came that day. Note to postman, sorry if we were a little over zealous that day. (He’s probably requested hazard pay for having to deliver to my house.) 

 Below we used the same background to create our “Halloween Party.”

 

I learned many things by spending Fridays with my granddaughter. She LOOOVES chocolate milk and she, OH, MY GOSH, LOOOVES Hannah Montana. She never tired of explaining the complexities of the Hannah Montana plot line, which turned out to be a blessing since for some reason my 55-year-old brain could not keep the whole Miley/Hannah thing straight from week to week. 

 She has a thing for older men – don’t worry kiddo, I’m not mentioning names. She thinks the reason that Papa Al likes her so much is because she calls him, “Evil” and “Loser” (with the traditional “L” sign to the forehead.) She is thoughtful of her siblings, because when we went to the Cookie Lady, she insisted we get extra cookies to take home for them. 

 I knew that our relationship had taken a turn for the better when she told me one Friday, she wished it would storm really hard, so her parents wouldn’t be able to pick her up. Sometimes I wonder how I have any heart left. Too many people are walking off with big chunks of it, including a special eight-year old who spent Fridays with Grandma Terry this summer.

© 26  August 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

It has a good beat, and you can dance to it - What music defined you?

Tim Abbott from Walking the Berkshires wrote a post a few weeks back entitled, "The Soundtracks of My Salad Days.” Tim talked about the 10 most influential albums during his teenage years that defined the person he became. His last sentence read, “How about you?” Though I’m a little late to the party, I’d like to nominate my own list, though a mere 10 albums won’t quite do it. 

Back in those days, we listened to (horrors!) AM radio, and the one station that everybody was tuned in to was CKLW out of Detroit. I can still remember sun bathing in my backyard, with some Sun In spritzed into my hair, little black goggles on my eyes, baking to the tune of The Archies’s, “Sugar, Sugar.” “Sugar, Oh, Honey, Honey. You are my candy girl, and you got me wanting you.”

No, that wasn’t one of my defining songs, but as they use to say on American Bandstand, “It has a good beat and you can dance to it.” I hesitate to cop to the following list, for fear it might be used to prove instability in a court of law someday. But what the heck, my children should know which artists and their albums are to blame for the mother’s odd behavior. 

Peter, Paul and Mary - "In the Wind" 1963 (Technically this was released before my teenage years, but the song, "Blowin in The Wind" had a big impact on my views of war and I listened to the album, and that song throughout my teenage years.) 

Beatles - “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” 1967 

Iron Butterfly - “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” 1968 

The Association – “Greatest Hits” 1969 (My then boyfriend, very romantically, requested the song "Cherish" be played on the radio as a surprise present for me.) 

Blood Sweat and Tears – “Blood Sweat and Tears” 1969 

Three Dog Night – “Suitable for Framing” 1969 

The Carpenters – “Close to You” 1970 (Okay, I know I lose all credibility with this pick, but the album and falling in love for the first time, happened in the same year.) 

James Taylor – “Sweet Baby James” 1970 (Note, Grandson has been indoctrinated with some of these songs.) 

Beatles – “Let It Be” (1970) (My all time favorite.) 

John Lennon – “Imagine” 1970 

Cat Stevens – “Tea for the Tillerman” 1970 (This pick is my college roommate’s fault. She played it so often it became tattooed on my brain.)

Santana – “Abraxas” 1970 

Simon and Garfunkel – “Bridge Over Troubled Water” 1970 

Chicago – “Chicago II” 1970 

James Taylor – “Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon” 1971

Carole King – “Tapestry” 1971 (This one is tattooed on my roommate’s brain because I played IT constantly.) 

Rod Stewart – “Every Picture Tells a Story” 1971 (Wake up Maggie, I think I got something to say you. It’s late September and I really should be back at school.) 

Steely Dan – “Can’t Buy A Thrill” 1972 

Helen Reddy – “I Am Woman” 1972 

Jim Croce - “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim” 1972 

For the record, when I was a teenager and they would advertise songs written in the 1950’s and 1940’s on special, one of a kind albums, I thought it was the lamest thing I had ever heard. I couldn’t imagine the point of advertising OLD songs and expecting people to actually BUY THEM. Man, life certainly likes throwing all that youthful arrogance right back in your face. 

So, how about you.? What youthful music listening habits shaped you into the person you are today? 

Until Next Time – Happy Ancestral Digging.

© 24 August 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder