I have always envied DH his close, extended family ties. He knew all four of his grandparents -- and they were around when he was little. His aunts and uncles were around, too, and involved in the daily life of DH's family. He has many stories about adventures with relatives, rattlesnake hunting with his uncle, making sugar cookies with his grandmother, etc.
On the other hand, my grandparents were not alive when I was born, with the one exception of my paternal grandmother. She lived 4 states away and came to visit once, when my little brother was born. I vividly remember her taking her teeth out at night and chasing me with them chattering in her hand. She made lovely chocolate cakes from scratch, and made my mother some lovely hand-smocked pillows by hand. You'd have to see them to get it.
But, it was just one trip, when I was 6 or so, and I never saw her again. I was close with an aunt and uncle, who again, lived out of town, so we did not have this closely-knit family communityDH reminisces about.
DH's dad must've loved taking films of his family with his Super8 movie camera. DH had reels and reels of 'em when we met, and he took the box to a guy in Charlotte to have them copied to VHS. Then, several years ago, we bought a gadget (we love gadgets) called the Snappy. You hook it to your VCR and your computer, watch the tape, and when you see the image you want to capture, "snap!" you click the button on the thing and bingo! you have a .bmp or .jpg, I can't remember, in your computer. This was several years ago, maybe 7 or more, so the resolution isn't what you could probably get today, but we did capture some really poignant images from the VHS/Super 8 movies.
Flash forward to this weekend, when DS2, DIL and 3 GBabies visit for Thanksgiving. DS2 generously offered to give DH some photo editing software, about the best out there, and DH said, matter of fact, I have a couple of shots I would love to clean up.
Meanwhile, DIL and I were in the kitchen. I showed her the directions I had for a crochet flower I would love to learn to make. My goal is to crochet a shawl, crochet some little flowers, and put the flowers on the corner of the shawl.
She enthusiastically said the pattern was quite easy and she would be glad to help me with the flower. I scrounged up some yarn and a needle and we nestled on the oversized couch upstairs in the TV room, outside the guest room where all 3 GB's peacefully slept.
The house was dark and cozy. While DIL patiently told me for the 13th time how to double-crochet, I could hear DS2's deep voice droning from down the stairs and across the hall, now, you click here, and click on this, and see? this improves this part of your picture.
It was so cool that both of us, grandparents, were being sweetly mentored by our children, while the younger children slept away. Meanwhile, the image of Grandfather slowly emerged on the screen, clearer and clearer. He was sitting on DH's family back porch, whittling toys for DH and his 2 brothers. Notice GF sits elegantly with a knee crossed over the other, just as DH does today. Here it is:
On the other hand, my grandparents were not alive when I was born, with the one exception of my paternal grandmother. She lived 4 states away and came to visit once, when my little brother was born. I vividly remember her taking her teeth out at night and chasing me with them chattering in her hand. She made lovely chocolate cakes from scratch, and made my mother some lovely hand-smocked pillows by hand. You'd have to see them to get it.
But, it was just one trip, when I was 6 or so, and I never saw her again. I was close with an aunt and uncle, who again, lived out of town, so we did not have this closely-knit family communityDH reminisces about.
DH's dad must've loved taking films of his family with his Super8 movie camera. DH had reels and reels of 'em when we met, and he took the box to a guy in Charlotte to have them copied to VHS. Then, several years ago, we bought a gadget (we love gadgets) called the Snappy. You hook it to your VCR and your computer, watch the tape, and when you see the image you want to capture, "snap!" you click the button on the thing and bingo! you have a .bmp or .jpg, I can't remember, in your computer. This was several years ago, maybe 7 or more, so the resolution isn't what you could probably get today, but we did capture some really poignant images from the VHS/Super 8 movies.
Flash forward to this weekend, when DS2, DIL and 3 GBabies visit for Thanksgiving. DS2 generously offered to give DH some photo editing software, about the best out there, and DH said, matter of fact, I have a couple of shots I would love to clean up.
Meanwhile, DIL and I were in the kitchen. I showed her the directions I had for a crochet flower I would love to learn to make. My goal is to crochet a shawl, crochet some little flowers, and put the flowers on the corner of the shawl.
She enthusiastically said the pattern was quite easy and she would be glad to help me with the flower. I scrounged up some yarn and a needle and we nestled on the oversized couch upstairs in the TV room, outside the guest room where all 3 GB's peacefully slept.
The house was dark and cozy. While DIL patiently told me for the 13th time how to double-crochet, I could hear DS2's deep voice droning from down the stairs and across the hall, now, you click here, and click on this, and see? this improves this part of your picture.
It was so cool that both of us, grandparents, were being sweetly mentored by our children, while the younger children slept away. Meanwhile, the image of Grandfather slowly emerged on the screen, clearer and clearer. He was sitting on DH's family back porch, whittling toys for DH and his 2 brothers. Notice GF sits elegantly with a knee crossed over the other, just as DH does today. Here it is:
No comments:
Post a Comment