Saturday, January 31, 2009

Grandma's Hands ~


This story touched me deeply (story follows below). I received this in an email from my very good friend, Gina, a few years ago and wanted to share it with all of you. The author is unknown so I am unable to site and give credit where it's due.

I decided that it would be a wonderful thing to do with our own family. So when I made my first Genealogy trip to KY last April, I decided to make our own "Our Hands" photo... it came out wonderful. Here at home we took a hands photo of my mom, myself, my daughter, and my granddaughter, 4 generations. My mom and my granddaughter went on the trip to KY with us to meet my Aunt Virginia (Ginnie) for the first time and so when we got there we did a hands photo with her. Once home, I printed the photos and framed them and gave one to each lady for Mother's Day, they now hang in our homes. Each time I walk by mine hanging in the family room, I smile and know that for many years to come our descendants will have a photo capturing . . . 

"Our Hands"



Many of our friends that have seen the photo, have wanted to do the same... so recently I have photographed and framed "their" hands for two different families.

Grandma's Hands as I received in an email...




JUST LOOK AT THE PICTURE A GOOD WHILE, AND THEN READ THE REST. IT WILL TOUCH YOU. I was privileged to take a photo of "Five Generations of Women" shortly before my 93 year-old Grandmother passed away last year. The photo, shown above, features the hands of my Grandmother, Mom, Sister, Niece and Great-Niece. While I can't take credit for the idea, I was so happy to have had the suggestion & capture this moment. It inspired a friend of mine to do something similar which turned out so beautiful and a special keepsake prior to her father's passing. ~ Author Unknown

GRANDMA'S HANDS

Grandma, some ninety plus years, sat feebly on the patio bench. She didn't move, just sat with her head down staring at her hands. When I sat down beside her she didn't acknowledge my presence and the longer I sat I wondered if she was OK. Finally, not really wanting to disturb her but wanting to check on her at the same time, I asked her if she was OK. She raised her head and looked at me and smiled. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking," she said in a clear voice strong. "I didn't mean to disturb you, grandma, but you were just sitting here staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were OK," I explained to her. "Have you ever looked at your hands," she asked. "I mean really looked at your hands?" I slowly opened my hands and stared down at them. I turned them over, palms up and then palms down. No, I guess I had never really looked at my hands as I tried to figure out the point she was making.

Grandma smiled and related this story: "Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, how they have served you well throughout your years. These hands, though wrinkled shriveled and weak have been the tools I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life. "They braced and caught my fall when as a toddler I crashed upon the floor. They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. As a child, my mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots. They held my husband and wiped my tears when he went off to war. "They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent. They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn son. Decorated with my wedding band they showed the world that I was married and loved someone special. They wrote my letters to him and trembled and shook when I buried my parents and spouse. "They have held my children and grandchildren, consoled neighbors, and shook in fists of anger when I didn't understand. They have covered my face, combed my hair, and washed and cleansed the rest of my body. They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken,dried and raw. And to this day when not much of anything else of me works real well these hands hold me up, lay me down, and again continue to fold in prayer. "These hands are the mark of where I've been and the ruggedness of life. But more importantly it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when he leads me home. And with my hands He will lift me to His side and there I will use these hands to touch the face of His Son Jesus........I will never look at my hands the same again. But I remember He reached out and took my grandma's hands and led her home.

When my hands are hurt or sore or when I stroke the face of my children and husband I think of grandma. I know she has been stroked and caressed and held by the hands of God I, too, want to touch the face of God and feel His hands upon my face. ~ Author Unknown





Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Tombstone Tuesday~




Probst

John A.                 Virginia L.

1897 - 1967         1895 - 1966

Husband                   Wife


Photo privately held by Gini (address for private use,) San Diego, CA 2008



My great Aunt Virginia Lee Ijames b: 05 Jan 1895. Owensboro, Daviess, Kentucky. Married John Adam Probst 25 Mar 1925. d: 24 June 1966 in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky.



I never had the opportunity to meet her but from what I understand, she was quite a lady. She was a chef on ships. I finally found her in the 1930 "Crew of Vessels" Pittsburgh, PA Census Report, I did the happy dance! This photo which a genealogy friend, Rachel found for me, I cannot take credit for and the Census report I found are the only two items I have for her. My Aunt Virginia located a few photos of her recently, now I know what she looked like, (another post). I am slowly learning more about her. My Aunt Virginia and I were named after her.



Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Sort of Wordless Wednesday!

The Hardinsburg, KY Court House

Photo taken April 2008 on my first Genealogy trip. Hardinsburg, KY
Photo privately held by Gini (address for private use,) San Diego, Ca 2008

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Tombstone Tuesday







My Great Great Grandfather and Grandmother - John Henry TABELING b: 4 Dec. 1832, Born in Prussia, Germany, d. 1 Aug. 1883. Augusta b. 16 Feb 1841 in Prussia, Germany, d. 1898. Settled in the little towns of McQuady and Cloverport, Kentucky.

They are buried in the old "Old St. Mary of the Woods" cemetery in McQuady, KY. It's an old cemetery that was not taken care of and overgrown with weeds. Old St. Mary of the Woods Catholic Church just down the road is now caring for it and it's such a beautiful little cemetery.

I still have a lot of research to do on their lives. I have limited information but have found them both in an 1880 Census. With the help of Mary Ruth Bye and Karen Schafer (Karen is an Archivist for the Hardinsburg Court house) led me to Sister Mary Agnes at the Old St. Mary of the Woods Catholic Church. I called Sister Mary Agnes and she was so helpful, we exchanged email addresses. She said that when we arrive there, to find her and she would help us.

Our family drove from CA to KY last April to meet my Aunt Virginia, we then rented a van and all drove about an hour and a half from Louisville and hunted for this cemetery. When we arrived at the church, I found Sister Mary Agnes who was more than happy to guide us. She hopped in the van and took us to the cemetery that was down this little one lane road and back behind trees.

There is a new "Old St. Mary of the Woods" cemetery right across from the church, that cemetery also holds several of my TABELING ancestors. The church is very historic and my ancestors were regular parishioners (another post on the history of the church later). This was my first Genealogy trip and a great start towards research on my TABELING line.

Photo Privately held by Gini Webb (address for private use).

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Suddenly Sunday!

I had every intention of posting yesterday...I opened up my laptop, logged on and then life got crazy around the house. Working full time, my weekends are attempting to catch up and getting ready for the new work week! My daughter and two grandchildren are living with us temporarily and along with that are two cats, at the moment two dogs (she is babysitting a friends dog). Our dog Koda was sick and ended up at the vet and our grandson Ethan wasn't feeling well so he was at the Dr.'s! We were all running around like crazy people, laundry, grocery shopping and on and on! Needless to say there just is not enough time to get it all done.

My original post was going to be about our Neighborhood. We had dinner with our dear friends and neighbors Claire and Brian last night After dinner we watched a movie just hung out... which brings me to my point: We live in a cul-de-sac and have a wonderful neighborhood. We have been living in our home now close to 21 years. My daughter grew up here and now my grandchildren are growing up here. In the past we have tried to get together regularly with all the neighbors (about 7 or 8 families). We will all put our chairs in the center, pull out the BBQ's and hang out, catch up and have a great time. The kids can run around the neighborhood, play and be safe. We watch out for each other and help each other out. When someone needs something, one of us is their to help. When we had the Cedar Fires, we all really pulled together and stuck together at our local Wal-Mart parking lot in our Motor homes. It's a great neighborhood to live in and to have all of our kids grow up in.

When one of our descendants decide to pursue and continue our family history (I am pretty sure I have my granddaughter hooked, I am getting her started!), census reports will reflect all our great neighbors and they will remember our good times and wonderful memories. Now I understand why its a good idea to check into the neighbors on census reports to learn more about our Ancestors.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Getting Organized

I know that I am coming in a bit late but better late than never as they say. As I stated in my "First Post" yesterday, I am fairly new to Genealogy compared to many of you and very in-experienced. Although I am new, I have aquired birth certificates, death certificates, news articles, lots of papers and photos! My Mom gave me a box of photos a year ago Thanksgiving that I still have not been able to tackle. There is a ton of great photos from Germany of my beautiful Mom and Ancestors. I had quite a bit coming at me fast and so now I have the "piles" that need to be organized.

I met my Aunt Virginia whom I was named after for the first time 1 year ago in August (over the phone). She lives in Kentucky, we didn't know about each other (found her in the beginning of my research - another post!) and she has given me so much information about my EIMES line (my father, her brother, John Adam EIMES 27 Dec. 1931 - 14 Jan 1997) whom I had never met! Then I made a Genealogical trip to KY, I met my Aunt and came back with lots of great things. We still talk twice a week and have grown very close. I need to organize that line too!

So I have decided that I am going to follow Dear Myrtle's "Finally Getting Organized...January 2009 Checklist" and get it all together. I use the binder method and love it, it works for me. The more organized I am the better Genealogy blogger I will be! I love to be organized. Elyse's blog has great tips too, thank you Elsye!

So Dear Mryt has inspired me and I look forward to following her plan and getting organized.
Thank you Dear Myrtle....

Thursday, January 15, 2009

My first post!

This is my first post and I am excited, it took me a long time to get the nerve up to do it! Had it not been for Mysteri at Heritage Happens and all of her help and support I would still be checking out everyone else's blog and staying behind the lines...Thank you Mysteri for everything, you have helped me more than you know!



A little about myself: My given name is Virginia, my nickname is "Gini" pronounced Jeannie. It really came in handy for my blog title and other areas of Genealogy! I was born in Germany and came here by ship when I was 3, I have alot of wonderful family history.



I have only been doing Genealogy for about a year and am very new to blogs, only a few months. I have alot to learn and am very excited about it. I am looking forward to retirement so that I can spend as much time on researching, and blogging as I want! It will be hard to keep up with all the genea-bloggers, I work full time and have a pretty busy life so I may not be able to post daily, it will be fun trying though!



My direct lines are: IJAMES/EIMES (my grandfather changed the spelling!), HAF, SAULE, JARBOE, TABELING. On the Eimes side we have gone back to 1120 with the help of a relative in Ohio: Roberta Iiames, she has been an incredible source. I have come along way in just a year and I know it's going to be an exciting journey ahead. I look forward to hopefully being a part of the Genealogy Blog world!