100th COG Edition ~ There's One In Every Family ~

On the 21^st day of March in 1933, my grandparents Adalbert Haf (1907 ~ 1968) and Liselotte Kaiser-Saule (1913 – 2010) gave birth to a beautiful baby girl --Elfriede Haf (1933 ~ 2010). That beautiful baby girl would one day become a most loving and gracious mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, that we could have ever been blessed with…that very special one in our family...my mom. 

In daily life, everything mom did was to enrich our home and family life. She was good at so many things and always amazed me. Children usually don’t pay attention to the things that I did, but I always noticed the little things mom did to make my life safe, secure, and full of warmth and love. Mom made many sacrifices so that the quality of our life was that much better.

Mom was born and raised in Augsburg, Germany. Augsburg is a town rich in history that is over 2000 years old. As a young girl starting out, she worked at a dry cleaning service, and later she moved on to be a seamstress in a factory. She was an excellent seamstress and made most of our clothes for years. 

Mom also sang in her Church choir and loved being a part of a high springboard diving swim team. She loved to travel and toured many countries throughout her life.  I have postcards and photos that she collected and saved throughout her travels…that will be another post or even another blog down the road!

In 1957, my mother, stepfather and I,  (he was in the Army) traveled on a military ship, the U.S.N.S General Maurice Rose, from Bremerhaven, Germany to the United States. I know it was difficult for mom to leave her home and start a new life. But the one thing about mom, she was adventurous, strong and very independent! She couldn’t wait to start that new life.

Modern day photo courtesy of Flickr

Once we settled, mom’s very first job was at the Bear Flag Restaurant located within the historic Cannery Row in Monterey CA. As I was searching for information about the infamous Bear Flag Restaurant, I came across this site “Cannery Row Photo Album” by Robert Lewis…I was blown away to find my most favorite photo of mom (I own the original and have posted it several times on my blog) at the lower left bottom of the page! This must be the gentlemen that took the original photo. There is very little information regarding the Bear Flag Restaurant that I have been able to find.

If you are a Steinbeck fan, Cannery Row was the setting for John Steinbeck’s novels “Cannery Row” (1945) and later, “Sweet Thursday” (1954) based on the life and times of Cannery Row.  The Bear Flag Restaurant was based on an actual business…the Texas themed Lone Star Restaurant. Apparently, in the earlier days, the Bear Flag Restaurant was a “gentleman’s” place, owned and operated by Dora Flood (1923-1941)…way before mom’s time. 

When her job ended at the Bear Flag Restaurant, mom started her career at ‘Montgomery Wards’ in Monterey, CA. As I posted in the Bound for Mom blogging mini series carnival, she started out as a sales girl in the Woman’s Fashion Dept. Later she went on to be the first woman to become a District Merchandise Manager in the history of ‘Montgomery Wards’. She continued to climb the ladder to a Corporate Regional Executive Manager’s position and was very successful up until her retirement 35 years later.

How my mom did it, I will never know, she was amazing. We didn’t live in the best of homes when we first arrived but mom always told me, “You make a house a home” and that is exactly what she did. Mom could make a shack look like a palace. She would make drapes for the windows, and along with table linens she had brought from Germany; she made our home warm and inviting. Not only was she good at decorating, she was good at cooking, and entertaining. 

Mom was an excellent cook. She continued to make traditional German meals and deserts in our home. The two recipes that stand out the most for me is her Marble Pound Cake recipe that was originally made by my great-grandmother, Margarete Kaiser-Saule and handed down to mom, and her own German Spritz cookies. It always amazed me how mom would put on a holiday dinner and never stress about it. She just loved doing those things and did it with such great ease. She made it fun and enjoyable, you felt comfortable, welcomed and relaxed. As an adult, I always loved going home for Christmas and I would feel like a kid again, none of us wanted it to end.

Christmas stands out the most ~

Mom would start baking her Christmas cookies in early November.  It’s hard to think that I won’t be having Thanksgiving or Christmas this year or tasting those cookies with mom but she did instill many traditions and memories in me. As hard as it is going to be, I want to keep them going in her honor. I would like to try my hand at her spritz cookies…and pass the tradition down to my grandchildren so they remember where the cookies originated and who always made them.

Mom made Christmas magical, amazing and true to the spirit of what Christmas is all about. One whole side of mom’s garage housed her Christmas decorations and it took her weeks to put it all up! When she was all done and you walked into her home…it was as if you stepped into an old fashion German home at Christmas time. I have never seen anything like it anywhere else.

One of her favorites was her Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Village collection set. She started collecting this village quite a few years ago.  Mom would painstakingly arrange the village in faux snow and bring it all to life.  I could stand and stare at it for hours and I always wanted to just jump in and walk around!

Mom's Christmas tree was incredible. Up to last year, she would adorn the tree with old fashion tinsel from Germany that she saved along with ornaments as old as I am. I did just inherit some of those ornaments and part of the Christmas village recently after her passing away in July. I am going to try and set it up like mom did but it just won’t be the same. Mom would weave over 2500 lights on the Christmas tree! I don’t know how she did it but you never saw the wiring from the lights anywhere!

Mom was a true history buff, she knew everything about Augsburg and it’s history. She would tell me stories about this wonderful city and how you can still see parts of the moat that had surrounded the city during the medieval period.

Also, mom shared the time she was taken from her family for a year during the war and lived with a family on their farm…the beautiful Cathedrals and the countryside of the Alps, she loved her home and was very proud of it. She knew a lot about a lot of things and I loved sitting and chatting with her about Opera, classical music, Germany, and all the wisdom she had. She was a very wise and warm-hearted person. If need be, she would send me in the right direction after one of our talks!

Mom just made our world beautiful and unique. She made such a difference in so many lives that I know, not one single person she touched will ever forget her.  That’s just the kind of person she was, my hero, mentor and best friend. She was an outstanding mother, wife, grandmother, great grandmother, and friend to so many. She taught us by example and left a legacy of love. It is with her that I learned the blessing of life. I am extremely grateful and fortunate to have been her daughter, in her life and to have been loved by her.  

There will be an empty spot in our home and hearts this holiday season…it’s hard to want to celebrate but I want to do it for her and in her honor…I know she would want it that way. 

Mom will be dearly missed and your daughter, the keeper of our memories, will always keep your memory alive...you were the one. 

This post has been submitted for the 100th Edition for the Carnival of Genealogy...There's One In Every Family, hosted by Jasia over at Creative Gene. This is Jasia's 100th Edition!

Thanks to Flickr for photo of the Bear Flag Cannery Row Building

and Google Images for the City of Augsburg.  

All other photos are originals and owned by Gini Webb

Give Their Face A Place ~ 21st Edition of Smile for the Camera

My decision to honor my mother, Elfriede Haf and my maternal grandmother, Lieselotte “Oma” Haf, the women in my history, was not difficult at all. Both of these women have made such difference in my life as well as in so many others lives. This is a great opportunity for me to share their history and for them to see what a positive influence they continue to have in our family.

My Oma has lived thru some very difficult times in her lifetime. She never knew her father and sadly that missing piece from our family line is a link none of us will probably ever know about. When she was very small (unknown dates) her mother, my great grandmother Margarete Kaiser met and married, Peter “Opa” Saule. Opa adopted my Oma, changing her name to Lieselotte Saule, she would later marry Adalbert Haf. My Oma is 96 years old and still lives in Germany.

1933 in Augsburg, Germany my Oma gave birth to my beautiful mom, Elfriede Haf. In 1940 Oma gave birth to my twin uncles, Adalbert and Helmut, they have both since passed, strangely enough from the same illness, 10 years apart. This was very difficult for my Oma to endure.

In1944, during WWII, the bombing increased in Augsburg to it’s heaviest period. All school children were evacuated, separating my mom and other children from their families for a year. The children were transported to farms and villages for their protection. Mom remembers how much she missed her family, wondering when she would see them again or if they even survived the bombings. Oma and the boys were taken to air-raid shelters where they remained safe. Many homes were destroyed during the bombings, however, my Oma's home survived with minimal damage. Mom remembers the day her father came to take her home; transportation was no longer in effect due to the advancing invasion; they walked from the village to Augsburg taking a day and a night, a time she will never forget!

Oma has always been so close to my heart, she is the one that started me on hot peppermint tea when my tummy was upset...she’s also the one that let me have sips of ‘Blackberry Schnapps’ and German eggnog! She always made sure that she would send me German goodies every Christmas, once mom and I came to the United States. Oma made a major difference in my life and gave me strong German roots.

Once here in the United States, there was no holding mom back! In 1958, mom started working for Montgomery Wards in Monterey, California. This was the start of a lifelong career in Women's Fashions and she was darn good at it too! Mom was also an excellent seamstress and made all of my clothes for many years.

In 1960, mom was transferred to the San Jose Montgomery Wards Department Store, where she climbed the ladder of success quickly. She was the first woman ‘Merchandise Manager’, and then she was recruited to set up the Western Region on the ‘Computerized Merchandise Replenishment System’. Mom was then promoted to the first woman’ District Merchandise Manager’ and then on to the first woman ‘Regional Manager', directing 41 stores. At one point mom was the ‘Merchandising Director’ for the Central and Northwestern region, which is Northern California, Oregon and Washington, while simultaneously raising me. I don’t know how she did it, but she was always there for me, the best mom in the world. In 1990 she was transferred to the Southern Region, entailing the Southern California and Nevada area, until 1994.

I remember her having to travel quite a bit between New York, Chicago and various parts of the United States, I was grown and on my own at that point.

Mom always lovingly referred to Montgomery Wards as "monkey wards"!

Mom retired in 1994

~ Here's to giving your Faces a Place, Mom and Oma, the women in my family history ~

 

The word prompt for the 21st Edition of Smile For the Camera is "Give Their Face A Place." March is Women's History Month and you are asked to picture women back into history. The unknown, known and unsung women who are often the foundation of our family history. Give Their Face a Place. The interpretation is yours.

This was written for the 21st edition of Smile for the Camera: Give Their Face A Place, to be hosted by footnoteMaven and celebrate woman back into history.


                                                                     

School Days ~ Smile for the Camera 17th Edition

Smile for the Camera 17th Edition ~ School Days submission hosted by FootnoteMaven at Shades of the Departed




Well I hunted high and low for a school photo of an ancestor - none to be found. So I am going to share the tradition we have put in place here at home.



It started with our first grandchild, Emma. On her first day of Kindergarten, we would have her stand at our front door (our grandchildren and my daughter live with us) in her brand new outfit and have her picture taken. Each year on the first day of school she would stand in the same spot at the same front door and have her picture taken! She just started 5th grade! Her brother Ethan just started Kindergarten, the tradition is continuing with him! My daughter has not downloaded the photos so I don't have them to post. I think it's a great way to see how they have grown, and the outfits they chose to wear! All of our girls are adopting this tradition with their children.



I have shared this with other grandparents and parents alike - I always get the comment, "What a great idea!" It really is.



As I was checking out other blogs with School Days Submissions, I see that Lisa Jarvis had the same idea and posted them on Shades of the Departed, I love hers and the scrapbook she put together, another great idea.