Here is Part 3 of Randy Seaver’s Genea-Musings Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge with Alona Tester’s geneameme on LoneTesterHQ.
11. What was something you remember from an early family holiday?
I was always very excited by Thanksgiving and Christmas and usually was awake long before the crack of dawn! That led to an afternoon nap while dinner was cooking. We always had Thanksgiving dinner at home with immediate family. The same was true for Christmas, although the year I was five, we drove to Massachusetts and spent it with my grandparents, but I have no memory of that visit.
12. What is a memory from one of your childhood birthdays or Christmas?
This is an easy one. When I was seven, I asked Santa for a new bicycle. There it was on Christmas morning – a bright, shiny, beautiful, new pink and white Schwinn bike. I couldn’t wait to take it outside to ride, as there was no snow on the ground. I hadn’t planned on one other Christmas morning “gift” – chicken pox! Not only wasn’t I allowed to ride outside that day, I was stuck in the house for all of Christmas vacation!
13. What childhood injuries do you remember?
When I was twelve, my brother and I were in the yard helping my father with spring clean up. It was a beautiful day and I had taken my shoes off while I worked. The grass was a bit high where my dad hadn’t yet mowed it and my brother left an iron rake, prongs up, in that grass. I never saw the rake and stepped on it with my right foot. I ended up with two deep holes in my foot along with several stitches.
I’ve never been a dare-devil and, aside from the rake accident, I only had the usual skinned knees – no broken bones.
14. What was your first pet?
A friend had kittens to give away and my parents let me have one. Her name was Missy and she was black and white. I think I only got to keep her because my nana, who lived with us, liked her and took care of her.
15. Did your grandparents, or older relatives tell you stories of “when I was young…?”
My Aunt Barbara used to tell me stories about my mother when she was a girl. Once I got interested in the family history, my grandmothers and my grandfather’s cousin started sharing a lot of family lore about their childhoods and their families when they were growing up.