My Blonde Hair

I finally got to meet my new granddaughters yesterday, and I'm already crazy about them. They call me "grandma", and I love hearing it. It's amazing how good those two little girls are, and how fast they warmed up to us.

On the way to the zoo yesterday, we had lunch at McDonald's. The youngest wanted to "sit by grandpa". My husband admitted that he nearly "lost it" when she handed her chocolate milk to him and asked, "Grandpa, can you help me open this?". Later at the zoo, "Grandpa" was about 20 feet ahead of us when she took off running and yelling for grandpa. He's so unused to hearing that name that he just kept on walking. So I yelled for "Grandpa". He stopped and turned around just in time to see her reach out her hand for him to hold.

When we'd first arrived at my daughter's, the oldest girl must've been inspecting her new grandma. She was kneeling on the couch beside me checking out my hair. Then she said it. "Grandma, your hair's so blonde that it's white"! Now that's pretty durned funny considering I'm (used to be) a natural brunette and I don't dye or bleach my hair!

I can't wait to see what's in store for us as "Grandma" and "Grandpa"!

I'm a "Grandma in Waiting"

Finally! I'm about to become a grandma to two very special little girls--sisters! My daughter and son-in-law are fostering, then adopting, two sweethearts. I can't wait until the first time they call me "Grandma". As far as I know, they've never had a grandma or grandpa in their lives. That's about to change.

I've already bought a pattern for some summer clothes, along with fabric. Making clothes for little girls again should jump-start my sewing. Years ago, I made nearly all of my daughter's clothes. I loved to sew, but haven't really sewn much of anything in years.

Funny thing about all of this is that God seems to have played a major role in making all of this happen. There's just no way all of this could have worked out by chance. And the oldest girl is the spitting image of my daughter.

I also need to pick up my knitting needles to make a couple of baby afghans. That's because I'm not only getting two instant grandkids, but in a few months I'll be a grandma again--to twins! My "exchange daughter" from Spain has just made the announcement, and as far as I'm concerned, the twins are also going to be my grandkids. After all, their mom was my daughter for nine months or so (and still considered my daughter).

Now if I can just talk my Indian son and daughter-in-law into this grandbaby thing, I'll have grandkids all over the world. I have plenty of hugs to go around--I've been saving them up for quite a few years.

So please, God...continue to hurry this little project along. I have cookies to bake.

Golden Threads and Silver Needles

Lately I've been into doing some research to see how much I can find out about my ancestors. I've been on ancestry.com using my free trial to see how much is out there. I've run across a few interesting things--some I had already found just using a Google search--and some things I have not seen or known. My brother Mike originally found our great-great grandparents, shown above. It appears that Mary is in a wheelchair. She looks like she could just pull a corncob pipe out of her pocket and start puffing away. Both of them look severely malnourished. I can't imagine how hard their lives must've been.

William R. PREWITT was born on 2 March 1847 in Orange Co., Indiana. He was married on 11 October 1866 to Mary HAMMOND who was born in 1843. He died in September 1928.
Mary Hammond was the daughter of Elijah Hammond and Nancy Crook

William R. PREWITT and Mary HAMMOND had the following children:
John Thomas PRUITT
Nancy E. PRUITT
Davis PRUITT
Amanda Caroline PRUITT
Alice PRUITT (Granny Apple)
Elijah William PRUITT
Charles Edward PRUITT
Levi PRUITT

Notice how the spelling of the name PREWITT became PRUITT. Our great-grandmother was their daughter. Her name was Alice and she married Eli Jackson Apple; hence she eventually became "Granny Apple".

Granny Apple lived in Newton Stewart, Indiana--just a few houses down from her daughter and son-in-law (my Grandma and Grandpa Riley; Mary Dana and John Riley). Granny Apple's house was a little one-room home. As you walked into her house, her bed was on the left just to the side of the front door. To the back was her kitchen and I think her little dining table was on the right wall. Granny always had a candy dish full of lemon drops. And her favorite great-grandchild was my brother Mark. That was because Mark had a loud mouth, and Granny could hear him even through her deafness.

Granny died when we were little kids, but I can still remember her very well. The first time I ever saw my father cry was at Granny's funeral. She lived to a ripe old age, and even made my dad a quilt when she was 92.

Depicted in the photo is my dear Grandma Riley, Granny Apple's daughter. I can't recall ever knowing a sweeter woman than Grandma Riley. She was quite a quilter too. And when my Uncle Doyle was near death in early November 08, first he said my dad was in his room. Later he said his mom was sitting in a chair in his room. I imagine both of them showed up to take Uncle Doyle home.

A few weeks ago my cousin showed me the photo below. I immediately knew who the lady on the left was because she's the spitting image of my Grandma Cissell. I knew this had to be her mother--my great-grandma Kidwell. She died when my grandma was 12 years old, leaving behind several children including one-year old Rosemary. Granny Cissell often told the story of how Rosemary took her first steps around her mother's coffin.Knowing my grandma was born in 1898, and she was 12 when Frances Anna died, I figured this photo had to have been taken sometime before 1910. I imagine the children left behind didn't have a pleasant life. My great-grandfather Basil Kidwell was a mean old coot, from what I've heard. He ended up living with my grandparents and their children, and didn't treat any of them very well.

Granny C. is shown enjoying a glass of wine, but her drink of choice was a highball every night--and probably more than one. The embedded photo is Granny as a young girl. Granny outlived all of her siblings. She was 92 when she died. Granny C. was as feisty as Grandma Riley was sweet. I hope when I get (if I get) to be an old lady, I'll have Grandma Riley's sweetness mixed with Granny C's feistiness.

Both of these wonderful ladies helped to shape me. I have Grandma Riley's penchant for quilting and putting housework dead last on my list of things I like to do. And I got my cooking and baking abilities from Granny C. I make my pies from scratch, just like she did.

I sure do miss these old gals, but I imagine right about this time Grandma Riley is using golden threads to piece a gossamer quilt. And Granny C. is having her nightly highball as usual.