Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Wistful Wednesday: June 13

Far Guy’s Grandma Tracie loved a party.  She would be excited the entire week leading up to her birthday.  The Sunday closest to her birthday was the day everyone gathered at the farm and then years later at her apartment.

She was born on June 13, 1895 in Iowa.  Her parents were farmers. She rode horseback as a teenager..I think to visit her beau..(Grandpa).  He was almost six years older than she was.

A short time ago I finished transcribing her diaries from 1912 and 1913. She was 17 - 18 years old.

Tracie and Emma Stuve

Tracie and Emma

She liked ice cream and popcorn, the phonograph, dancing and rides in autos.  She went to “Literary” and music lessons, she liked school plays.  She done up the housework..but never says much about what she did..swept and scrubbed woodwork and washed always on Mondays and ironed on Tuesdays.  She was always sewing a dress for someone. All that sewing she did..she must have been a good seamstress..( She birthed four boys..no little girls to sew for).  She adored her older sister Annie and spent time with her sister Emma.  She loved her brother Fred and liked to go to town with her Papa.  She got disgusted with the cold weather and nearly freezes to death on several occasions..at least that is what she reports to her diary.  She also reports all the comings and goings of her large family.  She was child number ten of fourteen.  She rarely calls her nieces and nephews by name..just Minnie ( her sister) and the kids came.  She helped hay, picked apples and shucked corn. She always wrote what time of night she went to bed…and usually went to bed extra early the next night when she had been out late. She almost always went to Sunday School on Sunday morning and to a Church service in the evening…often as a group with friends..and her beau (Grandpa).

June 13 1912

Fred went fishing.  Emma and I down to Aleck’s, Hazel and Leslie came home with us.  My birthday the kids tried to have a surprise party on me. It rained.  There were sixteen here.  Had a fine time. Got some nice presents.  To bed at 3.00.

June 13 1913

Ironed in the morn. Eva went home. My birthday, got a watch and a centerpiece.  Went to bed at 8.

One hundred years have passed since the first entries in her diary.  I have felt honored to transcribe her diaries.  And sad because I should have asked her more questions. Some days I wish there were more diaries..she married Grandpa in December of 1913 and they moved to Minnesota.  Far Guy’s Dad was born in 1914.  By then she was probably too busy to write in a diary!  ( Grandpa kept a diary about crops and the farm..I have not read it yet.)

Tracie and Emma 1964 By the tree on their homeplace near logan iowa

Tracie and Emma in 1964 at their old farm place in Logan Iowa.

Grandma celebrated many birthdays during her long life.  She loved a house full of family everyday, but especially on her birthday.  I am not sure if you celebrate birthdays or death days in heaven..maybe everyday is a party day.  I hope so..many times she told me that when you get to heaven there is a big party:)

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18 comments:

Gail said...

What a wonderful bit of history. Well told.

rkbsnana said...

Wonderful tribute. Oh the lives they lived. Love the history.

DJan said...

I love Wistful Wednesdays and learning about these wonderful people. We have a huge old suitcase filled with pictures but there's nobody left who can tell us who most of them are.

linda m said...

I wish I had asked my grandmothers more about their lives. They were definitely a hearty stock of people, also a very caring and generous people. Thank you for a wonderful tribute.

Dreaming said...

How lucky you are that she kept a diary as long as she did. It sounds like she was constantly on the go.

Hmmm.... interesting thought about celebrations in Heaven; birthday or death day (rebirth day?) I'll be pondering that today!

Shirley said...

I never knew my grandmas, one died when I was 10 and the other lived so far away that she only visited once that I remember. My parents didn't talk much about their families or their childhood, and we didn't think to ask.
Your Grandma Tracie was right- there is rejoicing in heaven when a new soul arrives; I hope they had a grand time when she arrived.

Nancy said...

Party on, Grandma Tracie!

LindaG said...

sad because I should have asked her more questions

I know exactly how you feel, Far Side. I wish I'd had the sense to learn more from my Granny.

Great post!

Patsy said...

A lovely post !

Beth said...

I loved reading this wonderful tribute to Grandma Tracie. I do hope there is a party when we get to heaven. I am inclined to believe that. The photos are great.

Rita said...

I love that she expected parties in heaven!!

My dad kept one of those five year diaries for years. I snooped in them once. Boring. He was a just the facts, Ma'am, kind of writer. What project he ran at work (he was a lithographer) and what he had for dinner were most entries. Even when us kids were born--it was name, time of birth, weight, and length. No mention of feelings, of course. Well, he's an old Swede and you know those Scandinavians. Did you hear about the Swede who loved his wife so much he almost told her!

Red said...

That was one cool grandma. It's great to have a diary and learn about the life of a person.

Jacqi Stevens said...

I'm with you: I wish there were more diaries. Of course, as I say that, I get smitten with a guilty pang, remembering I haven't been too diligent at making entries in my own! Perhaps that is what blogs are for now...

Anonymous said...

What a great person! Love that first photo.

thecrazysheeplady said...

Is there a BC in the second photo?

Becca's Dirt said...

Interesting that she recorded the time she went to bed each evening. Love the photo's. Huge oak tree they are leaning against. Lucky you that you have this info to look back on.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Yes I believe there is! Thanks for pointing it out! I am always fixated on the small sign behind them on the tree..I wonder what it says:)

Sam I Am...... said...

How wonderful to have those diaries! I so wish my relatives on my Mother's side had written diaries. I journal and have for over 20 years every day but not sure anyone would want to or should read them. I put feelings in them and opinions and I don't want anyone to get hurt feelings after I'm gone. Do you think years from now people will look back at this time and long for it and wax poetic about it?