This is my space to share my quest to collect as many broken branches as I can in my fractured family tree which resembles a bramble bush more then a proper tree.As I go forward in this blogging journey I hope to share how I have searched far & wide for family - with no regard for where they come from or if I should really want them. You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
For the next several weeks I will post a photo and a brief description.
This new style of posting is due to CMC Arthroplasty surgery on my left thumb.
I will continue with this style until my thumb has sufficiently recovered.
~
In 2004 our oldest found an ad in the newspaper for Model & Talent Search.
He really wanted to go.
I had reservations about the field of acting, and was reluctant to take him.
Additionally I thought it was scammy.
Chris convinced me we needed to support our child in what they wanted to do reminding me he had wanted to be a pilot as a child and his family didn't support him.
He also told me that nothing would come of it because it was scammy, but our child would know we supported him.
The only concern Chris had was the event was during CSI, and he would be missing the episode (this was pre-pvrs so he really did miss that episode).
We went off to that convention with no expectations beyond enjoying a family visit in the city with fantastic hotel discounts.
Our oldest left that convention signed to an agent.
In the weeks after he received 3 callbacks he didn't attend due to already being represented by an agency.
Turns out belief that nothing would come of this venture was mistaken, and now we were committed to supporting however we could.
This led to 3 years of multiple trips a week into Vancouver for auditions where he memorized pages of script to compete with others.
He decided he wanted to have more time for school & friends so left the acting business.
He joined a local youth theatre group where he performed in many productions.
AND continued to receive random cheques in the mail years later.
Head Shot (1 of 4 different ones used that year)
He has a page on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), and was an apprentice with The Union of British Columbia Performers (UBCP/ACTRA).
Not all of his projects are listed on IMDB.
There was this short filming about bullying he was cast as the popular boy who bullied the not so popular boys.
back row right in the classroom scene
On set I had to be within sight & sound of our son due to his age. As I watched all the goings on I realized 'this is where all those school films come from".
He was also a model for an author's illustrations for a fantasy adventure children's novel.
The short film, Shadows, below he was a voice actor in.
His younger brother Child Voice 2.
He wasn't an actor, but the the Director heard him talk while we were waiting for his brother and asked him to join his film.
In another project our son played a child soldier named Daniel in a project with with Matilda Aslizadeh. The film was called Hero of Our Time
Matilda Aslizadeh explained the film:
"Hero of Our Time” (2009), tells the story of a child soldier in a fictional and unmentioned country. In it, the fictional sequences are combined with video games, a miniature model city, an operatic aria, documentary images from the internet, and footage of the location where the fictional sequences were shot, which happens to be the site of a residential school in Mission BC. This varied and layered approach attempts to turn the well-meaning documentary about unspeakable violence happening somewhere else in the “third-world” on its head."1
During our son's emotional death scene I inhaled a mosquito.
The mosquitos were so bad that day. The actors were being bitten so many times that day because crew members had to stop waving them off while the cameras were running.
If memory serves correctly Reace had more than 50 bites that day.
BUT back to my inhaled mosquito ... there are times over the past many years I have seriously pondered what exactly that mosquito is doing in my lungs.
I hope when he thinks about his acting years he remembers the fun & that his parents supported him in pursuing his dreams.
Our oldest had a fan club that included his parents!!!
This is why I search -
Cause ...
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***
For the next several weeks I will post a photo and a brief description.
This new style of posting is due to CMC Arthroplasty surgery on my left thumb.
I will continue with this style until my thumb has sufficiently recovered.
~
This week's photo features a happier time in my maternal family line.
Jack & Amy with their firstborn child Jacki who would grow up to be my mom.
I chose this photo for 3 reasons:
there are wheels on that stroller even if you can't see them
this year was my 11th Mother's Day without my mom
this is an important point in the tale of how my story began
Looking at this young family you can almost feel the joy, and aren't they pretty!
This happy moment wouldn't last - Jack & Amy's marriage would dissolve, but for this photo shows they were happy at one time.
Amy Almeda Bayes
Birth 8 NOV 1926 • Hamiota, Minnedosa, Manitoba, Canada
Death 23 NOV 2023 • Nelson, British Columbia, Canada and
John Robert (Jack) Graham
Birth 7 MAR 1930 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Death 5 AUG 2011 • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Jack & Amy were married on May 28th 1949 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Their divorce was finalized sometime in 1980 after many years of separation and reconciliation (last abt. 1970).
Seeing this happy moment in time!!!
This is why I search -
Cause ...
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025: Week 19 (AT THE LIBRARY)
At the library gives me the opportunity to talk about me!
I have worked in public library for the past 15 years.
Prior to that I worked in social services.
When I went for my interview I was asked "Deb, why the library?" as the first get to know you question as they looked at my resume that included nothing like the library.
My answer "When I was young we moved a lot. I was in five schools in three provinces for grade 3, and three schools in two provinces for grade 4. Every time we moved the library was my happy place. I would love to work in my happy place everyday."
They hired me, and honestly after 15 years I still love the library.
BUT it's strange that the library was my happy place because I wasn't actually reading books when I was there.
I was a late reader.
The peaceful space in a time of chaos in my life was special.
The library was a magical place for me.
When I was almost ten I taught myself to read with Archie comic books.
I struggled with sounding out the words, but the pictures in the comic books made it easier to figure out what was going on.
I remember the day I laughed, and then realized they were funny.
That was the day comprehension began.
The first non-comic book I read was a few months later - the Diary of Anne Frank.
I went from not reading to being a reader.
I remember getting ready for school - drying my hair with one hand, and holding the book with the other.
I was obsessed with reading.
I often read two or more books at the same time.
This is still something I do.
A perfect moment in time - a cat, a tea. a book
When the library is your happy place!!!
This is why I search -
Cause ...
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025: Week 18 (INSTITUTIONS)
Mirriam-Webster dictionary defines Institution as
"a: an
established organization or corporation (such as a bank or university)
especially of a public character financial institutions
b: a
facility or establishment in which people (such as the sick or needy) live and
receive care typically in a confined setting and often without individual
consent …
the testator disinherited her siblings over their efforts to have her committed
to a mental institution in the wake of several suicide
attempts.—William M. McGovern, Jr.
c: a
significant practice, relationship, or organization in a society or culture the institution of
marriage also : something or someone
firmly associated with a place or thing she
has become an institution in the theater" 1
In reading the definition I immediately thought about focusing on marriage.
I then began searching through the marriage records I had for further back in our tree, and found my 5th great grandparents on my paternal grandmother's paternal line.
My 5th great grandparents: John Thomson Birth JUL 1763 • Seggie, Orwell, Kinross, Scotland Death BEF. 1829 • Scotland, United Kingdom and Jean Beveridge Birth OCTOBER 1765 • Portmoak, Kinross-shire, Scotland, United Kingdom Death Unknown
They were married on December 21st 1787 in Orwell, Kinross, Scotland.
As I looked at the registry I took a moment - 237 years has passed, and this record provides proof of my 5th great grandparents marriage.
It offers little insight into who they were as people.
In Scotland these names are common so I have had little success in searching for more details.
I have found quite a bit of information on their son, Thomas Thomson (my 4th great grandfather). He was a fisherman residing in Buckhaven.
The Thomson family stayed in that location - my grandmother was born in North Berwick.
This is my primary reason for searching & blogging - to breath life into the people who came before me.
When you find the documents that make you go wow!!!
This is why I search -
Cause ...
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***
