A Childhood Friend ~ If Only For A Few Short Months

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025: Week 51 (MUSICAL)

Grade 3 was a complicated year for me. 

That was the year my parents got divorced, my mom moved us from Alberta to British Columbia, and then to Ontario.

I was in 5 schools in 3 provinces that year.

I was in my 3rd school when I made a new friend who taught me to play a song on her piano.

At our highschool reunion recently I mentioned how important she had been to me.

She seemed surprised to hear that.

I was not surprised to hear that she didn't actually remember this incredibly momentous event.

In fact I don't think she remembers me at all from that year at South Nelson Elementary School in Nelson.

For her I was a girl in her class that was there for a few short months & then gone.

For me - she taught me something I had never known how to do before at a time of great chaos and confusion in my life.

I felt smart and accomplished after learning to play that one song.

The song was Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo - and after all these years I can still play the beginning of the song from memory even having just had right thumb joint replacement a couple of weeks ago.

At our reunion this past summer, I asked her if there was a small creek between the apartment building where I lived and her house. 

She confirmed there was. 

I shared that I remembered following her over a creek on our way to her house. 

I clearly remember watching her feet effortlessly crossing over that small creek while I followed exactly in her footsteps to avoid falling into the water. I felt so proud when we arrived safely on the other side of that tiny waterway.  

I hadn't been sure my memory was accurate until she confirmed the landscape.

Memory is a funny thing - a random moment in time is so clear & yet other more momentous moments are long forgotten. 

Looking back to the moments that shape us!!! 

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***

Photo & Video:

Personal

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

______________________________________________________________

Handed Down ~ Metal Tea Pot

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025: Week 50 (FAMILY HEIRLOOM)

Last week I wrote about tea parties.

This week I will write about a tea pot I received from my mother when I moved into my first apartment. 

She told me my paternal grandfather had given it to her when she and my dad were first married, and she thought it should go to me.

While growing up I had never seen this tea pot because she had it stored away. 

She shared she thought it might have value.

In all the years I have had this teapot I have never once used it for tea because I wondered if it was made of lead. I have always used it as a decoration.

I am unsure what metal it's made out of, but I am pretty sure it's not lead because it doesn't weigh enough. 

I am also pretty sure it's not silver because I have never polished it. 

The staining inside looks like tea staining to me, but it also might be rust.

 It has no markings on it that I can find.

My guess is it's pewter, and given it's age likely has some lead in it as well.

I have looked online occassionally over the years curious about value, but have never found one like it. 

Keepsakes passed down!!! 

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***

Photos:

Personal

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

______________________________________________________________

Tea Parties ~ Plus Books

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025: Week 49 (WRITTEN)

In 2012 I was taking Library Services for Children with the Community Library Training Program. 

For my final project I hosted a Fancy Nancy Tea Party at one of our local public libraries.

I knew I had planned a successful children's event when a woman burst into tears at the desk after finding out her child didn't make it off the waitlist so wasn't able to attend the Tea Party. 

Since I really have a hard time saying no to tears her very small 4 year old was handed an invitation resulting in one over our planned maximum numbers.

What a fun event:

Story books

Crafts

Activities

Bubble Gum Tea

Cupcakes

So many feather boas, tutus, and tiaras.

You can't see them, but I was wearing lacy socks in Fancy Nancy fashion, 
“Lace-trimmed socks do help me to play soccer better,” 1 

i do like a good tea party.

Tea parties & books are my thing!!! 

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***

Footnotes:

1  O'Connor, Jane. Fancy Nancy. Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser, HarperCollins, 2009. Page 5

Sources:

O'Connor, Jane. Fancy Nancy. Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser, HarperCollins, 2009.

Photos:

Personal

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

______________________________________________________________