52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2021: Week 10 (NAME'S THE SAME)
Yesterday my grandfather would have turned 91.
He died 10 years ago at the age of 81.
John Robert (Jack) (Jacky) Graham
BIRTH 7 MAR 1930 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
DEATH 5 AUG 2011 • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
I never knew him.
He left the family before I was born.
He briefly returned to walk my mom down the aisle for her marriage to my dad.
No one from his first family knew of his death until several years after he had died.
I have written several posts about grandpa Jack which left me pondering if I should write about him again.
I decided YES!
This is my genealogy blog, and I get to decide the rules.
To be honest it's really my mom that I am missing.
It's just a few days until the 6 year anniversary of her death.
Her father's birthday reminder from Family Search last week left me thinking about my mom.
Memory is a funny thing.
I can almost hear her say she loves me to the moon and back again.
I can almost smell her perfume.
I kept a bottle of her signature scent while emptying her house for sale after her death. In the 6 years since I have only once taken that bottle out to spend a moment of time with my mom. I do have to make the decision carefully because I am allergic to mom's favourite perfume.
The sneezing, runny nose and itchy eyes usually stop within the hour!
I can almost feel her touch:
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Top to bottom: Mom, Me, my youngest brother
The special blanket my mom's sister made her |
It's been 6 years since mom died, and I miss her everyday.
I still start to pick up the phone to tell her about something that happened before I remember she can't answer my call.
This year will be my 7th Mother's Day without mom.
I know it's still 2 months away, but I can still feel how painful that first Mother's Day without mom was. In the years since it hasn't gotten any easier. When I was emptying mom's house about a month before that first Mother's Day I found the card I had sent her the previous year. Inside the card she had written "I LOVE THIS CARD" in capital letters. She never told me that she loved the card I had sent her on what would be her last Mother's Day. I am grateful for the message she left behind.
I don't think I will ever stop missing her.
Mom was named after her father.
She is her father's oldest child.
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| Jack's first family (missing 2 sons yet to be born) |
Her father was John Robert Graham. He was known as Jacky as a child, and Jack as an adult. My mom was named after her father: Jacki-Roberta Graham.
Remembering my mom on her father's birthday
It seems this topic is an annual event in my genealogy blog.
I wrote about mom and her father 1 year ago.
It's important to look back every now and again for new ideas and hints!
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***
Links:
Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/
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