It was a simple, everyday act that brought back a flash flood of nostalgia.  Funny how such things always seem to take me by surprise.  I fixed myself coffee after dinner and put in some new flavored creamer.  I usually take my coffee black so the creamer made it very pretty -- and immediately reminded me of Mom.  Coffee with just cream is how Mom liked her coffee.  So I've been thinking of Mom tonight.

I found some pictures that reminded me of the things that seemed to make Mom "Mom" to me.

I really like this picture.  Sitting on the back stoop and hanging out in the backyard are fond memories.  You can see her beautiful nails and I imagine there's a cigarette in that other dropped hand.  Chris and Kathy are looking pretty happy here and Mom seems very relaxed.  And she should be I suppose.  Three married children, a couple of grandchildren...life was good I think.

Classic Mom.  Surrounded by her favorite things---her chair, the dog, her youngest, nice big pic of the first grandchild.  I also noticed the identical set up on the table--two coffee mugs with 2 ash trays.  Did she knit that sweater for herself?

Around the card table.  Those games make for very fond memories.  Look how happy everyone looks!

As I was writing this, we received horrible news about the death of a young adult in our lives.  Please go hug your kids and tell them you love them.  Right now.

Happy Anniversary Blog!

It's the fourth anniversary of this blog--doesn't really seem like that much time has gone by.  I'm a little time disoriented this weekend for a couple of reasons.  First, of course, is the time change (thank goodness those clocks have been turned back--my body was aching for it).  Another factor is that it feels a little bit like "Empty Nest Take 2" since Kathy moved to her own place this week!  I'm very happy for her and expect that the new job and apartment will help get things back to something more normal for her.

But perhaps the biggest reason the the time disorientation is that I've just finished a book that Brenda loaned me called What Alice Forgot.  It's about a woman who gets knocked in the head and loses the memory of the last 10 years of her life.  In that 10 years, her children were born and she separated from her husband.  But she is living life as it had been 10 years prior when she was newly pregnant with her first child.  Brenda gave me the book yesterday and I finished it today.  I haven't done that in ages--no book has attached itself to me like that in a long time and neither have I had the "empty" time available to do nothing much more than read.
It was delightful to spend the day in this manner--lost in time.

Ten years ago, we were all still reeling from the Sept 11 terrorist attacks.  We didn't yet know that Mom was sick.  Aiden was a baby.  Amy was in 8th grade.  You get the idea.  Imagine waking up and thinking it was 10 years ago, but your body had still aged!  As with the characters in the book, sometimes we change in that amount of time.  Reading the book, you have to wonder about the person you were 10 years ago vs the person you are today.  Hmmmmm. 

Oh well, guess I'll just go watch 60 Minutes.  That Andy Rooney is a character........what did you say?  Who left the show and died this week?????

 

Seven Degrees of Separation

Maybe you are familiar with the theory that people are separated by only seven degrees in relationships--this is terribly over simplified but applies in this little story.  Hang in there with me.

It's Ryan's 20th birthday today (Happy Birthday buddy) and that also makes it the 20th anniversary of the Perfect Storm.  We all know the story of the Perfect Storm as told in the book and the movie.  Supposedly the book provided the most accurate description of what it must be like to drown in stormy seas written to date. I read it because I was curious since we have ancestors who have perished in similar circumstances.  I don't know if Sebastian Junger hit the nail on the head with that part of the book, but I believe it's generally accepted as an accurate portrayal of the tragic events of that storm.

I was so relieved when the movie seemed to nail the Gloucester culture.  At the time, I was blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding in Gloucester and several hundred miles out to sea.  But the movie brought the event into everyone's frame of reference.  Hasn't the term "perfect storm" become part of the common lexicon?  Now Ryan shares this anniversary with Gloucester in a unique way.

While we were in Gloucester, we met a new Ryan cousin.  Bob Ryan runs the Ryan and Wood Distillery and he is our 2nd cousin.  We share great grandfather William H. Ryan.  William's grandsons included Grampie, Everett (Bob's grandfather) and John (Uncle Jack) among others.  In talking with Bob, I learned that Uncle Jack once owned Gloucester Ice and Cold Storage and Cape Pond Ice (!!) .  As you know, Cape Pond Ice appears in the movie and experienced a rejuvenated business presence as a result of the movie.  And our history includes Cape Pond Ice!!!  I am still researching the exact details but I've found enough to verify at least this much. 

Seven degrees of separation from Ryan's birth 20 years ago backwards to the beginning of Cape Pond Ice! How "cool" is that?

Update from Gloucester

We had a great weekend in Gloucester.  We got to meet and hug the babies!  They turned 4 months old while we were there and they are just beautiful.  They are distinctly their own selves.  Claire is smaller but holds herself up on her legs.  She makes delicate little noises and gestures.  He makes the most expressive "O" with his lips when he is talking.  He's bigger and definitely looks different from Claire.  It was great fun meeting them.

We were allowed to take Julia with us for the morning and we explored a new walking trail.  She's been there with her Ooma and Oopa and warned us we needed to watch out for the goose poop.  She was right.  We had lunch at Stage Fort Park and Julia introduced us to the playground equipment.

We got to spend extra time with Tim at the Elks.  He introduced us to some of his friends and some guys that knew Dad "back in the day".  One guy said they would never have guessed that Dad would become a professor based on what he remembered about Dad as a youngster.  I guess a bunch of them piled into a car and drove to Salem one night and went knocking on random doors.  Can you imagine Dad doing this?  Apparently one of his teachers got some kind of brand new Cadillac that Dad ended up driving around.  No one knew how that happened.  It was very cool meeting some of the Gloucester old timers.  Tim kept calling me his "oldest niece from his real brother".  We were sitting in the corner at the Elks club having our lunch and I could hear Paddy Ryan's name bouncing its way around the bar. 

We didn't see Peter or Kevin but their stories haven't changed much since last spring.  Cathy looks great and Chris' plumbing business is going well.  The weather was beautiful and it was a grand way to spend Emancipation Day!

Stroll Back in Time to Ellicottville NY

Recently I've found some really cool newspaper articles that are helping to fill in the pictures of the lives of our Nevins ancestors.  I thought you'd enjoy seeing them.  It is so COOL finding this stuff and I've been wasting way too time on this--but, honestly it's not wasted and it could never be too much time to find these tidbits.

Marriage announcement for our great grandparents Henry and Caroline Nevins as it appeared in the Ellicottville paper The Post Wed Sept 25 1901.  Notice they were married on a weekday morning. 

John Nevins is Henry's father and our great great grandfather.  I am wondering how innovative this was or perhaps not at all for the time.  From The Post Wed Oct 5 1898.

I love this one!  Mary with the black eye is Henry's older sister.  One of our contemporary Nevins cousins remembers meeting her and says she was a "flamboyant dresser".  Nanny said Mary became an RN later in life and lived with her brother after their parents died.  Sounds like a character I should be researching further, especially as I don't have her death information yet.  From The Post June 14 1905.

And, even though it's pretty hard to pick out my favorite little tidbit, the following is certainly in the top 3:

Christopher Fisher is our great great grand uncle (Julia Nevins brother and Henry's uncle).  Looks like he lost his goose Christmas night and was finally anxious enough to put an ad in the Ellicottville American Union sometime around Jan 15 1862.  Makes you wonder if the goose ran off to join the Union Army. 

Pizza and Wings

I thought you might enjoy these excerpts from Amy's essay about the differences between the families of her parents.  It was written six years ago and, after re-reading it, I have to say my little girl was pretty observant!

On the other hand, you have my mom's side.  These are the Ryans.  On the scale of relatives (not like there is one, but I just made it  up), they are on complete opposite ends.  The trip to the Ryans is usually about an hour (less the way my dad drives bur that is besides the point).  When we get there, 16 people are sitting around, ont he couch, the chairs of the ground and just kind of acknowledge you and go back to what they were talking about before.  "So what were you saying?" is usually our welcome when we get there.  It is a well know fact that my family is expected to join in the conversation when they have something to add.  If we do not, we just sit there and wait until the right time to laugh.......It seems that all the Ryans do is go out to dinner and leave me to baby-sit the kids.  This is not that bad because there are only four children and my brother helps me.

On the Ryan side, however, they almost never make their own food.  It's always "I'll order the pizza." It is not like I am complaining; I always get wings out the deal.

It is amazing how different two families can be and how normal I turned out to be.

I don't really have any evidence of this but I think the Nevins and the Flynns were probably similarly different.  And I feel very confident in noting that the Flynns and the Ryans were VERY different.  And we're all normal.  More or less.....Right?

Whoosh!

That was the sound of summer slamming the door on us and fall rushing in.  Which is what seems to have happened in the last 24 hours or so.  A little bit like Tim going off as a married adult when I still remember being there at his birth.  Sigh.  Seemed like it was only a few weeks in between. 

I put the pictures of Tim's wedding on Facebook so most of you have probably seen them, but just in case you haven't:


Enjoy.  I didn't put Heather and Amanda's album on Facebook because there are kids in those pictures and I don't know how each parent would feel about having those pictures out there.  Yep, that's me....Ms. Sensitive.  What do you mean you don't recognize that?!?!?!

We had a great time in Erie last weekend.  Got to dip my feet in Lake Erie--and I could actually see the bottom!  And it didn't smell--contrary to my memories of swimming lessons so many years ago in Lake Erie.  Now, Amy tells me it's HER Lake Erie.  Her turn--I'm glad it's got a better reputation now. 

We did some shopping and celebrated Jim's birthday at Quaker Steak and Lube.  Just right for his birthday!  We are hoping to have my birthday dinner in Gloucester.  NOT at any place with LUBE in it's name.  And I expect to be able to hug babies!!!  Can't think of a better way to have a birthday.

Birthday shout outs to Jess and Taylor this last week.  Hope your day was great.  Whoosh!