Who Needs Facebook?

I was so surprised to find Weenie on Facebook!  I don't think many people my age can say they found their grandfathers on a social networking site.  Made me wonder what Weenie would have thought of Facebook.....I expect he would have taken it in stride the way he seemed to do with everything else.  At least, that's how it appeared to my young eyes. 

But social networking has been active for ages and ages.  Remember the party line we had on Dennison Road?  That seems to me to be the ultimate precursor to Facebook.  You were connected to others (although not entirely by choice) who could monitor your activities anonymously by listening into the phone conversations.  Facebook stalking in its infancy.

Local newspapers, though, take the cake for hotbeds of social sharing.  You would never find such enlightening and entertaining information today in newsprint (if you can even find newsprint at all).  I am very grateful for such news flashes as they help build a more robust picture of our ancestors and their lives.

John Nevins is our great great grandfather (Henry's father).  This appeared in the Ellicottville Post Wed Oct 5 1898 and brings to mind the gigunda wind turbines they are bringing into Gloucester these days.  Everything old is new again.

Mary is Henry's next oldest sibling.  This appeared in the Ellicottville Post Wed June 14 1905 and pre-dates the All American Girls' Professional Baseball League ("There's no crying in baseball!") by nearly 40 years.  Nice that everyone in town knew about the black eye.

So, just to prove this stuff didn't just happen in Western New York, this is from the Boston Daily Globe Aug 2 1920.  Mrs. Ida Ryan, aged 27 and good-looking was the wife of Richard Ryan (Grampie's brother).  This would have been Dad's aunt.  All of 4'7" and 85 pounds, she could have blown into the harbor, but apparently she eventually returned home.  I do not yet know "the rest of the story" but there are all sorts of implications in this article:  "Quarrels with parents or relatives, anxiety to dress in better fashion that their pay envelopes will allow, love affairs, unrest and plain wanderlust are given by the police as primary cause in most cases".  Sometimes I wonder if we've really come very far in cases where young women disappear.
**I have just discovered that Ida Ryan was owner/manager of a tea room by 1940**  I hope she was happy.

Such articles don't appear anymore, but I wonder if those Facebook posts will be available to our descendants?

News Flash! Weenie's on Facebook!

Not even kidding.  Here's the link but if it doesn't work, go to Olean NY fan page on Facebook and look for the St. Bonaventure Football Album.  He's the first picture in there--our own leatherhead!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150930988806638.401500.265586096637&type=3


This is just hard to swallow.  You can find the coolest things just wandering around the internet without specific purpose.  Can't wait to retire and do this full time.

The Fredonia Censor Forestville Personals

Despite appearances to the contrary, I have not abandoned this blog.  The heart has been willing and I don't really have a good reason except to say it is not because I've lost interest.That is definitely not the case.  As soon as I can figure out how to transfer the nearly complete (and genius) blog entries that I compose as I'm driving to this screen, you should hang on to your hats!  There are no fewer than a dozen complete entries floating around inside my head that can't seem to find their way to my fingers at the appropriate time.  

One day when I was fooling around (searching professionally and with great purpose), I came across The Fredonia Censor November 8 1956 because it mentioned Dad and Forestville in the same article.  I was very intrigued to find this listing:

This seems to say that Dad lived in Forestville when I was born.  Well, I assume Dad lived there while Mom lived in Olean because I am quite certain "we" lived in Olean when I was born.  I think perhaps the Ellicottville job and living arrangement was not the first time Dad lived separately from his family for the sake of work.  I guess I did not put together that Dad worked in Forestville the year I was born even though "we" lived in Olean.  I am constantly surprised by the new things I learn about what I thought I knew very well, thank you very much.

A little further down the page was another tidbit:

This one did not surprise me one bit.

We visited Amy this weekend.  It's been too long since I've put my arms around her.  The weather wasn't too pretty on Sunday so we went shopping at the outlets.  On Monday we got a tour of the zoo -- always a treat.  We stepped into some new territory when Amy offered to pay for our meal.  I was reluctant to allow it but quickly remembered how I felt the first time I paid for Mom and Dad's meal.  It made me feel so grown up and responsible.  It puts that parent/child relationship onto a new plateau.  So, Miss Amy, thank you for breakfast!  We love you.

I don't know how this happens, but it seems the same with Ryan.  You probably know he recently got a tattoo and I expect you know that Jim and I aren't really in favor of that for our children.  But it's one of those times when parents need to allow their children to make their own decisions complete with the knowledge that Mom and Dad aren't on board.  This relationship also has reached a new level.  I now have (nearly) grown up children.  Sigh.  

When they were very young, moving from one developmental step to another always brought joy at the same level as wistfulness.  So I find myself sighing heavily with a slight smile on my heart.

Nostalgia for Silver Creek

Something about the first part of fall makes me very nostalgic for Silver Creek. This year, the wistful remembrances are in sharper focus due to (of all things) Facebook coverage of the recent reunion held during the Grape Festival.  It was meant to be a reunion for all 70's alumni and I was kind of tempted to go but chickened out.  It's hard not to kick myself a little bit about that decision now that I'm seeing the pictures on Facebook.  I can't believe how many faces I recognize!!!  I did not expect that at all.  It isn't that hard for me to recollect the names, but to be able to identify faces after 40 years surprised me quite a bit.  I'll bet you would know the names if not the faces too.

The Grape Festival was a lot of fun but I don't think it was in existence for too many years before we moved.  I wonder if they still paint the curbs purple?  One of the events of the reunion weekend was held in the theater where Mom allowed me to see Romeo and Juliet after Jean told her it was suitable, though I don't believe it's a theater any more.  I barely recognize the pictures inside or outside the school.  Our principal Alvin Crowe was even at that reunion and he looks great!

I'll be glad to take a ride to Erie next week to get a little bit of that lakeside landscape, though I do not think I will be able to smell the grapes there the way I remember from Silver Creek!

Mom's Birthday

This owuld be Mom's 79th birthday.  It's hard for me to imagine what she would be like today if we were still lucky enough to have her.  Nanny lived past 79, but it's still hard for me to picture Mom.  There are still times when I think of Mom, briefly forgetting she's gone.  I thought you might enjoy some random favorite pictures that I think tell parts of Mom's story.

I love this one as everyone seems to be having a grand time and it reflects some of my favorite memories of card playing--that's not something my kids have experienced but it's one of my most cherished memories.  This was when we celebrated Nanny and Weenie's 50th.  In this picture, Mom is younger than any of us are today except for Judy!

Amanda's baptism 1983

I love how Mom is sharing something special with Jess.

Matthew's baptism

Great Dennison Road shot.  Look at Chris!

Looking very happy in 1980, though I never really did like that blue dress very much.  Not as flattering as she deserved. 

Classic

One of my all-time favorites.

Happy Birthday Mom.

Take a break

On this last sweet weekend of Summer 2012, I was sitting outside watching the birds delight in their new treats and feeder.  My thoughts wandered to the long-empty hummingbird feeder wondering if I'd be able to find the food mix I'd bought for it.  Then Hummingbird flitted into view!  He wasn't interested in me this time-- more so the food Jim had put out-- but there he was like a talisman called forth by my thoughts of feeding him.  This isn't the first time I've had a close encounter with Hummingbird (I like to think it's the same one) recently and this one felt magical.  It felt destined.  It felt very, very Irish.

Our Irish ancestors were quite extraordinary.  I recently got to watch a documentary called "Death or Canada--Fleeing the Irish Famine".  Intellectually I know the Irish faced hard times in the Famine years (1845-1852) but this documentary put the day to day hardships into sharp focus for me.  Disease and starvation forced Irish fisherman to sell their boats and nets to buy food for their families.  Typhus caused many more deaths than starvation brought upon these families. 

I'd long known that many of our Irish came to the United States through Canada.  Apparently as the wave of Irish immigrants began to overwhelm Eastern US ports, they reacted by increasing the fees owed by the shipping lines and immigrants.  Canada was kinder (read:cheaper). Many Irish took the long two month voyage to Canada because they had no other choice for survival.  Survival. 

I believe Timothy Ryan immigrated during the Famine years.  We know that Patrick Flynn's mother Ellen immigrated from Ireland but I believe this was later, though I'm not certain.  The Pierces and the Nevins came from Canada but each are Irish families.  Even if Ellen did not leave Ireland due to the Famine, she survived the Famine years there--imagine the strength and certain Irish luck working in her favor!

No small wonder the Irish are generally dark and brooding.  No wonder their stories are often fanciful if not outright falsehoods.  They are strong and resourceful.  And we descend from these people.  "Take a break and think about the past" came from this documentary and I think they are appropriate words for Labor Day 2012.

This is a picture of the oldest Irish ancestors that I have so far:  William Sr (Timothy's son) and his wife Kate Bentley Ryan.  I can almost picture Timothy from this as well as so many of the other Irish fishermen and farmers.  I think you've seen it here before but it pays to look again with new eyes.

Happy Birthday Strongheart

Be Kind To Francis Day 2012.  Spoil someone today.  Judy's suggestion is to give yourself a break today. Either way, I'm thinking about Weenie and perhaps you are too.  Although I always understood that we were very lucky in many ways that Weenie was our grandfather, I didn't appreciate it nearly enough.  It wasn't until I realized that my own children will never have a similar experience that I truly saw the blessing it was to have Nanny and Weenie in our lives so regularly.

Seeing that envelope with Weenie's familiar handwriting in the mail was always a special treat.  Here's one I have that appears to have been written while hospitalized with a heart attack.  Although I don't know for certain, the Congrats for Mary Jane at the end makes me think this might be about the time she received First Communion--probably around 1969.

He lovingly refers to Nanny and notes his appreciation at being remembered from his friends in Olean.  How ironic considering the coverage his death generated!  And he signs off "Strongheart", which I can't help seeing and thinking how (once again) he was before his time and the time of "Braveheart".

I remember T.B.I.B.; declaring a dividend; 4-5 and Fat Aunt Marge and loads of other classic "Weenie"-isms.  Do you have any letters of his still that you'd like to share?  If so, let's get them scanned and posted.  This one might be a few weeks after the one above.  It references moving to town so that had to be 1969/70 time frame.

I take great comfort in seeing that familiar handwriting again.  Thank you Strongheart for loving us just for being your grandkids.

A shout out to Ryan Patrick newly arrived at Clarkson!  Have a grand adventure.