Mary Jane on her 52nd birthday

Wow!  That looks weird, right?  Mary Jane would have been 52 today.  As always, I am thinking of her on her birthday.  As I was contemplating her upcoming birthday earlier this week, I realized that bringing Mary Jane to mind no longer automatically starts the teary eyes going.  I find myself smiling more often than crying when I think of her.  I'm OK with that.  It took a very long time for me to get there and it's not that I don't miss her, but I guess it's taken all these years to process it.  I suppose it could also be part of my new (retired) stage of life but I'd prefer to think it is just a normal part of processing the loss. 

Here are some pictures you may not have seen recently:

I really like this picture.  Makes me miss Weenie too.

Another classic in the collection.

Taylor napping with Mom

Mary Jane with flowers growing out of her head.

Anyhow, cheers to Mary Jane.  We'll be going to Gloucester for the Easter weekend, which has become our tradition so Happy Easter to you all as well.  I hope it will be springlike wherever you are.

Longing for Gloucester

Ahh......I think we all relish any time we get to spend in Gloucester.  For me, there's an undeniable pull drawing me back there again and again.  Lucky for me, Jim loves it as much as I do.  Easter is approaching and it has been our tradition to spend it in Gloucester with that branch of the family.  This year we will only be able to be there for 2 nights and I wondered briefly if it was "worth it" for only two nights.  I got quite spoiled by the two week visit last fall.  Then I realized that keeping up the family tradition outweighed my disappointment in spending such a short time there.  After all, it only takes a few deep breaths to suck that sea air fully into your lungs as you turn your face to the wind coming off the water.  Ahhh.....

This You Tube video  appeared on the Good Morning Gloucester Blog.  If you love Gloucester and you haven't checked this out yet--you should bookmark it today and check it often.  I love listening to the podcast as well just because I miss hearing the accent and the general outlook on life so typical of Gloucestermen.

Here are some of my Gloucester scenic pictures and I hope you'll just enjoy the scenery and reminiscing about past trips--most of the epic:  Uncle Tim's wedding, Cathy's wedding, family reunion.  I am so looking forward to my next long term visit!.

Eastern Point Lighthouse and Breakwater

All those ROCKS!

Classic Twin Lighthouses across the water

Rockport holds its own in beauty

Babson Boulders Dogtown

Homie looking for lunch

Brother and Sisters

The house across the street from us was sold recently and the new owner has been harvesting the woods for lumber.  It's been so quiet over there for so long that I'd gotten very spoiled.  The activity and noise startles me nearly every time but I suppose we'll adapt.

It's the sound of the chainsaw that takes me right back to Oliver Street Silver Creek.  I was trying to nap and the chainsaw noise woke me or kept me from falling back to sleep.  Whenever I hear that sound, it takes me right back to my 3 year old self.  I can feel myself in that bed--for some reason it was a big bed--maybe Mom and Dad's.  Chainsaws = naps.  Go figure.

Anyhow, I thought it might be fun to look at some old group pictures for this blog post.  I'll apologize to Judy right off that I have more without her than with her.

 Fella loving on Weenie

 I'm apparently rocking the Popeye look

 There's Judy.  Look at Mary Jane's hair!!  Can you remember how that couch fabric itched?

 Weenie really had a lap-ful here.  He looks very happy.

 Aww.

 I like this one especially.

Yo! Cowboy!!  Paula looks very proper here.

Miss you all.

March 16 26 years hence

To celebrate Amy's birthday today, I thought it would be fun to reflect on her actual birth day.  I plan to share some of my 26 year old memories of those days surrounding her birth and then I will share some reflections from my Spring/Summer 1988 journal.  It might be fun to see how they differ!  You'll have to trust my methodology here.

Memories first:  My first pregnancy progressed pretty much as expected though Jim had planned to take his band to NYC to march in the St. Patrick's Day parade right around Amy's due date.  March is Music in our Schools month so he had taken a group to the local mall to perform.  I went and ran straight into one of our former students who shouted out on the mall "There's Miss Ryan!"  I was just about 8 3/4 months pregnant and very embarrassed.  I think I left.

The night before he was supposed to leave, I made tortellini for dinner and did some ironing.  Not long later, I began to feel kind of sick to my stomach.  This progressed and we fretted the way first time parents do.  I think Jim put his foot down and we called the doctor.  Off to the hospital we were directed.  I was a bit annoyed because I was SURE they were going to send us right back home and I did not want to be "that" person.  We carried a bowl because I felt sicker and sicker.  Jim came off the Rte 17 ramp a little too fast and was stopped by the police.  It was a classic Lucy episode.  Jim told the officer to follow us to the emergency room if he wanted to.  He did not.  They kept me.  Amy was born the following afternoon.

By that time, the band had departed without Jim and I'm pretty sure this was the main subject of the daily gossip wave on campus.  I remember Jim holding Amy watching the parade on the TV in the room.  I remember answering the phone in the room groggily and the person on the other end said "Amy?" hesitantly and I said drunkenly "Yeah...isn't that a nice name?"  The call was for the mother in the other bed--Amy.    I remember they brought another new mother in to share the room and it was a student of ours.  "There's my library teacher!" I heard in my haze of drugs and lingering flu symptoms.  When I came to, I was in a different room thanks to Jim. 

Some memories of that time written in my journal 26 years ago:  Back at the hospital, we knew we were in for it when the admitting nurse said "Another one?".  We were whisked off upstairs and monitored.  It wasn't long before we realized this was the real thing--they didn't send us home! Your dad had to make the calls to tell people he couldn't make the trip.  This, of course, meant the entire school knew what we were up to by this time.  ......I was so sure you were a boy--that's what most everyone predicted.  That--combined with the anesthesia--made me almost forget to ask if if you were a boy or girl.  I was harboring a secret wish for a firl just like you.  I was so lucky.  

And, honest to God, here's the last entry in this journal written the fall Amy had started kindergarten:
You are currently in a phase where you are being very very helpful. You take pride in looking after your brother for me and especially seem to enjoy helping me cook.  The other day, as I was sort of dozing on the couch, you climbed up to the cupboard and set the dinner table with everything we needed by yourself!  I was very impressed.  Now, excuse me--at the moment you two say you are locked in the bathroom.

And nothing more follows.........This probably explains why I still have -to this day- one of those keys for such situations taped inside the cupboard door OUTSIDE the bathrooms....just in case.

Flight 375 bound for Philadelphia

As I write this today, a Malaysian jet liner remains "missing" with 239 passengers.  After 3 or so days of searching, there is still no trace of this Beijing bound flight.  How is such a thing even possible in this day and age?? 

Airplane disasters are statistically infrequent (we are told) yet remain a serious impediment to travel for some.  One thing we know is that they generate a fair amount of media attention and corrective measures when appropriate.

I found an interesting story involving a "non-blood" that I thought you'd find interesting as well.  Thanks to the 1960 media attention, I've been able to fill in some details related to our family's story.  As a side note, the steps I took in this research completely validate the Ancestry.com commercials about following the "shaky leaf".  If it wasn't such a tragic story, it would make a good ad.

Elsie Saunders Supple was 70 years old when she died as her plane crashed into the sea while attempting to take off from Boston's Logan airport in October 1960.  She was apparently on her way to Pennsylvania to see a grandson.  (If you're curious, Elsie is the mother-in-law  of our 1st cousin 2x removed: George Ryan grandson of Irish patriarch Timothy Ryan).

 This is one account of the crash and its aftermath.  It's a little bit graphic so be aware if you read this.  It's interesting to note that thousands of starlings suddenly took off and were sucked into the propeller driven engines causing the crash, close enough to shore that bystanders waded out to assist in the rescue.  This accident resulted in corrective measures to help insure bird related crashes could be avoided. 

Furthermore, this article notes that seat design at the time may have prevented more lives from being saved.  They detached upon impact then rolled forward apparently causing some people to drown.  In my imagination, this is what happened to Elsie.  Presumably seat design was studied and adjustments were made as a result of this accident.

As tragic as it is to think about a 70 year old grandmother dying just a few feet from shore in a plane crash while on her way to see her grandson, it is gratifying to know that positive changes resulted saving future lives.  Our family indeed has been a part of the history of the country and world!

I have some newspaper articles which describe our family members coming to the hospital shortly after the victims were delivered but Blogger doesn't play nicely with Adobe so I can't share it here.  Ask if you are interested and I will send it to you. 

In the meantime, SIGH, I guess we are anticipating some MORE SNOW later this week.  What would March be without some kind of snowstorm?  Jeez.

Happy Birthday Paula!

This is dedicated to all the nieces and nephews's Favorite Aunt Paula!  Happy birthday!!  As I write this, you are prepping for your annual birthday bash--destined to be a luau this year.  I hope you get your lei on :)

The children in our lives are very fortunate to have Paula as their aunt.  I never had that "favorite aunt" in my back pocket the way Dad did with his Aunt Bud.  We lived too far away from Peter and Tim to really feel close to their spouses.  Aunt Jean cau't really fill that Favorite Aunt role either--at least for me.  I never got that warm fuzzy feeling from her the way I would expect to have with a Favorite Aunt. 

Paula goes out of her way to be part of their lives and, believe me, it makes a difference!  Thank you for allowing yourself to be that outlet for my children at least.  You are adored. 

Not only does she live the Favorite Aunt role, she's also one of Walton's unofficial mayors.  You cannot go anywhere with this woman without running into someone that says hello to her.  Walton is lucky to have you in its corner.  Thank you for all you do for the good of its citizens and youth.

Now for the fun part.  I have loads of pictures and it was hard to select just these few to represent Paula's life to this point (note I did note mention a number of years.....).  You have probably seen most of these but I hope they bring back nice memories.

 Paula's big happy smile!

 A real birthday in 1964

7th grade class officer

1973 Benny is a new pup

Following in Dad's steps as cheerleader

North Carolina years

Sisters just want to have fun

With Uncle Tim in Gloucester 2009

Wow.  The 50th birthday.  I hope not to see this repeated tonight. The leis could cause imbalance.

Happy birthday Paula and of, course, Princess Delaney.  We love you!

History Made Here

I had some incredibly great luck recently in the family history research on the Nevins side of the family! 

Many years ago while researching in Olean, I came across a notebook in the public library that contained a number of local biographies.  This was among them and I thought I had hit the jackpot.  At the time, I knew almost nothing about Henry Nevins (our great grandfather--Nanny's father).  This piece of hand-typed onion paper with a 3 hole punch out of that notebook provided HUGE clues for me to follow and I was ecstatic.

But then I noticed a few discrepancies--especially with dates-- and I have no idea how this Citizens Historical Association got its information.  In particular, I saw that Henry's father John was noted to have been born in Canada (not Ireland as I thought) and that he had lived in the Lockport area as a grocer for some time before he settled in the Ellicottville area.    I have searched all these years since for some kind of evidence that John was born in Kingston Canada and lived in Lockport NY for a time. 

And then, almost accidentally, I found it!  New York State conducted a census halfway between the federal census years several times:  1855, 1865, 1875 for example.  I had John Nevins well documented in census and other records from 1860 forward--all in the Ellicottville area.  Until the other night, up popped the NY 1855 census and there was John in Lockport with his MOTHER Mary, sister Catherine and two children that belonged to a brother.  He appeared to be a "grocerman"

This verified what the Citizens Historical Association published and gave me clear evidence that John had at least one brother.  Nanny claimed there were a bunch of brothers, but I've never found them either.

This monument is in the Holy Cross cemetery in Ellicottville.  Listed on the other side are twins Matty and Christy Nevins who died of diptheria when they were about 6-- great grandfather Henry is their brother (and HA--we have twins in our line!).  I've suspected, hoped, wondered, prayed that this Mary might be John's mother.  Now I know it is and I feel like an open book has been closed.  I will presume John's father Henry was dead by the time John found himself in Lockport around 1852.

Some days you are the teflon and some days you are the velcro.  Sometimes things just go smoothly and sometimes they get sticky.  I was TEFLON this same day because I also found John's future wife in 1855 in the city of Rochester--this was a complete surprise.  Julia Fisher, 19, was documented in Rochester in 1855 with her father John, her mother Ann and her brother Christopher.  The image is very hard to read and I can't tell much from it but they are clearly there --ever so close to the Nevins family!  For some reason each family migrated to Ellicottville and that's where history was made starting in 1866 when John and Julia married.

Work hard enough and long enough and sometimes the pieces fall into place.  Ahhhhh.....