An Intermission

I just wanted to make a quick post explaining my absence for the next week or so.  I'm not hiding in a box somewhere, but the movers have arrived so it's time to pack the house, clean the house, get out of the house and sell the house, of course.

The next week or two are going to be absolutely insane with our move to Colorado Springs and then dashing from there to the 75th Cayemberg Family Reunion in Green Bay, Wisconsin on June 10th.  It's exciting, but exhausting.  I hope to get a blog post up here and there, but in case you all don't hear from me in a few weeks, rest assured that I didn't get packed inside one of the boxes without internet connection! I shall return!

But right now, it's time to start another part of life's great adventure, and hopefully find some time to relax...here's hoping.

Wedding Wednesday - Seeing Diamonds

Back in November I did a Wedding Wednesday post for Mr. and Mrs. Eli Dart's 50th Anniversary.  As I looked through some clippings this evening I noticed another clipping and it was for their 60th Anniversary.  That's diamonds, baby!

You can read more about Eli and Edith Dart in my previous post here.

"The 60th wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Eli Dart, Rt. 3, Luxemburg, will be observed Sunday.  They have one daughter, two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren."

Tombstone Tuesday - John Dart

This was one of those tombstones I had a picture of...you know...just in case I make the connection to someone in my tree.  I went to look for a "John Dart" in my tree this evening and do a little research to see if he might fit somewhere, and was delighted to find him right in there already.

Jean Baptiste Dart born July 21, 1813 in Grand-Leez, Namur, Belgium.  Died August 20, 1880 in Wisconsin.

Now if only I had written down the cemetery that I was in years ago when I took the photo.  I swear, I can be scatter-brained sometimes!  Ah well.  It shouldn't be too difficult to retrace my steps.  I'll check on that death certificate too and hope it wasn't left blank.  Either way I'm delighted to realize that I've got Jean  Baptiste's tombstone.  One of the many pieces of information I had filed away that needed to be filed away!

"In Memory of John Dart
Died Aug. 20, 1880
Aged 6(7) years"

Rest in Peace, Aunt Lorraine

We lost our Aunt Lorraine Ryan nee Kuehl earlier today.  She was hit head on by a man that was driving with a revoked license, without insurance and was reaching for his cell phone when he crossed the center line and hit her car head on.  Lorraine was not the only one in the car.  Her sister, Alice, was also in the car at the time of the accident, but Lorraine was driving so she took the majority of the impact.  She held on for over two weeks with injuries that I can't begin to comprehend.  She was a strong and caring woman and she will be remembered and loved always.

Wedding Wednesday - Abts-Gadamus... Gesundheit

Sorry, bad joke, but I just couldn't help myself.  I have no idea where these two people fit in my family tree, or even if they do fit in my family tree.  The names are completely foreign to me.  I'll have to do a little more research, but as of now I'm thinking that it was a friend's child or fellow parishioner getting married.

Still, I've always come back to this article for the beauty of the bride-to-be and the hope that her fiancé came home from war in one piece.

As it turns out, he did come home and lived until 1986.  He was apparently the son of Polish immigrants and served in the Army for almost 6 years.  Florence outlived her husband by nearly 2 decades and died in 2003.

"Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Abts, Champion, are announcing the engagement and approaching marriage of their daughter, Florence, above, to Sgt. Stephen J. Gadamus, son of Mrs. Rose Gadamus, 1159 Day street.  The ceremony will take place at 8 o'clock Saturday morning in the chapel at Robinsonville, St. Gadamus is home on furlough after 39 months in the European theater, where he served in Iceland, England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany."

Tombstone Tuesday - Teresa Villers

You can learn a lot from a tombstone...like the year you thought an ancestor was born isn't correct...or at least you find contradictory information.  We all know that just because it's on the tombstone doesn't mean that it's correct (just like it's not necessarily correct in the obituary, the death certificate, etc), but if we look at all of these pieces of information together we can at least establish a date range to work with.

It's so important that we perform a reasonably exhaustive search.  I know so many people that will take one piece of information and consider it gospel and verse, but you could be wrong.  Track down as many records as you can.  It could help you break through that brick wall!

[Thank you to Rob Watson for taking the picture of Teresa Villers' tombstone and posting it on FindAGrave, and thank you for permission to use the image on my blog!]

A Mother's Day Tradition

Our Mother's Day photo for 2012

Just a short post this evening.  After enjoying my Mother's Day relaxing I decided to share a tradition that we started to celebrate each year.

It was probably in 2007 when we started this tradition.  On Mother's Day my hubby takes my picture with my boys.  What a great way to document their growth over the years.  I only wish I started it earlier.  I don't remember what gave me the idea to start this tradition.  I probably read about it in some parenting magazine, but I'm glad that we do it.

Have you started any family traditions?  Do you do something special for Mother's Day?