ABC Wednesday - G is for geneology, generation, Gretchen, Gross

My sister is our family historian and has tracked our GENEOLOGY as far back as the 1400s. With written verification, she has records back to William GROSS, who was born July 6, 1555 in Kelsagh, Suffolk, England. He married Mary around 1578 and he died in 1587 in the same town where he'd been born. He was GENERATION #1 in our geneology. I am now part of Generation #13







Generation #11 was my Grandmother, my mother's mother. Grace Lillian Gross was born on January 29, 1891 in Moncton, New Brunswick.





















She married my Grandfather on July 31, 1917 in the same city.












They had two children, Warren born in 1919 and Gretchen born in 1920. This is my mother all bundled up for winter in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in 1921.

















Now, I may be slighty prejudiced, but I think my mother was a beautiful child and grew up to be a beautiful woman. (Remember my post about when I was in grade 1 and the mothers were invited to observe class in session?)

On the left, I guess my Mom to be around five and on the right around seven. Notice how her long ringlets were cut into the more modern bob.

Here is my Mom with her brother Warren when they were teenagers. I find it interesting how everyone "posed" for photographs and didn't smile much. Maybe that harkens back to the days when the film had to be exposed for a long time in order to absorb the picture so one had to be still or ruin the photo.

Mom graduated from high school when she was only sixteen and then led an active social life, often seen playing tennis at the Vancouver Lawn and Tennis Club.














My Mom caught the attention of a young, locally renown athlete when she was only 21 years old. He began work at the telephone company before becoming a flight instructor for the RCAF and going off to war. They were married in February 1943. In this photo, it is August 1942 and I found written on the back, "Incidently, he's Welsh!"












Mom had three daughters and committed herself to raising us all properly. She became an active member of the local church, played bridge and golf, and also enjoyed sewing, knitting and reading. She was a whiz at crossword puzzles and taught herself Spanish after travelling to Spain and meeting a wonderful family there. They kept in touch (writing in Spanish) right up to when she passed away in 2002.






In 1973, Mom made my wedding dress for me and proudly walked down the aisle just before I did. I was very close to her throughout her life and used to phone regularly and have her (and my Dad) over to visit their granddaughters. As Alzheimers took hold, I would take her for "car picnics" or scenic drives, always stopping at Dairy Queen to buy her a soft ice-cream cone. One place Mom always liked to go was along the Fraser River where I'd park the car so we could look aross and watch the planes take off and land at the Vancouver International Airport. During our car rides, Mom would talk non-stop about her past, sometimes thinking she was actually there, and I let her ramble on, learning so much more from her than I might otherwise had she not been stricken with dementia.

Since I began this post with my grandmother, Grace Lillian Gross (who later was known as Lillian Williamson), it's only fitting to end by showing her with her two great granddaughters - my daughters Jamie and Jaclyn. This was taken in 1983 when Jamie was six and a half and Jaclyn three. My Gramma passed away in August of 1985.

The newest member of our family is Eden Elizabeth Chisholm, born March 3, 2008, to my daughter Jamie. She is, with her brother Noah, in Generation #15.