1902 and beyond
I've been thinking about my grandfather a lot lately and I'm not sure why; maybe because I'm getting older and am thinking differently, maybe because I miss him or maybe for some other reason I'm not aware of. Maybe for reasons I'd not like to share here.
He passed away before I was twenty but I was fortunate to have him living with me from my birth to the age of seventeen and a half when I moved out of home. He and his wife, my nana, (pictured above in 1925 on their wedding day) owned a large homestead in a small rural town in Australia where I was raised by my parents and sometimes grandparents who stayed in a section of the very large house with us. It was a nice situation as I managed to spend a lot of time with my grandfather and to some degree my nana. She was a stern lady, but loving, however passed away when I was about nine years old so I had much less time with her and my grandfather ultimately became the most important grandparent I had.
He was a clever man, and good with his hands (an amazing wood worker and carver) had musical talent, was an excellent photographer, personable, friendly, an excellent sportsman, great sense of humour, somewhat mischievous and many things besides. He was a good influence.
I'd spend hours listening to stories from his youth, sporting and musical, the trouble he'd gotten into along the way, both world wars which he'd lived through, his jobs and how hard he'd had to work throughout the Great Depression to raise his family, his success and failures, hopes and fears and so many things in between. All the while I was soaking in those stories, the life he'd led and lessons he'd learned which, though sometimes incredibly difficult to go through, had helped him shape life a little more effectively as he moved forward through it. They were good times I remember fondly.
We'd sit at his kitchen table (the homestead had two wings, the smaller of which was his and my nana's complete with a kitchen) and share a cup of the strong black tea he loved so much and a biscuit and I can vividly remember how it'd all start...He'd say, "come over here and sit down Mr. Chips, let's talk." (He used to call me Mr. Chips)
My earliest memories of this were at about the age of four and a half, way too early to be drinking his tea, and the last time I recall doing this was in 1989 not long before he died.
Lately I've been wondering how much of who I am can be attributed to my grandfather and other ancestors and how much is just me.
I think much of who we become comes from the past, those that came before us and ultimately brought us into being, but so much is down to the experiences we have as individuals as well. We have many influences throughout life and when mixed in with our intrinsic selves out comes whatever and whoever we will be and are. Having said that, I am a strong believer in the past, history, and it being a huge factor in how we move forward into the future and therefore I believe the influences gained from my grandfather have been instrumental in how I've progressed in life.
I don't know every detail of my grandfather's life however I know he lived a full one; it was held ups and downs and twists and turns which took him from his birth in 1902 and beyond and I'm confident in saying that he felt content with it which makes me happy. Applying the looking glass to my own I can say the same thing so far despite having vastly different experiences than my grandfather had. There's aspects I'm not happy with of course, I think a person is lying if they said there wasn't, but it's those things that show me there's room for improvement and it's people like my grandfather who have shown me how to make those improvements.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
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It really sounds like a good deal of him lives on in you. There is no doubt he as proud and would still be proud of what you have been through and accomplished. He sounds like a great man and would be someone I would love to have know myself.
He was a legit dude really, some of the stories man, so hilarious, but there were many difficulties as you might imagine through two world wars, the Depression and other general life issues. They were a different breed of people I think, more resilient which is something I have learned from him among many other things.
Yeah, the one grandparent that was still alive when I was born passed when I was 4. He was my paternal grandfather who was born in 1904. All I know of him is from stories from my Aunt and from genealogy research. They were a tough people back then.
The different life/world meant they had to be tougher...I think people should take some lessons from the past as things will get tough again.
I think they will too. Not sure when, but it’ll happen eventually with the way things are going.
That generation experienced many difficulities, and thus had stories. I liked listening to them...
It's good to hear the experiences others have had, helpful.
You're lucky that you were able to experience being with your grandfather. I know you gained more learning just being with them, well in my case I never had an opportunity to experience both from my mom and father side.😊
I learned much, of that there is no doubt.
Yeah.. elders know best.😊😊
I relate a lot to this post and your feelings, I was under twenty years old too when my grandfather passed away.
Hopefully you had some quality time with him and learned a lesson or two along the way which you have used in your own life.
Hi, Galen, You don't know, enraizar means to root in English. It is a small tribute to my roots, to my parents and grandparents. I also believe that we are partly influenced by our past (I mean family) and partly by our decisions. I liked to know a little more about your grandfather, your relationship with him, and how important he has been in your life.
Best regards.
I think it's a very important relationship, grandparents, as they often treat the grandchild differently than the parents treat their own child...There's still discipline and all, but it's different, and that allows a great opportunity to learn and develop differently; that's how it was with me anyway. I wish I'd met my dad's dad but he died before I was born.
I think the same thing, for my part I did not know my maternal grandmother. It was a geberation that lived very hard times and my grandmother died of "weakness" (for lack of food). However her presence has always been in the family, that is my experience, so I believe that the grandparents we did not know are also a great influence in our lives.
I never got to meet any of my grand parents but feel lucky I have a few photos and have heard a few stories. Nothing to exciting but like you say I think times where hard back then. I don't think they died that early it was just both my Mum and Dad where the youngest in big families. You have got me thinking though, I should ask some more questions and document as much as possible because I have just recently become a Grand Father myself.
I know a lot about my grandparents on my mum's side, not so much about on my dad's side though. I've done my family tree going back to the 15th century in England and have gathered a lot of understanding through it...took me a couple years. I've visited places they were born, christened, married and buried (mostly in Cornwall) and I feel more complete because of it. What I'm saying is that I agree doing some research of your own is a good idea.
Well done on the grandchild old young fella.
I have a question, if you can answer it if not... what month was your grandfather born? That would say a lot.
We all bring transgenerational things, it can be from one of our parents, grandparents and it's nice to know that to know from whom we bring things and how we combine them with our own.
In my case I bring from both my parents, a lot to improve and heal and I have done a great process to improve my self. But we learn from it all and that's the beauty of it.
Your grandfather had a great influence, it is very noticeable and that you think about him is very good, they are life processes.
He was born in late February 1902, so he and I were the same star sign. I don't know what that means, but we were much alike he and I.
I don't go by the sign but by a line of months, if he was born at the end of the month and you were born the following month and very close it means they were doubles.
Which implies that you have inherited characteristics and burdens from that person, they can be good things or not, things to be solved, but they are very similar... even I saw it in the photograph.
I think we carry a lot of our ancestors with us, their pain and their wins, it's like it is embedded in us, helping to shape who we are. It's our decision what we do with those things we carry, whether we learn from them, heal them, let them go. But why certainly do lay the foundations of who we are.
I've never had any good male role models growing up, both my grandfathers died when I was very young and my father, went from being a violent angry man, to a silent man, so I never even felt like I knew him.
But in my life now, I have some wonderful male friends.
It's such an interesting topic, what makes us who we are. What influences us, what baggage we are indeed born with.
I love both photos you have provided.
Hope all is good with you xx
I think it's interesting also and as I get older I see in myself things I recall seeing in my grandfather or my dad; things that didn't at the time mean much but hold significance now. It's interesting to see how history repeats and people develop in similar ways but differently to parents and grandparents.
Aww, Mr. Chips :) I see wisdom and humour in your grandfather's face. Just think how much knowledge we would possess if only the wisdom from all generations transferred down to the offspring. It seems as though we lose knowledge of the old ways, even while gaining new knowledge of our modern technical existence. I am fond of the old ways, though this laptop is much more handy in communicating with people the world over lol.
I'm not totally against new technology but feel that discarding the old ways, how to do things for ourselves and not be as reliant on others for instance, isn't the best way forward. I don't think people are necessarily progressing as well as they think: heavy reliance on AI, on pre-prepared foods and items, the easy way to do things, automation and so on. People have forgotten so much and they call that progress. I prefer the old ways.
I could not agree more.
It sounds like he was a really great man! That is cool that you have so many great memories of him!
He was for sure.
It's just that I think we have so many versions of our ancestors who look so much like us, as people who know us Galen, beautiful photos and life story of a lot of experience, and wisdom of your beloved grandfather.
It certainly seems that way.
The loved you shared with them has refused to fade away that is why your memory retains them even though they have passed away for quite a while.
That's a fair comment and a good way to put it.
I showed Smallsteps the wedding photo today - she still doesn't quite get the sense of time in this world, but we had a talk about how different life was. It has been a long time since I have a seen a photo of grandad as I knew him :)
Yeah, I threw in the colour to show the passage of time. It's good to think of him looking like that as he spent so much time in his workshop. It's a different world now than when he was born 122 years ago of course, but good to recall those people from the past. I see small steps in Nana's face a little bit from this photo. Hopefully she's not as stern as Nana used to be sometimes.
I never knew Nana, as she was gone when I was a baby still, but I heard some stories. I have a feeling that Smallsteps isn't going to take much nonsense either.
She was a nice person, just stern. It didn't help that she had dementia at the end either, also that I was only a kid when I knew her.
I remember her and grandad taking me to the circus when I was about five...that's probably where I got freaked out by clowns and why I don't like them now...anyway, I got cinnamon donuts (hot ones) and remember getting the sugar everywhere. She didn't get mad, just patiently wiped it off, cleaned me up, and then later I had another and did the same thing. She helped then too. More patience than I would have had. Lol.
It's funny what memories stay in mind.
That was my first reaction when I saw the photo!!!
I see my mum in smallsteps face too, some photos are strikingly similar.
Wow, you grandfather seemed like an incredible person. From how you described him, it's like he can, and did it all. From your post, I can see why a lot of it seemed to have rubbed off on you. I think he would be happy with how you turned out.
Thanks mate, yeah he was a good person, very down to earth and humble and incredibly generous with his time and other things. He was a good role model to style myself after.
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