Tuesday, August 21, 2012

F IS FOR .....

F is for FAMILY

Well, that's not a very original choice I know, but it really is for us because we are about to acquire a brand new family! 


My eldest son, at the age of 47, has decided to take the plunge.  He has had plenty of girl friends over the years  and I was quite resigned to him never getting married, so I nearly fell off the chair when he told me!  But we were SO happy to hear the news.
So now we have a ready-made family and I will have a ready-made granddaughter.  Of course we have known them for quite a while and we couldn't be happier.  Such a happy family!  MOTH will do the ceremony. It will all take place in about three weeks and this seemed the right time and place for me to announce it, though of course we have known for several months. The sweet little girl, H, is 11 going on 15, but such a sweetheart and attends a local Christian School.  Very smart with top notch grades.  She is joining the cheer leaders when school returns. (Grandmothers are allowed to boast aren't they?)  Altogether it is a blessing worth waiting for.

Now here's another F:

How about a FAMILY SECRET?
This is something that only I knew about our family, since I was about 6 or 7 years old.  I don't think my brother knew but he died  nearly 30 years ago. As far as I can ascertain no-one in my whole extended family knew, not aunts and uncles cousins etc. until it was revealed at my mother's funeral which was about ten years ago.  

My husband conducted the funeral  and during part of the proceedings included the fact that my mother had had four children.  Everyone there was shocked because they were sure there were only three children in our family, my brother,  my sister who is now in Canada and me.  But my mother had told me when I was about six years old that I had another brother whose name was Geoffrey but he had died a few days after he was born.  This event was never discussed in our family other than that one time when my mother told me.  

Unsuspectingly I told my husband this bit of family history for his preparation for the funeral.  I had no idea that no one else in the family knew about the fourth child. I just assumed that it was one of those topics that was not discussed in those days.  But I discovered that not even my mother's twin sister knew of Geoffrey.  His birth was between mine and my younger sister's.  My brother Michael was the oldest child. 

I quite distinctly remember the moment when and where I was when my mother told me, but we had no proof until my blogger cousin, Snafu did some family history and genealogy.  There among all the papers of information Snafu recently dug up, was the proof that blogger Kaybee (my sister) and I had another brother, Geoffrey.

All of my mother's generation have now passed on so now I will add this:  I'm sure there is more behind this story because I have some other bits and pieces of memories that fill out more of the picture.  But they shall remain a secret between my sister and I out of respect for my mother's memory.

This is my entry for this week's ABC Wednesday project.  F is the current letter.  We are now in the eleventh round of the alphabet and encourage you to join us -- or at least take a look at other entries which are always Fascinating. You will Find many more entries if you click HERE.

22 comments:

Carver said...

I am so happy for you about the new addition to your family. I know it will be great having a daughter in law and granddaughter.

That's interesting about the family history with your mother.

My Dad didn't find out until he was a teenager that his Dad was divorced and that he had another sister (besides the 2 sisters and brothers his father had with his mother). Back then divorce was so rare and his mother's family never knew their son in law was divorced (they wouldn't have approved). His father had moved across country so was very far away from his first wife and daughter with her. My father was able to find them and met his 1/2 sister when he was in his 70s and she was in his 80s. I was with him and met them shortly before my Dad died.

Totally different from your story but it reminded me of it since not that many people in my father's family knew.

Carver, ABC Wed. Team

Roger Owen Green said...

congrats on the addition
we have some family secrets that I'll reveal in time

carol l mckenna said...

Wow! Such wonderful news ~ New family and thanks for sharing the 'family secret' ~ endearing post and hugs to you all and blessings ~ (A Creative Harbor)

Morning's Minion said...

Your son and his soon-to-be family are a very handsome trio. I wish them joy.
So many family details are lost as each generation passes away. I've spent hours searching unsuccessfully for certain facts and dates and names which seem to have disappeared. It would have been so simple to ask questions as a young person when I listened to the stories told by my Grampa Mac and his sister. I didn't ask and there is no one left to ask.
As a novice genealogist I have uncovered a few facts which leave me wondering whether to include them in my files or leave them out, knowing that someone else may rediscover such tidbits later.

photowannabe said...

You have lovely additions to your family. Its exciting and proves it's never too late for happiness.
Fascinating about the "family secrets".
Always love visiting your blog Chris.

Chubskulit Rose said...

A beautiful family history!

Fashionista
Rose, ABC Wednesday Team

Barbara said...

Congratulations to the happy couple (and their beautiful daughter).

Fascinating what events families have in their past that are kept hidden away.

Anonymous said...

it really hits you hard to find out things about your family that turn your view upside down



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MaR said...

Congratulations, what a lovely addition to the family.

Every family has secrets!

F is for...

Reader Wil said...

Congratulations, Chris! What a great news! I can understand that you are happy! I wish you all lots of happiness!
Wil, ABC Team.

kaybee said...

It seems to me that those 'family secrets,' while we are only recently discovering them, were quite prevalent in most families way back then! Nowadays, that kind of thing is very much out in the open!!

Lisa said...

yes, Grandmothers are allowed to boast...all. the. time. She looks like a lovely addition and you're going to have soooo much fun spoiling her! :-) And I think every family has secrets to keep. Your family tree just got a little more interesting.

Shooting Parrots said...

Congratulations on your new family!

Kay G. said...

Thanks for sharing that great photo of the lovely family. They are all so good-looking! I know looks aren't everything, you can tell how nice they all are too.
Also, as regards family secrets, thanks for sharing that too. If there was ever any fame in my family, the National Enquirer would not believe all of it! (Nothing that bad, just very involved and almost seems like fiction.)

Ann said...

Very nice addition to your family--how wonderful for everyone!!!!! There are suspisions in my family too-things I think could be but all of the generation is gone in this instance. They kept tight-lipped their whole lives.
Ann

Hildred said...

So happy for you and your new additions to the Family.

snafu said...

Nice addition to the family, give them my regards. I have acquired a readymade family which have since provided a grandson and a granddaughter who both think of me as grandpa but who came as a package when I re-married. I still await my own children to provide the same.
My mother’s family had a lot of secrets too and they are very complicated. Kaybee has heard some of them. By the way, Geoffrey is listed in one of our ‘gateway ancestor’s’ family tree currently available on the Internet.

Wanda said...

Beautiful new family Chris...so thrilled for you. You son is very handsome and what a lovely wife and daugher he will have.

Family secrets...My great Uncle on his deathbed, told us my Dad's older sister was a half sister, and my grandmother got pregnant with Aunt Nevada before she married my grandpa. No one knew this, even my Dad who had passed on before our great Uncle shared the story.

Every family has those secrets, and some will never be known.

So very interesting.

Lmkazmierczak said...

Congrats on the upcoming nuptials ♫
So sad that your folks had to endure the loss of your baby brother.

claude said...

Sorry, Chirs, I am late.
The family is very important in our life.

Diane said...

Congratulations on the new family - they look beautiful! My husbands family have more secrets and skeletons in the closet! I find it intriguing and want to "dig" but hubby prefers it all buried and not discussed - it obviously a family trait! My family are much more "Heart on your sleeve" types. XXXXX

Terra said...

How wonderful your son is marrying and you will have a grand daughter. We have a family secret too, but I dare not share it, cuz it's a secret!