Wednesday, October 15, 2008

My Grandmother's Diary

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Another beautiful day here in middle TN. Today I am going to write a little bit of what is in my grandmother's diary. This is my father's mother and, as you can see by the date, WWII was going on. The year is 1945 (one year before I was born) and my father was in the USAF. My grandparents were French Canadian living in Forestville, Connecticut (near Bristol). My grandmother was a faithful Catholic.



Thursday, January 4, 1945



Dear Diary, Jesus, Mary and Joseph may I breath forth my soul in your blessed company.



Another day has passed. Went to Bristol and done some shopping and went to church and made the Stations for all our soldiers and sailors. I just felt so blue about them. Met a poor boy with only one leg and felt so sorry I had a good cry. Dear God please end this war as soon as possible for everone's sake. Watch over my boy and his wife for us and also let them have a child for their sake and ours. Again, thank you God for keeping us and don't forget us.



Sunday, January 7, 1945



Went to church with Dad [her husband] this morning and stayed home all day. Lester [her brother] came up at night and played cribbage with us. It's a lot of fun. I like it better than penny ante. Went to bed tonight and couldn't sleep thinking of my children [that would be both my parents...her son Victor had already passed of leukemia] and what they were doing. I love my Albert and Jackie very much. Goodnight God and please listen to my pleadings. Please let me have my health and strength to carry on. Also watch over my Victor.



That's enough for now. You get the idea. She was a wonderful woman and I wish I had gotten a chance to know her better. I was so young when she died and with us being in the military, I didn't get to see her that much. Have a great day all.



Hugs, Joyce






17 comments:

  1. What a time to have lived, during the World War. Thank you for sharing a little of your grandmothers diary.

    Nice tag, I really like it.

    Monica

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  2. How poignant that is but you are so very lucky to have it. I have absolutely nothing written by any of my family.

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  3. You're so lucky to have a record on what happened with your family. My grandfather just passed away a few months back ... he fought in WWII. We have very little on the experiences he went through. He kept all those things in his head.

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  4. That's so poignant, Joyce. I suspect many of our grandparents went through similar times. My Dad's mother (who died before I was born) had 4 boys in the service, and my Grandpa told my Dad once that she cried herself to sleep every night worrying about them. Isn't that terrible? Fortunately, all 4 went on to have happy and productive lives. It's hard to imagine such sadness and deprivation in these days of excess and plenty.

    Hope you'll put up more of your grandmother's diary.

    Beth

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  5. What a treasure you have. Thank you for sharing :o)

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  6. Joyce, what a priceless find that was. Not only is the diary beautiful but so is the glmpse into the past. I wish my family had some written things but most got thrown away. HUGS

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  7. Great Entry Joyce, such a joy to read thanks for sharing.

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  8. OMG! How lucky for you to have that diary.. can't wait to read more
    hugs

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  9. Thats great yuo have the dairy so I can know what life was like for back then. Thanks for sharing a little of it. Alvia

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  10. Your grandmother would still be saying the same prayer today about the soldiers I bet. alice

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  11. That is such an awesome treasure to have. By your entry that makes you and my Mom the same age! Love your tags in here....I'm with ya on "learning" to upload..whatta bear!

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  12. that was awesome to read of her faith and how it came across in her writing and prayers! she seems like a wonderful woman! I'm so glad you found her diary!

    betty

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  13. Very interesting. I noticed on the page that was open it was Thursday and she said something about ironing. I think here in south texas everyone thought you had to wash on Monday and iron on Tuesday. I think had someone died on Monday my mother-in-law would still have thought she had to wash clothes. Sure they did have near as many as we have now though. Paula

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  14. this is so precious. we are blessed to have gotten a peek into the life of one from long ago.
    Karen

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  15. (((Joyce)))
    This entry brought tears to my eyes. What a wonderful woman---just like you. When my Mother was alive she spoke of the depression as did my Grandma and my Mama (great-grandmother). They also spoke of the war and the volunteering they did. Amazing. People today just don't understand what those times were like. I wasn't even born yet (1964), but I've read a lot about it and of course loved listening to my Mom, Grandma and many other family members talk of those times.
    All this time of knowing you and did not realize you are also into PSP! That's so awesome! I'm in a group that's called A Touch of Class (ATC) and was formally called ATOC. I've been in the group for about 3 1/2 years. I love it. I'm in no way as good as you are with PSP.

    Have a great Friday!
    Huggers,
    Gayla

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  16. Would love the tag "Live in the moment" with BARB on it.
    Thank you for sharing your Grandmother's diary. What a treasure! (Barb..from)
    http://barb-anewbeginning.blogspot.com

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  17. How sweet that you have her diary. What a treasure. I love how she prayed for you to come into their lives. Oh that is the kind of grandmother you would love to know. I'm sorry she died so young.
    Take care, Chrissie

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