WE OWE EVERYTHING, OUR VERY EXISTENCE, TO OUR ANCESTORS ..... DAY 9 OF BLOGTOBERFEST

L to R - Judith Amy Taylor (nee Redpath) ... My mother, Amy Lilian Redpath (nee Cooper) ...my grandmother, Ruth Nuttall (nee Redpath) My mother's sister, my aunt.

My mother Judith Amy, with her mother Amy Lilian.

Amy Lilian

William Andrew Redpath, my mother's father, my grandfather

Judith Amy and Amy Lilian

Amy Lilian, William Andrew and Judith Amy (the baby in the pram)

I am loving Blogtoberfest and all the new people and Blogs that I am finding out there. Inspiration is coming in from all directions and I'm enjoying it more than I can say. Posting on my Blog each day has come more easily than I thought that it would.

*********

Malachi 4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers .....

William Andrew Redpath and Amy Lillian Cooper married in 1937 on my grandmother's 20th birthday and my mother was born the following year. Five years later my Auntie Ruth was born. I love the photo at the bottom of the photos with my grandparents pushing the pram with my mother in it. Both so stylishly dressed, they are obviously out for a stroll with their brand new daughter.

My mother tells me that she was always beautifully dressed ..... if she got so much as even a small mark on her clothes her mother would change her into a new set of clothes. Amazing!!

My grandfather William served in the Navy and I love this photo of him in his uniform. This photo was sent to my grandmother and the wording across the bottom of the card reads "Yours ever, Bill." Many of the photos that I have are of my grandfather in various parts of the world with the mates that he served with.

Sadly for my mother her parents separated when she was approximately 14 years of age. It was difficult for both my mother and her sister. Divorce is never easy for anyone and they were no exception. Sadly too after their parents separated and divorced my mother never really had contact with her father. I know that my mother grieved for her father and was very sad that he never sent her cards for birthday's or Christmas. It was not about presents for her, but rather about the fact that he never acknowledged her. I know for her the hurt ran very deep for a long time. My grandfather re-married after his and Amy's divorce and it would seem that his new wife for whatever reason did not want him to have contact with his previous family. There are also feelings of sadness on my part for the fact that I never knew my grandfather, but also because of how this affected my mother and her sister.

All I know about my grandfather is from photos and what my mother told me. The one memory I do have of him is somewhat vague .... I remember a man coming to see me, giving me a hug and kiss and telling me he was my grandfather. I was taken back. Here was my grandfather hugging and kissing me and I had none of the feelings of attachment that are expected with grandparents you have grown up with. I don't remember ever seeing him again. I do know however, that at some point prior to his death, my mother made contact with her father. I feel certain that my mother forgave him at that point for what he had done and the lack of his presence throughout her life.

Before my grandfather passed away my mother went to see him in Hospital and I know that was a very healing time for her. She was able to see her father and they shared their feelings. I find the death notice that my mother put in the paper both very poignant and touching considering how easy it would have been for her to have feelings of hate towards her father.

****

We owe everything, our very existence, to our Ancestors, and yet we know next to nothing of them because mostly their lives were so humbly recorded. It is good that we seek to expand our knowledge of their lives so that we may better understand our own.

****