would this raise your interest???

[fortheluvofpooh]

back story, my mom is 79 yrs old and has one sister whom she hasnt' spoken to in 40 yrs. My mom knows NOTHING of her family history on her fathers side, and in order for us "kids" to find anything out about health history etc she clams up, rarely if ever talks about things when she was a kid, aside from they got a doll for christmas and if they kept it nice then the following year they got another doll for christmas, and that she and her sister did all the cooking as her mom worked, and they split the chores.

SOOOOO I know I just rambled, but today my 4 yr old was waiting in the car with my mom while I ran and picked up groceries, I get back to the car and my dd said I drove gmom around, (she likes to play at the steering wheel when no keys are in the car), and my mom says, yeah we went to California. SO knowing what I know about my family I said to dd "wow that was so cool grandmom has never been to California" and my mother says "YES I WAS" I said "really, when" and she said I went' when I was 15 yrs old" , so I asked "was it a family vacation" she said "NO", I said "oh what did you do there" she said "met people", I asked "you went by yoursefl?" and she said "YES" I tried to ask more and she just wouldn't say a thing.


I am 41 yrs old and this is the first I have EVER heard of my mother going to CA, we live in PA , she was raised in SE PA. NEVER ever have I heard about it and now at 79 she said she was there. UGH. I have got to find out more about this trip that a 15 yr old girl took by herself in 1945.

 

[disykat]

Yes, it would definitely raise my interest. Either she might be getting ready to talk about her life/family growing up or she's starting to have some moments where reality flees. Either one would be worth paying attention to!

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Oh my gosh!! That would totally pique my interest. I bet she was a bit of a rebel! I think I'd have to weasel more out of her on that one.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I wonder if your mom would open up and tell stories of her childhood to your daughter. Or maybe write some stories about her childhood for your DD? I suppose it's a long shot. Have you ever sat down with your mom and asked her point blank why she won't talk more about her family?

My dad is similar, but not quite as bad. He never talks about his childhood, but will talk about his teen years. I know very little about his family. Mom told me once that dad grew up in a "dysfunctional family" so I kind of figured it wasn't a happy childhood for him, probably abusive. Mom also told me that dad and his 2 siblings spent a couple years living with my great-grandmother, but won't tell us why. Mom will drop these tidbits, but if I ask a question, she'll clam up too. I guess she thinks if dad won't share them with us, then she shouldn't do it for him.

Both my mom's parents put together "memory books" for us. They began with their childhoods and went all the way through to when all of us grandkids were born. Grandpa typed his own memoirs. Then he would write a letter to all the grandkids (we'd each get a photocopy of it) talking about recent stuff and giving us advice, but on the back of the letters was a page from the memoirs. My mom's mother had Parkinson's and couldn't write, but my aunt set up a tape recorder and recorded her memories, then transcribed them for us. We all really treasure those.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

so I picked her brain this morning. Turns out she was with the USO at 15 and this boy wanted her to meet his family, so they sent her a ticket to come to CA, she met his family and headed home, he got shipped out and they never heard from each other.
I asked if he was a boyfriend and she said no, just a boy.