We never saw our mother as religious but her parents were devout Christians, religious and influential enough to impact our walking to church together on our own a few blocks from home back in Jersey, when the spirit moved us. (Lynn even sung in the choir with Whitney Houston at this church which owned the apartment complex we'd spent most of our lives growing up in--but Whitney just had fame as a magazine model back then).
I always wanted to go camping and never forget one summer telling my mother that I wanted to do this instead of spending the whole summer downsouth. Her reply, which I came to appreciate and understand years later, was: "Go camping in your grandparent's backyard!" Our yard down there was surrounded by woods on two sides, including behind our farm, so there actually was that possibility--though I never took it. Instead, we'd spend our time down there helping to pick and shell butter beans, eating my grandmother's great preparation of those and many other forms of fresh produce that we grew, playing cards or watching TV together, and coming up with all kinds of fun, creative ways to entertain ourselves outside when we weren't playing on our swingset or in the pool that Grandpa bought for us, on our bikes, in Donny's go-car, visiting with friends and family nearby, going swimming at a nearby beach...
Theses photos depict my maternal grandparents without whom none of us would be here. They were loved dearly, not only by immediate family, but a host of nieces, nephews, and great ones that they'd helped their many siblings raise. They'd grown up together and one of my grandmother's 6 brothers also married my grandfather's sister (which is just one reason why I have many double cousins). My mother refers to this great aunt and uncle as her other parents and their 13 children as her siblings, rather than 1st cousins.
Active in the NAACP at one point, and very traditional about gender roles and other things, Grandma stayed home managing the household throughout their marriage and they also helped raise many of their numerous nieces and nephews--and great ones-- since she was only able to bear my mother and my grandfather only had one other child, my Aunt Anna, who is much older than my mother.
When they moved up to NY so my grandfather could work in a factory during the Great Migration, their home was the origin of many another family members jumpstart to life in the north (mostly NYC and Newark NJ back then). One photo shows them at their 50th wedding anniversary renewing their vows in our family church down south (built by relatives), another shows them later in the day after they did the same for their 60th wedding anniversary. They were married for 64yrs. before my grandfather moved on to the next life.
He'd worked in that factory for many years and later as a car mechanic, before he retired and they started their own farm back in our hometown, like a couple of their siblings still had. Each of the 3 grandparents that I knew, died at the age of 84; may they rest in peace. Most of their siblings also died one or two years after another, during the last couple of decades in their 80s as well. I can still remember from age 7 when my great grandmother, who my mother was named after, passed away in her 90s. A couple of my grandfather's sisters are still kicking and hysterical in their 90s. We all go to visit them whenever we get the chance while "at home" downsouth.
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