Tombstone Tuesday - Hilda P. Johnson

The sweet lady who lived across the street from my family when I was a little girl, Hilda P. Johnson, was better known to us as "Gan gan". Having her around was like having another grandmother. I can still picture her setting up her drying rack over her furnace grate, wearing her kerchief on her head, her apron and her flowered houseshoes. She was the person who taught us our New Year's superstitions and to this day we make sure a male person crosses the threshold first.

Tombstone Tuesday - It pays to keep checking

I have checked numerous times on Find a grave for family members. Last year, my great-grandparents were not on there. Something told me to check again this morning and imagine my happy surprise at finding this photo.

Lesson learned? Keep checking back. People are adding new things to sites and you never know when a piece you've been looking for might appear.

Madness Monday - The case of the missing grandmother.....

I remember my paternal grandmother.

She passed away when I was nine years old, but I remember being at her house, talking to her, visiting her when she was sick, attending her funeral. I can tell you what hymn was sung at the service. Her grave is a few plots over from my father's.

I say all of this because I can't find her in the death index. Her obituary is nowhere to be found in any of the online searches.

Thankfully, I have a card with a copy of the newspaper clipping, but it bothers me that I can't "find" her.

Mind you, I can't find her birth record, either, but I know she was born at home and have a copy of the family Bible.

Mobile Monday - What to do with a week off

Every year I take a week of annual leave for my birthday.  Some years I need it more than others, such as this year.  After all, I did turn 40 and that requires some reflection.

Oddly enough, my trepidation about getting older didn't stop me from doing a little graveyard research.

One of the joys of modern technology is that, even though I didn't plan ahead and take my camera, my Blackberry was all the camera I needed to capture images of tombstones.

Can't get the information clearly with a picture?  No worries, I texted the name, birth date, and death date to my email address.  Another option would have been to use the address/contacts feature and store the information.