Flashback Friday - 7/10 at the PEA!

which was to write a letter to an ancestor. OF course I did it backwards. I found a letter written about me from my great grandmother. And let me tell you it was totally cool. I was going in a different direction with this, when WHAM, my journaling took me a different direction. So with other journaling waiting, I have some for another layout. Now just to put that one together. Love it when it flows.

Love the 7 gypsies here. Always a plus for heritage. Primas, bling, and Heidi Swapp clear accents. These photos are priceless - My great grandmother is holding me and that's Pappap sitting beside her. The one where Ida and her sisters are strolling down the boardwalk at Asbury Park - used that several times. I love it. Looks like a postcard.

journaling: Above is an excerpt from a letter written by my 95 year old great grandmother Ida Susannah Stocker Altemus. It was written over a period of 5 days in 1957, six months before her death. It was written to a Marion Hyatt in Anchorage Alaska detailing her days. As I read the letter, I found she was spry, feisty and fun. Her handwriting precise and legible. In her letter, she brought her day to day existence alive for me. At this point, this independent woman was living in her daughter Sarah's attic. In this excerpt, she wrote about Joyce coming over with her 2 little noisemakers as usual. I completely froze. Reread the line. THAT WAS MY MOM, BROTHER AND ME SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT. I laughed and couldn't decide if it was funny or I should be insulted. I went with funny. I was 3. How cool that although not mentioned by name, I am referred to in her letter. How cool that it was preserved after all these years (thank you Aunt Florence) and How cool that it made its way to me.