The prompt for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Dear Diary. For those that don’t have actually diary entries from an ancestor, it was suggested to write a diary entry that could have been written by an ancestor. So that’s what I did.
This diary entry could have been made by my grandmother, Florrie THOMAS MARTIN (1894-1979). I have several letters written by her, and I tried to mimic her style and wording. I heard enough family stories about apple picking season that I do believe the details in this entry could be true ones. I hope you like it.
Oct. 29, 1930
Dear Diary,
I already miss the echoes of the men’s voices as they work in the orchard. Daniel’s mother and brothers left yesterday. We were thankful to have them here for picking. The men and boys worked from after breakfast until dark every day except for Sundays, of course. It wasn’t long before Daniel’s brothers were experts at picking, and they were careful not to bruise the apples like Daniel told them to be. Jerry was tall enough to be a help this year with picking. That boy has grown!
Having Mrs. Martin’s extra hands in the kitchen helped when the pickers came in hungry. I’ve never made so many biscuits in my life. And I believe those men went through a whole ham everyday besides the bacon and sausage we cooked. And eggs! I was afraid my chickens wouldn’t be able to keep up. Ha! Ha! Mrs. Martin and I found Ruby to be a capable helper with the cooking. Ruby will make a fine wife one day.
Back: Carlisle holding Tommy; Middle row: Chet, Gladys, Ruby; Front row: Millie, Bobby, Jerry
Daniel was careful to hold back some apples for us. Most are in the root cellar, but I have a bushel in the kitchen. I want to put up apple jelly and applesauce. We are blessed to have enough extra apples to put up some niceties. Tommy is stirring now. He’ll want to feed. I hear him cooing for me to pick him up. It’s the sweetest sound in the world.
Do you have a diary from an ancestor? If so, whose is it? Diaries and journals are family history in the making. Do you have diaries of journals of your own to pass along to your descendants?
Copyright © 2019 Nancy H. Vest All Rights Reserved
What a fun diary entry. It’s great you knew your grandmother well enough to write in her voice.
Thank you. I was blessed to have my grandmother live with my family from before I was born until she passed when I was 19. I didn’t realize how blessed until she was gone. Isn’t it always like that?