Mary Etta (Mae) Jones-Alton 1898-1951

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=111759398

Hard to believe that the grandchildren of this Lady had no idea what she looked like because she had passed away when they were just less than 5 years old. Photo`s were not taken too often because of the cost of them and few people had camera`s.

How this photo came to our possession, it was in a shoebox of Family photo`s that belonged to her husband and this man was their Grandfather.When the Gandfather passed away all of his personal belongings went to their Father and when he passed it came to his daughter.The shoebox of photo`s and Family bible where in a filing cabinet for a number of years,until I started looking at them.

The search for whom this women has taken several years of research and questions to as many people that were related.Most of it was found through Ancestry network and Latter Day network. It was casting a stone into a pond and the ripple effect was how this unfolded.

The Cabin Fever Rant n Rave.

The Cabin Fever Rant n Rave.

Dear Joe:

Today, I am getting some cabin fever. Not that the winter has been too long, it’s just I not getting into it this year. As you know my wife and I are raising our ten year old grandson and he is getting smarter by the day as I seem to be going in the opposite direction. The wife is not having this problem. Why is that?

Gravity is the answer. I am on the slippery slope and seem to be picking up speed. That is scary. Yes, I have turned a milestone year in my life according to the experts in the Family. I was always blessed with a lot of smart people in my life aka “know-it-alls”. So, you know you are automatically stupid as soon as they are in our house.

I usually call it our Home, but they quickly reduce this to a house and I want them out-ta my house. Furthermore as much as I try to love them, I don’t like them. Know, whom I am speaking about? The, pain-in-da-butts, but that is not nearly an accurate description.

Shit, they have an opinion about everything including my recent operation to “parts unknown” and they know all about it. How in the hell did you find all this out? I have not said a word other than it was a “mannish problem”. Well, if they got paid for all this knowledge and shared that with me, I would be well off and a free man.

Next, I don’t want all the advice, I rather learn on the run. And, assuming they never had, what I had, I don’t want to know what the worst case scenario might look like. That is scary enough knowing they know, what I don’t know, you know?

What’s, worst, they think I am the salt of the earth and they love me and profess this to me constantly. Wtf, am I doing wrong? I treat them nicely because I don’t to embarrass the Family and this makes me a saint. “They”, say Karma pay-back is a bitch. Seems, I need to examine my soul and find out where on the road I fell off.

Well, its ten o’clock somewhere, I need to have some red wine, which I keep hid behind the computer monitor, camouflaged  and I drink this from a 500 mL chili sauce jar ; will that will throw them off? Aka, why is poppa so happy?

So, what the hell was I talking about? Another sip of the golden nectar will surely make me recall. You have noticed that I have successfully rambled on about nothing and you have learned that growing older gracefully can’t happen to everyone.  Everybody is nutsy and you tell them that and they laugh. I, guess they know already.

Sorry, I better close off before this becomes well-worn. I have just aged to the 70 year plateau, which means goose egg to me, but everyone else is celebrating. I always thought they were nuts and this proves my case. Well, thanks for enduring this and you should be on your second 500 ml jar half-full of wine by now.

Thanks for fixing the snow blower, be sure to drop in soon and we can have some distilled mosquito bite to ward off the cold.

Yours humble-bull-lee,

 Bruce

'HAIL CAESAR"

http://www.cookincanuck.com/2012/01/the-caesar-cocktail-aka-the-canadian-bloody-mary-recipe/

This is a must share,for food junkies,healthy and good for your soul.?

This women’s lovely face.

As I was looking for a piece of paper to do with my passport app and a picture fell into my lap. The picture ended face up and I gazed at this women’s lovely face and I wondered whom she was.

Slowly I turned the picture over as our eyes seemed to be fixed in a stare that I can call curious, why are you here.? Then I read her name, it’s the same name as my wife’s name.

How could this be, was it indeed the Grandmother I heard about for over 45 years.

I called out and asked if the name meant I had found the long lost picture of Grandma on her fathers side.? Well. that was a sudden change in plans, my quest was to find out whom I had found. Suddenly that little file cabinet had a lot traffic.

Sure enough after a few moments it was verified that indeed this picture was of her and nobody knew where it came from. I had an idea so I voiced it and it was for me to search and report back and everyone went back to the important stuff of the day.

So, to make a short story, this picture was in a box that came from her Dads estate along with a Family bible full of dates of marriages, births and deaths. And it was put in the steel filing cabinet to be sorted thru later. So, its now years later, this picture had worked its self to the top the pile and made its appearance.

This picture along with some other cards was sealed in a zip locked bag, so how did it get out.? , did someone look thru the pictures and forget to reseal it?. Who knows, but in this bag were other pictures of people that are related thru marriage and many post cards.

Cards were cheaper than paper letters so these were sent more often. These cards were from 1900’s and the postage was 1 cent and not much of an address, but they got thru.

If fact some these cards were please read and write back letters and poems.

I sorted thru them and placed them in a photo album and then all can see them and they were protected. For the age of them these are in “mint” condition. Luckily, Grandpa wrote on the back of the cards so you knew whom the picture was of and then you marvel at the person.

A lot of history, soldiers from the WW 1, early Canadian farmers, young children, babies all unknown and now mostly forgotten and no body to continue the search of the ancestry, for now, maybe somebody later. The majority of these people are deceased and all there is, are pictures and letters. The Grandkids are in their 60’s, so what’s the chance they might have an interest.?.

p.s. this has started a Family search thru history and from these two names the list includes over 70 names of different people that we are related thru marriage and relationships. The stories that I have learned about can fill another 300 page book,easily.

Thank you, you are not forgotten.!!

WHY WEAR A POPPY?

"Please wear a poppy", the lady said,

And held one forth, but I shook my head

Then I stopped and watched as she offered them there,

And her face was old and lined with care;



"But beneath the scars the years had made

There remained a smile that refused to fade.

A boy came whistling down the street,

Bouncing along on carefree feet.



"His smile was full of joy and fun,

"Lady" said he, "may I have one?"

When she pinned it on, he turned to say:

"Why do we wear a poppy to-day ?"



"The lady smiled in her wistful way,

And answered: "This is Remembrance Day,

"And the poppy there is a symbol for

The gallant men who died in the war. "



"And because they did, you and I are free;

That's why we wear a poppy you see.

I had a boy about your size,

With golden hair and big blue eyes.



"He loved to play and jump and shout,

Free as a bird, he would race about .

As the years went by, he learned and grew,

And became a man - as you will too. "



"He was fine and strong, with a boyish smile,

But he'd seemed with us such a little while

When war broke out and he went away.

I still remember his face that day.



"When he smiled at me and said good-bye.

'I'll be back soon, Mum, so please don't cry.'

But the war went on and he had to stay

And all l could do was wait and pray.



"His letters told us of the awful fight

,(I can see it in my dreams at night),

With the tanks and guns and cruel barbed wire,

And the mines and the bullets, the bombs and the fire."



"That sure did sound like an awful fight,

But your son - did he come back alright?"

A tear rolled down each faded cheek;

She shook her head but didn't speak .



"I slunk away in a sort of shame,

And if you were with me, you'd have done the same;

For our thanks, in giving is aft delayed,

Though our freedom was bought - and thousands paid !



"And so, when we see a poppy worn,

Let us reflect on the burden borne

By those who gave their very all

When asked to answer their country's call

That we at home in peace might live.

Then wear a poppy ! - and give !



Please wear a poppy, it says: “Well done.”



Why Wear A Poppy by Don Crawford



Handwritten in pencil, and on two sheets of foolscap, Don Crawford turned this poem in to the, The Perth Courier one morning in the early 1960s, where it first saw print a few days later.

For the next several years, and by means unknown, “Why Wear A Poppy” appeared in nearly every weekly newspaper and magazine, including LEGION, in Canada at Remembrance time, as well as foreign publications like Australia’s Anzac Appeal and Scotland’s Claymore magazine, copies of the same being sent to him.

Some years ago, Dominion Command of The Royal Canadian Legion, produced it on slides and tape for television and radio. Schools have used it extensively for their Remembrance programs.


 Donald J. Crawford died in hospital at Perth on Saturday, October 7, 2000.

All gave some,some gave all.
We Thank you.!!

Musings of an old guy

I would usually write to this to Joe because he has interesting slant on life and he is my rock of strength so to speak. I don’t ask for his advice, I get it and its free and I don’t agree with it sometimes.

His answers provide more thoughts and ideas for my writing or running of the brain which is given to the paper we all read. I call them my ramblings. I beat around the bush to tease you and then I give you the truth as far as I am able, writers privileges.

Joe, should have been a therapist because of his manners but he said no, I want to have a job where I am free of the world’s problems carried by so few people, and our hats off to the professionals that have chosen to help guide us thru life’s road of mystery.

Having said that there are people that are born to do this and those who wish they could. If, we could get the right person the first time how simple life would be, personal opinion and I am not slamming those who are not proficient at their job. Somebody has to do the work.

They just make it more stressful to get proper help and continue to mend on the road of life. This covers all professionals in the all the fields, even the almighty plumber. As humble as this job is, its one of the most important in our lives. Try and remember when the last time you had a bathroom problem and you know what I mean.

Just to get in that frame of mind, turn off the water to the main vanity and cover it over and use the one downstairs until the plumbers shows to fix your blockage, while you are it cover over the mirror as well and only cold water for the tub or shower. Life is grand.?

To easy, ok, now the pooper isn’t working, scramble for the throne. Its not a pretty picture is it.? As humble as this man is he is able to make a house call and help you, when the last time you had that kind of service.?

Be a good story to write about. Sorry, I am off topic or am I?.

Anyway, I am going to try and persuade Joe to become a internet shrink and have a disclaimer that it “ works for me, does not mean it will work for you”. Joe, the plumber, the shit is theoretically to run downhill but sometimes it don’t.!!

Who, can you call??. Write or call me now and we can flush this problem together. Inspiring isn’t it. Well, it’s a stretch, but if you are at wits end, how bad can it get??..............,are you thinking about it or not??.

Just to get you in the proper frame of thought, “your shit does stink and you aren’t alone”.



                                                                 Who, can you call??.

I, am still learning, from the man in the glass.

 This was a way of dealing with a lot of unfortunate stuff happening in our lives and it helped to write it out. Tears from the heart are the truest of all,you can't get any lower than that. And,from there its a slow way back to where you were, step by step.

bruce nuckowski-2012

Observing, as your parents, we lived your pain,

Through a hardship with spite, not a thing to regain.

Your existence is uprooted, memories ripped apart,

Lost, was life’s meaning, and lost, then your heart.



Unpleasant, for us to see this all transpire,

To lose your sunshine and that sense of desire.

To observe only shadows, the defeat of one’s fate,

To lose it all, but, you can save it, it’s never, too late.



No, was his answer, I have not that wish, to do,

It’s not in my soul to follow through.

My wants, must over come the need,

To, help me recover, a help to concede.



Not, a darker day, there is to pursue,

To, say it is over, vanished, my desire for you.

There, is this, this, greater sorrow,

No more, do I, yearn for, a better tomorrow.



As I wondered what the hell it was,

What, how did it happen, what is the cause?

Greater, in the glory or sadder the deed,

To revisit it all, was, was that the need?



To understand the manner that this had occurred,

Way too quick it happened, their visions blurred.

Swiftly, all things went out of control,

The price, loss of your self, that is your toll.



No further words could repair the hurt,

No gentle thoughts or laughter in mirth.

It’s time, draw back and see the clean light,

Time, again to rebuild, a start to do it right.



Stand up, struggle back and recover it all,

It’s now, right now, after this mind-numbing fall.

To scratch it back, that, what was lost,

To regain you’re self, no matter the cost.



You have accepted the most difficult test,

Can ,you now afford to sit and rest?

No, you can’t, for it’s just the beginning,

You are on a roll, its more than just winning..



The price you paid, a lesson in life, this was your class,

You were slapped in the face, and kicked in the ass.

It’s a character builder, now, you have no more fear,

You, only answer to the man in the mirror.



Mark; that is you, the man in the reflection,

Go to the mirror, stare, and see, any recollection?

Does, he look familiar, above and beyond all superstition.

A, true, and excellent man, the proper rendition,



Believe, this Mark; for I know what, I know,

About the future lessons that will come to show.

Without doubt, many good things that will come to pass,

I am your father, learning, from the man in the glass.!

Monday, October 24, 2005

Some, lessons in life, some of its zest.