We went to see "Hope Springs" tonight. Isn't Meryl Streep a brilliant actor? I don't usually get excited about a particular actor but she is so entertaining to watch. Kathy Bates, too.
OK, you all know I am into geneology, right? This month my province came up with the best geneology site I have ever seen! Check out this and this. These are the death certificates of my great, great, great, great grandparents. How cool is that? And this is the birth certificate of my great grandfather. And here is the marriage certificate for my grandfather and his first wife. If you look at the very top you will see that the marriage was dissolved in 1954. It proves what my mom suspected all along. She was born out of wed-lock in 1946 and her father was still married to another woman. No big deal but my mom's mother was always so judgemental of anyone that divorced. Very hypocritical considering she was living with a married man and had two children with him. My grandma never considered my step-sister one of her grandchildren when my mom married my step-dad. At Christmas all the grandchildren got a present and she wouldn't get anything for her. It makes me angry that all along she had her own dirty little secret. It all comes down to "Thou doth protest too much". She made my mom's life miserable after my mom finally got the courage to leave and divorce my biological father that beat the shit out of her. She did not offer any support. Anyway, I can let it go as she is dead and she was always a good grandma to me. Good thing we were connected by blood.
What dirty little secrets were in your family?
That's some wild stuff! Dirty little secrets in our family include people receiving electro-shock therapy in the early sixties -- not so dirty, but the fact that it was shrouded in shame and mystery is very creepy.
ReplyDeleteMy family is full of secrets. Some of them dirty, some of them not. My parents were married two years after I was born. I didn't find that out until I was about fifteen. While arranging my father's funeral I discovered he had been married before.
ReplyDeleteAnd on my mother's side? After her death we discovered that we had cousins (in her country of birth) that we knew nothing about. Since she and her brother had both died with the secrets locked in their chests we will never know why. Which bothers me. Sorry - this became a very, very long comment.
Wow, amazing that you were able to find all this information! And pretty cool skeletons in the closet. I haven't learned many cool secrets. The only one I found interesting was my aunt running away with some guy when she was a young girl, and taking the family's savings with her! Turns out that the guy she was running away with was just trying to steal the money. Police were involved, of course, and they tracked down the couple. My aunt was returned home and the guy was arrested. Not sure if the money was ever returned. I'll have to ask about that story again.
ReplyDeleteJe parle un peu de Francais. It helps in Quebec.
ReplyDeleteI suggest you just go and explore it. My overwhelming memory of the place is sitting outside a bar, with a coffee and a cognac, watching a horse and carriage go past. I couldn't tell you where exactly I was though.
It's a lovely old historic city. Enjoy it.
PS - don't get me started on dirty little secrets :)
ReplyDeleteMy beloved uncle... bless his loving soul. He died in the early 70's. All we were told was that he fell in his kitchen impaling himself on a large object...
ReplyDeleteAS an adult, I have learned that he was gay and therefore a huge disappointment to his parents. They chose to have nothing to do with him. He was a perfectionist in all things... but he failed in this one aspect of his life....
He didn't fail. I can't imagine the pain he was in. Until the day my grandmother died she never accepted that he was gay and had committed suicide. She stuck to her story. The one she needed to believe I suppose.
I haven't forgiven her, even in death. I blame her for the loss of my uncle. He truly was one of the most beautiful people I've had the pleasure of knowing. And I was only 6ish when he was taken from me....
Your family is not so different than most. We have the same sort of secrets in my own family.
ReplyDeleteMy grandma had a daughter out of wedlock back in the day. When she was born, my great grandma decided to raise the baby as her own. So for the first 14 years of her life, she thought her mom was her sister. When my grandma met my grandpa, she was already pregnant with another man's child. This uncle was like no one else in the family (a good thing!) so it was always this unspoken thing. So yeah, my grandma was a big old slut! LOL!!! I still loved her dearly though and I still remember her laugh even though it's been almost 35 years since she passed.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend that lives in Montreal. If you'd like his blog address for sightseeing tips (he's always taking visitors touring around!) let me know and I can hook you up!
Oops, that was me.
ReplyDeleteThose death and birth certificates were SUPER cool! I love stuff like that! I also love how on one of them it says they died of 'old age'.
ReplyDeleteWow about that family secret. I don't know what mine are, if we have any, they have remained a secret!
Most of my family's secrets involve shotgun weddings or mental illness. You know, the run-of-the-mill stuff.
ReplyDeleteBirdie, what a treasure box you've discovered.
ReplyDeleteSo sad for your step sister.
And Sherrie, tragic for your uncle.
I'm trying to learn more about my father.
There's enough information in my forthcoming box that some people may consider secrets. I won't give them away.
Most of our secrets are out...not worth keeping or even thinking much about them...you never know what goes on behind closed doors for anyone.
ReplyDeleteI love Meryl Streep too. Must do some serious film watching soon. Exciting stuff to be booking a trip and planning what to do and what to see. Tres passionnant en effet.
ReplyDeleteAs for family histories, I guess that the "dirty" secrets that might have shocked forty years ago, are not so shocking now. Plus these things, like children born outside of marriage, have always happened and always will. I am sad that my Gran died before I got the full story of her marriage and my Dad's father. There is also some mystery surrounding her father as he disapeared and left his wife and children in mid-life. We do not know what became of him. I heard he married again. On my Mother's side there is a mystery woman Eva who we think is our Mother's half sister. It all went on and still does! lol
I love Montreal! Have a great time!
ReplyDeleteI don't have enough strengh on my fingers to type here all the secrets, LOOOOL!
ReplyDeleteBut you know a few already ;)
Kiss
Can't talk about them...they might be reading this!!!
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Linda :o)
Our dirty secrets were married-in gangsters. Real creeps. Your post has me thinking--and interested in that Meryl Streep movie.
ReplyDeleteI love genealogy too! It satisfies the gossip in me; it's like reading a trashy romance novel except it's true life. The biggest dirty little secret I ever discovered from my family is that my paternal grandfather had an ENTIRE family that he left before he married my grandmother and fathered 8 more children...oh, and he was a devout Catholic, so I hear you on the "doth protest too much". I'm both jealous and excited about your trip to Quebec; I have a friend that just returned from Barcelona and I was excited for and jealous of her too...while I plan a trip to exotic Orlando, Florida to roam around The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, you just read about the walking mower...
ReplyDelete