One woman can change generations


A little silhouette of my maternal grandmother,  Lella LeMaster Slinkard, made in 1904!
Wow, over 100 years ago and we still have it.


My grandmother's mother, Lella Edith LeMaster

Her Dad pictured below at his office in the bank where he worked for awhile.
Grandma said he was hard working and very ambitious.

Grandma told me once that her mom would introduce her 2 daughters  like this,
"Gladys is the pretty one and Lella is the homely one."

Grandma said her Mom just didn't know any better.
Her Mom made lots of mistakes, probably raising her children as she was raised.
Grandma Lella on the left, her sister Gladys on the right.  

They sure did wear lots of clothing back then.  My grandma is the one marked "ME"
They lived in nice homes like the one below.  However....

They also lived in very challenging places.  The way I understand it, they were either riding high, or very low.

Grandma's parents even went to Hollywood for awhile, placing their youngest son in foster care, with the hopes of selling movie scripts that she had written. 

Grandma's Dad
I think he's a very nice looking man.


Grandma's parents ended up divorcing in 1916, the same year she graduated from high school.  Her mother eventually married Burton Willis, a teenager,  who had been dating her daughter.  But how strange for a mother to marry the friend of her daughter!  And about 20 years younger than her.

My Mom wrote this about Grandma:



Several years later in 1953, with her 2 first grandchildren, Lori and Richard.


1957
The only one who looks happy in this picture is Richard.
Lot r: Grandma with me, Grandpa, Mom, Dad with Richard

Garndma with us in 1963...don't know where I was, but there's Robin with Dad.
 This is how I remember my Grandparents living.  I thought all Grandparents lived in trailers.



 I remember sitting at my Mom's funeral nearly 3 years ago, and thinking how grateful I am to my Grandma for having such determination to learn from her childhood.  She wanted better for her children.  In turn, because of her, my Mom had a better childhood.  Here we are generations later and we have all benefited.  My Grandma is proof that history does not have to repeat itself. 


Grandma Lella Slinkard passed away nearly 26 years ago... she was born 113 years ago today! 



10 comments:

Rebecca said...

haha. I had a Great Aunt who lived in a trailer and thought it was the neatest thing ever to go visit her when I was little. Now that I look back on it, it seems really creepy, the traioer park and everything!

Kris said...

Wow! What great pictures! I especially love that silhouette!!!

Mary said...

What a great story! Divorce was so uncommon back then, and I can just imagine the raised eyebrows when her mom married a teen! Of course, my ex is 14 years younger than me, so I can't talk... But it's true that our age difference was never an issue. We'd still be married if not for his addictions.

grandmapeg said...

I love these old pictures and you're right...your great grandfather is very nice looking. Your grandmother is to be commended for seeing the need to learn from her childhood and make things better. So in the Christmas picture, that isn't you at the bottom of the picture by the tree?

Karen Mortensen said...

I love these old pictures. They are wonderful. I really, really love that silhouette. In fact I liked it so much that I had the kids next door come and see it. They made some earlier this year.

My gosh you look like Tea in that one picture of your grandparents, parents and Richard.

Susan Anderson said...

An inspiring story, and those pictures are treasures! I especially love the silhouette.

=)

Lisa said...

Now, that was a beautiful biography of your grandma. Very descript and provided us with vivid imagery. Loved it all! Your grandmother's father was handsome and it's so funny how that generation never smiled in pictures isn't it? It all reminds me of "It's a Wonderful Life." You have good roots Jill.

I figured out how I missed these posts. My pc was down for 24 hours, but I was too sick to notice! hahaha. Anyways...there's nothing you can do since the doc says I'm gonna be runnin' around llke normal, just don't life, pull, or push anything. I do that on a daily basis and we live off of microwave edibles and ice cream. What more can a girl ask for?!! I love you & thanks for offering to help me! You're really an amazing & wonderful woman and by the looks of your genealogy....you come from good "stock!"

Valerie said...

Great pics! And a wonderful story about how your grandmother learned what she didn't want to do. I really love the silhouette! Beautiful.

By the way, the video on my post was working for me. I'm not sure what's wrong, but if you'd like to see it sometime, you can look it up on YouTube. Flawz by Caitlin Crosby.

Travis LeMaster said...

These pictures of William Clifford LeMaster and your family are great! I've been transcribing newspaper articles about him in Elyria, Ohio where he was a bank cashier before coming to Colorado and publishing them on my blog.

Grandma Honey said...

I'm so glad you found my blog and these pictures! I have been spending the evening reading your blog...

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