Meet Lawrence Leon Weeks Sr.

I’m loving that some of my friends and family are finding my blog and commenting.  Of course, I did help that along by posting some on my Facebook page.  Hopefully, people will eventually want to take the extra step and, actually, bookmark the blog.

I was chatting with my daughter, Jessica, hoping for a little feedback that might help me improve my posts.  She thought my last post "Remembering Life on the Farm - LLW Sr. could be a little confusing when reading phrases like "my grandmother".  One of the most important reasons I am writing this blog is to publish the work of my father, Lawrence Leon Weeks Sr.  Jess and I have been harassing him for years about writing  all the wonderful stories for which he is famous in our family. His unique voice comes through clearly.  Once he started to write, he was prolific and his stories entertained us all.  These entries were specifically written to explain a  series of pictures that were sent to him by his parents when he had to spend a lengthy period of time in an army hospital.  All "Remembering Life on the Farm" entries were written by him. As you can see by the photos, he  loves to entertain.

Just a process note, I'm having a bit of an issue with posting pictures and placing them where I'd like them to be.  I had a few more and thought you'd like to see Dad at several stages of his life. I decided that if I wanted you post this tonight, two will do.

Remembering Life on the Farm - LLW Sr.

 

The following was written by my father, Lawrence L. Weeks Sr.: 

My grandmother, Laura S. Weeks is getting water at the well.  All of the water used by the family  for taking baths, washing hands, clothing, milk cans, cooking and drinking was, until I was fourteen years old obtained in this manner.

The pail would be sitting on the sideboard at the end of the sink with a long handle dipper that would reach the bottom of the pail to be used to get a drink, or to put water in the wash basin to wash your hands, or to cook with. If you had a cold or other ailment, you were supposed to fill a glass and drink from that. 

To get to the well, you left the kitchen and onto the piazza to the shed and out a back door to an uncovered four foot wide by ten foot long wooded walkway to the well.  You turned a crank to wind the rope on an 18" in diameter slatted roll to lift the pail from the water before dumping it.

Just Remember - It's Not over until It's Over - Sometimes You Learn From Your Mistakes

So, this is the first small step of my journey into blogging. Please be patient with my mistakes as I learn the process. I will say that one thing I've already found out is that those "You Tube - How to videos" that rave about how easy the process is and tell you that your blog can be completed in twenty minutes are not always correct.   I've worked nearly three full days and have managed to find my very important "dashboard" quickly (which I couldn't do at first), compose the post and add a photo.  I have, also managed to choose a template, personalize the color of backgrounds, and add some gadgets.  However, each of these things has been done in isolation. My text and photo came up with "preview" in the corner, and each of the other things come up on different pages but won't seem to consolidate into one post. Hmmmm.... I think that is enough for now. 

I still seem to be having  issues, even on this last post.  But, thanks to visiting many videos on YouTube again today.  I am hoping that I have it.  With special thanks to Kisha Jaggers who walked me through it slowly on her own YouTube videos, I might be finished today.

In Memory Julia Hodgdon - our own special Grammie

Yesterday was our maternal grandmother, Julia Hodgdon's birthday.  She was born December 28, 1903 and passed away December 2, 1993. She was a hardworking, talented cook and seamstress who loved her three grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was our role model for leading an honorable, Christian life and demonstrating the importance of having faith that things will work out or that we will be given the strength to handle what's given us.  

My retirement plans have always included publishing a blog that would allow me to write family stories and work on genealogy while organizing my collection of photographs, local postcards and papers.   I started doing genealogy with my dad in the early sixties and using his old portable, Royal typewriter I typed his family group sheets and other records.  After getting married, I found myself caught up in my career and could only work on my family history occasionally.  During this time, I  still became known as the family historian and was given several collections of family pictures and papers as relatives passed.

In 2011,  I retired and thought my time had finally come ... but not quite.  Other than some work with my Reunion genealogy desktop program and Ancestry family tree, my goals were put on hold as  some of our older loved one walked into the dark on their journey to the light.  That along with a couple of medical events with my eyes pushed my goals away again.  

I've always liked to plan ahead and do things correctly. Things just haven't worked that way in starting a blog - too many variables - so I've waited and waited.  That being said, I've finally decided the time is right now. This may not be done perfectly, but I can take care of that later.