September 17, 2007

• Show and Tell Sunday

  I came across this album while I was packing:

  

  My mom gave it to me a few years ago--it belonged to my dad's mom.  I never knew my paternal grandmother...she died of cancer when my dad was in the fifth grade (1950?).  I know that her name was Cordelia and that she had attended the University of Texas.  I know that my dad, her only child, was the apple of her eye~you can see her adoration of him in their old photographs. 

  Sometimes I wonder at my dad's inner strength...he lost his mom at 11 years of age, then his wife (his high school sweetheart) at 27.  I know that he drank heavily after losing his wife...but I am talking more about his attitude and demeanor~he has not been victimized by the circumstances of life.  He is a joy to be around and everyone who meets him instantly likes him.  He is a wonderful father and grandfather~I love him so much...

  

  Anyways, although this little blue velvet book looks like a picture album, Cordelia used it as a recipe book.  And, it appears to be a gift~there is an inscription written in German on the first page by Ernst Hanschen n (there is a little mark over the n) Frau.  (My grandfather's family was German, my grandmother's family was from England--I wonder if this was a gift from someone on my grandfather's side of the family?).  I would love to have this translated! 

  The paper in this album is old and brittle~I am trying to be very careful as I turn the pages.  Reading and examining this sweet, worn velvet book completely indulges my fascination with history and my imagination...I love seeing how Cordelia worded things, I wonder what inspired her, what was going on in her life at the moment she wrote down her recipes...I try to get to know her through this small memento...

  

  A recipe for "Good" cornbread!

   

  

  • 12:24 am
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