Visiting Family

I went with my parents to Arlington to visit Aunt Bev yesterday. It was a nice day for travel, and we had a really pleasant trip.

We had a nice chat with Aunt Bev. I liked the mementos around her house. It was especially fun looking at her pictures. One of my favorites was a picture of my great grandmother. I think she was posing for the picture, but trying to make it look candid. There is a little smile at the corner of her mouth that gives her away. I smiled because people still do pretend candids today.

Smile

Another cool thing at Aunt Bev’s was in her bathroom. Instead of keeping her mouthwash in the mouthwash bottle, she keeps it in a stoppered glass bottle. I think I’d like to do this too, maybe even with other things. It’s so interesting and unusual.

Like a magical potion.

After visiting Aunt Bev, my parents and I drove around a little. My dad was showing me several places from his past. Some were familiar, and some weren’t. Among the unfamiliar – the site of his mother’s one-room schoolhouse. There is a regular house there now, but he says it is unmistakably the spot.

I like the giant stars on either side of the door.

We also stopped at his mom’s parents’ cemetery. These are the only great grandparents I remember. They died when I was ten.

Albert and Helena Hoffmann

This same cemetery had lots of interesting graves. One of the most interesting was very noticeable from a distance:

Dead weeds

It was strange to see a patch of dead weeds surrounding a single grave. It seemed like a tv show or movie. On closer inspection, I think it was just that weeds and shrubs had grown up and made it hard to mow the area. They cut the trees and poisoned the weeds, and it will soon be green and grassy again like the surrounding area.

The grave itself was for a baby girl. Born 14 October, 1880 – Died 30 December 1880. The other side had German writing on it, but I was standing in the middle of weeds that were probably full of chiggers, so I didn’t stay long.

Emili. Th. Hofins