Mom and dad had already been working on writing up the family history with other relatives way back when, but that really didn't include much about the mothers' side of the families. Mom must have taken that to heart when my sister-in-law gave her a book at Christmas in 1987 entitled "Grandma Remembers". That's when she took on the project of making an album for each of her four grandchildren about her "memories and experiences that she had as a child, teen-ager, young woman, bride, mother, and grandmother".

First, she dismantled her's and dad's old albums; next, she added pictures of my two brothers and me, and included pictures with news from our relatives and friends. She put in photos of the many places we'd lived and what was going on along the way. Finally, she wrote about what was in each picture as if she was reliving each moment and describing it to that particular grandchild. She shared with them her joys and her hurts, her dreams and her failures, what she valued and what she learned on her life's journey.

My mother titles my daughter's album, "MEMORIES" and includes this poem by my father.

MEMORIES

Our house is filled with memories
Of happy nights and days
When laughter bubbled through each room
From children we did raise.

Their play and fun just made the time
Rush by for Mom and me
Our kids would do unusual things
Which we would pause to see.

They whispered in the kitchen
And spread with jam their bread,
Or battled with their pillows
Before they went to bed!

They loved their dog and kitties
With all their childish glee,
And shared their beds and goodies
Wherever they would be!

These kids are grown and gone from home
And lonesome now are we;
But happy days will ever live-
They live in memory!

(Rev. Max Bailey - December 1976)

My mother left a legacy to treasure and pass on. Now it's my time to pass the legacy on . . .