Connie, we miss you!

Well, today is the second anniversary of my Mom's passing.  I still have a hard time believing that she's gone.  But, she is.  So, I thought that it would be nice and therapeutic for me to share some pictures and memories.

So, here's a picture of my Mom as close to a baby as I have...isn't she cute?












This is her a little older, in her Kielbasa curls, as she called them.  She reminds me of my niece, Paige, here.

















More Kielbasa Curls!  This was taken in 1948, I think she was in a wedding.

This is her high school graduation picture.  She graduated from Nazareth Academy in 1957 with High Honors.  This was often pointed out when my report card came home!!

This one is a favorite picture of mine.  She is getting ready for her wedding, at my Granny's house and the lovely ladies assisting her are her Mother (my Granny) and my Dad's Mom (Grandmom Robinson).  This was a little over a year after her graduation, November 1st, 1958.

My cute Daddy with my Mom after the wedding!

This one was quite a few years later!  We traveled out west.  That's my Mom holding me up and my brother, Scott standing on the wagon. 











And a few years later, here she is cracking up at Julia!  Jul had a great time smashing up her first birthday cake and my Mom truly enjoyed her grandchildren!!

This is a great one of her and my brother, Scott!!  This was taken at a Mother's Day celebration at my Sister's house!

I'm so glad to have so many pictures to share!  This is me and my Mom at my bridal shower.  We are both cracking up at my wedding cake topper!!









Here she was dancing at my wedding, you can't quite tell, but fingers pointed up was her signature move!  She really had a great time!

Granny and her grandchildren (up until that point...Emma wasn't born yet!)  This was her Birthday celebration.

Here she is with her best friend, Carol.  This was taken at my Dad's 70th Birthday Party.












This is a great one of her swinging on the swings with Ivan.  This was in Ocean City.

Another fav!  Here she's picking crabs apart with Jake.  He just wanted to play with the claws and she was OK with that ;)  This was also in Ocean City.

Emma's First Birthday!  I love this...check out Jake sneaking the icing off the cake!












This one was shot by Jake!  Another Ocean City pic!  Mom and Donna Rae.

Donna Rae, Mom and Me at my Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary party.  She was actually quite angry with us for having it.  She did not like to be the center of attention!  TOO BAD!!!

On the beach in that damned wig!  I am amazed at what she still managed to do while having those chemo treatments!  She was a hell of a roll model!










This one is my Dad's favorite picture.  It was taken at my wedding.  They both had a great time!

And here's the whole crew from our Disney Trip in 2008!  Thank you Mom and Dad!

Funeral Card Friday: Samuel Raynor Robinson, 1899-1980


Samuel Raynor Robinson,
December 29th, 1899 - October 2nd, 1980

Front of Funeral Card

Back of Funeral Card

 

This is the funeral card for my Grandpop Robinson.  I was 7 when he died, and didn't attend the funeral.  I remember him fondly.

Edward Aubrey Lee, Jr, 1904 - 1981

This is the Delaware Birth Record for Edward Aubrey Lee, Jr.  He is the Grandfather of my brother-in-law, Rick Lee.  I was recently adding some information to the tree from his uncle's obituary and it led me to this record on Ancestry.com. 

It has a great deal of good information on it.  Edward was born on March 30, 1904 at 1212 Dupont in Delaware.  His father was Edward Augustus Lee, who was 33 years and a Master Carpenter born in New Jersey.  His mother was Jeannette (not sure of the middle name) Wallace, who was 28 years and born in New Jersey as well.

Finding James B Robinson

James Benjamin Robinson.  I grew up calling him Uncle Pete.  He was my Dad's Paternal Uncle.  I got to thinking about him the other day, while Jake was playing his harmonica at my Dad's house.  My Dad grabbed it and played a song for them.  I thought of Uncle Pete.  He always had his harmonica.  I can picture him sitting on the couch in my parents living room at Christmas time, jamming on the harmonica (if that's possible).  He was really into it!
The mystery that I'm trying to resolve is:  Who did Uncle Pete live with after his father passed away?
I've been told for years that he was raised by Ida's sister, Mabel.  My dad and mom had told me years ago that Uncle Pete was raised by an Aunt.  Never any mention of the father having passed away.  My Dad didn't know how young the brothers were when their father passed, so he just thought they didn't have the money to keep him.  Which is likely true, except that it was due to the fact that Thomas died.

The family consisted of Ida Alice Mason, AKA Mom Kuster (she later remarried), Thomas Crossley Robinson were the parents.  They had my grandfather, Samuel Raynor Robinson in 1898 and his brother James Benjamin Robinson in 1901.  They lived in the Kensington section of Philadelphia on G Street.  Hopefully it was a better place to be back then!  Thomas passed away in 1911, the death certificate says it was from Epilepsy with mental derangement as a contributing factor, when Samuel was 14 and James was 10.  I've been told that at this point James had to live with Ida's sister, Mabel.  Ida couldn't afford to keep both children.  It is my guess that Samuel was probably working already at the age of 14, so he was contributing some income.  I can't find any evidence of the split of the brothers, however, due to the time frame.  It all falls right smack in the middle of 2 censuses.  In 1910, They all lived with Thomas' mother, Mary,  at 3439 G Street (I suspect Thomas was sick at the time).  In February of 1911, based on the Death Certificate they lived at 807 Schiller Street.  By 1920, the next census year, Ida was remarried to Henry Benhart (unsure of spelling) Kuster, AKA Ben Kuster and both children were living with them at 3546 G Street.

So, this leaves me with my mystery...did Uncle Jim live with his Aunt Mabel?  My Dad and his brother Sam both recall this, however, Aunt Grace does not.  She tends to have the best memory about all of the Robinson family stories.  So, my Dad asked me to see if I could figure out if this is true or not!  So far, I cannot come up with a way to verify this.

Uncle Jim never married.  He was sent to Denver, Colorado by General Electric or Westinghouse to do electrical work there.  As far as we know, he worked for them until he retired.  While living out west, he developed a love of the rodeo.  I am unsure whether he just liked to watch or if he participated.

I wonder where I'll find him in the 1940 census when it's released next year.  It will likely take a while to find him, since it will not be indexed right away!!

Mystery Monday: I know who...wish I knew where!

Helen Josephine Samsel

This is a great picture of my Granny Smyczynski, taken well before she was my granny and even before she was a Smyczynski.  Her name is written on the back, looks like her writing to me.  "Helen Samsel".  This dates it before 1932, which is when she married my grandfather.  I with I knew where it was taken, such a cool spot!  I would assume it was taken in Philadelphia, somewhere...but of that I can't be sure.

Tombstone Tuesday: Angelo Rex, Samuel and Rex Patrick Riccardi

Angelo Rex Riccardi (1901-1953)

Samuel Riccardi (1893-1973)

Rex Patrick Riccardi (1939-2003)

Holy Cross Cemetery, Yeadon, PA

A Rex Riccardi is my husband's maternal grandfather.

Samuel Riccardi is A Rex's older brother.

Rex Patrick is A Rex's son, my Mother-in-law's Brother.

Motivation Monday: Spring Cleaning

Talk about Spring Cleaning!  This is my Grandmom, Lettie Mae (Black) Robinson, washing her beautiful marble steps at their house on Cedar Street in Port Richmond, Philadelphia, PA!  She was a wonderful woman and I miss her.  For some reason I thought about this picture today and thought I'd share it.  Not sure if it will motivate me, but it made me smile!