Saturday, April 20, 2013


Here
Threads of Life
Weekend Writing Warriors
20 April 2013

I am continuing to write of my maternal grandmother’s family. Today I am writing as if it is a memoir of my grandmother, Minna Schumann (daughter of August Schumann and Auguste Freimann) after her parents have died.

“Oh how I missed dear sweet Mama., who sang to us and told us stories! I was eight years old when MaMa died. I could not even remember Papa who died when I was two years old. Grandma Caroline (Freimann) took charge of us after Mama’s death. Grandma decided to take us on to our uncles in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada. My uncles left West Prussia to go to Canada in 1895, the same year that Papa died. They were strangers to me and I worried that they would not be happy to see four more children to feed.  It was a long and difficult trip, finding our way by trains and sea tossed ships.”


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11 comments:

  1. Hard on children not to know that they're wanted.

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  2. Great way to surmise what happened next. Well done!! You are doing a wonderful job of telling your family history in story form. (I know, I know. I say that every week--but it's true!)

    (No WWW snippet for me this week.)

    History Sleuth's Writings

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  3. Oooohhhh I love genealogy!! It sounds like you have quite the story to tell :-) Love the phrase "sea tossed ships" ... such an accurate portrayal!! Looking forward to reading what comes next!!

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    1. Thanks Sara. Births, deaths, now they are here, now they are there mean nothing unless you try to put some context with it.

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  4. I would swear that I left a comment here, but I don't see it.

    I like the change up in the POV. First person really draws the reader in. What do you think of it, Carol?

    It might be interesting to have it in one person's POV until they are quite old, and then have a younger relative become the new POV character. Just a thought.

    And I can hardly wait for your children/grandchildren to get their copies of your book! ;-)

    Great job--I'm so proud of you! :-)

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  5. Thank you so much for your suggestions. That is what I mean by learning how to write! A friend also said she left a comment but when she came back it wasn't here. Or are only wewriwa allowed to leave comments.

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  6. I so hope that I can find the file on her uncles before Saturday...or next week. When I moved, the movers removed everything from my file cabinets and put it into boxes. I haven't found the proper box yet. It was not put into a box as a standing file but layered up. Ugh.

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  7. I love the history and meaning behind this writing. There's a riveting sense of nostalgia laced throughout and the tone is authentic. Fantastic.

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