Sentimental Sunday: It Will All Be History One Day
I recently unearthed some old photographs showing my father-in-law as a child with his family around the table at a Thanksgiving dinner in 1950. I believe it was taken that year judging from his apparent age and that of his siblings.
I posted a digital copy of one of the photos to Facebook to share with him, his other brothers and other members of the family. It generated a lot of reminiscing and discussion. I checked in with the brothers and wrote down any recollections they had of the time. We recently buried the youngest member of the family, Tom Westfall, just last month. He is pictured in those Thanksgiving photos at about the age of 3.
There were ten children altogether, but two died in infancy. (Plus from his first marriage, their father Lawrence had an infant daughter who died). The photo on the left, taken around 1947, is a snapshot of the surviving eight. Tom, in Marie's arms, is about a year old.
The oldest child of Lawrence and Mabel and their only surviving daughter was Marie Geraldine Westfall, born in May of 1926.
I can remember Aunt Marie coming down to visit while we lived in Florida. I was pregnant with my second child at the time. We had decided on Megan as the first name for a girl but were still debating on the middle name. Standing in the dinner line with Aunt Marie at the local Moose club, I remember her asking me about baby names. I told her Megan and shared one of the ideas we had for the middle name (but I cannot recall now what it was.) Aunt Marie laughed good-naturedly and said that name was too long. I agreed, saying we had not made a final decision yet. Later I was telling my husband about the conversation. It dawned on me then that Marie would be an ideal middle name and that is what we did! The beauty is that Marie was also the name of one of Aunt Marie's aunts on her mother's side as well as the name of a great grandmother on Aunt Marie's paternal side. (Also, Meg can be a nickname for Margaret which was Aunt Marie's paternal grandmother.)
I can remember being thrilled to finally discover that my mother named me after Dawn Wells, the actress who played Mary Ann on the television series Gilligan's Island. For years when I would ask, my mom said she could not remember where she got the name Dawn from. One day about three years ago, her and I sat watching television together. An old rerun from Gilligan's Island was on and my mother exclaimed, "That's who I named you for!"
So dear Megan, while it would surprise me if I have never told you this story, you may not remember and I may forget. It will all be history one day and so I'm passing down the story now here to you.
I posted a digital copy of one of the photos to Facebook to share with him, his other brothers and other members of the family. It generated a lot of reminiscing and discussion. I checked in with the brothers and wrote down any recollections they had of the time. We recently buried the youngest member of the family, Tom Westfall, just last month. He is pictured in those Thanksgiving photos at about the age of 3.
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| Marie G. Westfall about 1927 daughter of Lawrence L. and Mabel L. (Smith) Westfall |
The oldest child of Lawrence and Mabel and their only surviving daughter was Marie Geraldine Westfall, born in May of 1926.
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| Aunt Marie at the 2007 Westfall Reunion |
I can remember Aunt Marie coming down to visit while we lived in Florida. I was pregnant with my second child at the time. We had decided on Megan as the first name for a girl but were still debating on the middle name. Standing in the dinner line with Aunt Marie at the local Moose club, I remember her asking me about baby names. I told her Megan and shared one of the ideas we had for the middle name (but I cannot recall now what it was.) Aunt Marie laughed good-naturedly and said that name was too long. I agreed, saying we had not made a final decision yet. Later I was telling my husband about the conversation. It dawned on me then that Marie would be an ideal middle name and that is what we did! The beauty is that Marie was also the name of one of Aunt Marie's aunts on her mother's side as well as the name of a great grandmother on Aunt Marie's paternal side. (Also, Meg can be a nickname for Margaret which was Aunt Marie's paternal grandmother.)
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| Marie (Kelzer or Kilger) Pfeffer (1852-1931) great-grandmother of Marie G. Westfall 3rd great grandmother of Megan Marie Westfall |
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| Megan Marie Westfall |
I can remember being thrilled to finally discover that my mother named me after Dawn Wells, the actress who played Mary Ann on the television series Gilligan's Island. For years when I would ask, my mom said she could not remember where she got the name Dawn from. One day about three years ago, her and I sat watching television together. An old rerun from Gilligan's Island was on and my mother exclaimed, "That's who I named you for!"
So dear Megan, while it would surprise me if I have never told you this story, you may not remember and I may forget. It will all be history one day and so I'm passing down the story now here to you.
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