Monday, April 11, 2016

A to Z April Challenge: I is for Imagination

Genealogists and family historians get a lot of satisfaction from chasing their ancestors’ stories. Finding a diary, a message on a postcard, or a photo with a name attached is like the sun coming out after a storm. One day we will be somebody’s ancestor. We need to leave our descendants a little bit of sunshine too. So here is my story told alphabetically, not chronologically: Growing Up in Cradock.


is for imagination.

You have to admit it: I was pretty darn cute as a kid. But that cuteness extended beyond the adorable face with a dimple in my chin. I had an imagination that kept my parents on their toes.

Wendy Slade about 1953 Portsmouth, VA  http://jollettetc.blogspot.com
Wendy about 1953
at Grandma and Granddaddy Davis's house in Cradock

Like the time I toddled into the bedroom and asked Momma, “Who’s that man in the kitchen?”  Poor Momma, probably only 24 years old.  She was petrified.  She found a baseball bat or club or something and inched her way to the empty kitchen.   Did I make this man up?  Or was there really a stranger in the house?  Momma never knew for sure, but since there were often “hobos” riding the rails through Charlottesville, she believed he was real.

Or like the time I told Momma there was a kitty cat under the bed.  Momma did not like animals in the house, particularly cats.  She looked and looked but found no cat. 

Or like the numerous times they had to set the table for 4 to accommodate my imaginary friend, Bobby Cox.  (No, not the coach of the Atlanta Braves – he hadn’t been invented yet.)  They always wondered if Bobby Cox was a boy or girl.  I don’t know either.  I have no memory of any of this, just their repeated stories amidst laughter.

Yep, adorable.

Wendy Slade probably Easter 1953 at Violetta Davis Ryan's house Harrisonburg, VA   http://jollettetc.blogspot.com
Wendy probably Easter in Harrisonburg, VA 1953

If you are so inclined, you can inspect other imaginative and innovative blogs at the A to Z April Challenge.

© 2016, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved

26 comments:

  1. Nice one... reminded me of the tales i have heard of my childhood... and my imaginary friend ( based on a popular school boy :p )and his heroic tales i used to spin to mom :-)

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    1. A boy, eh? Do tell more! Thanks for visiting.

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  2. Very cute pictures and stories. Also I love both your little coats in the photos.

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    1. Momma made the first one, so I think she made the second one too.

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  3. Very cute pictures of you! Maybe your imagination then helps you now with your research into your family history:)

    betty

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    1. Hey, maybe so. I can imagine where people went??

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  4. oh my goodness you are adorable! I always love seeing pictures of people as children!

    @AllysePanaro from
    The Frog Lady

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    1. Most people were probably cuter as babies anyway.
      Thanks for visiting!

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  5. A cute picture to match the cute story. Thanks so much for sharing your childhood memories.

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    1. Thanks ~ had to come up with something for "I." HA

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  6. You definitely were a cutie! And sounds like you had a great imagination, too.

    Having just an older sister, I longed for an older brother to join the family. So I invented one! His name was 'Rob' and no one knew about him because he was in the military. LOL!

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    1. Military?!?! You had a good excuse for his invisibility. How old were you to think of that??

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    2. I must have been about 6 or 8. I was 7 when my brother was born and it was about that time.

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  7. That velvet coat in the top photo would have made me so jealous! Being girly was so well done back in the day!
    Stephanie Finnell
    @randallbychance from
    Katy Trail Creations
    Stephanies Stuff

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    1. My mom saved that pattern and made a similar coat for my daughter. Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. Love the old photos. What a great idea to blog for future genealogists in the family to find.

    And I chuckled to see all the I's bolded in the end note.

    Visiting from the A-Z Challenge. I'm doing it with seven of my blogs this year.

    Here are a few of them:
    Heart of a Ready Writer
    Kicking MS to the Curb
    Working in Words
    Fad to the Bone – Dog Products Revue

    Happy A-Z!

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    1. 7??? I bow to the master! I'm amazed you have time to visit.

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  9. Yep, I can see how you must have been an imaginative child...it has followed you into adulthood, and served you well through your genealogy research and certainly in the AtoZ Challenges. Good job!
    Sue at CollectInTexas Gal

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    1. HA that's funny. I feel my imagination is drying up!

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  10. An imagination is essential in your line of work... and mine too!
    JEN Garrett's Lexical Creations

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  11. I adore your photos! You were a poster baby! Funny stories.

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  12. Ainsley all day long in these photos! Part Jason, Part Wendy, I see trouble! ;-)

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  13. Oh you were adorable is right! Apparently from my parent's stories, I did much of the same....oh imagine the fun you and I would have had as kids!

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  14. Adorable, imaginative and challenging!! I had one like that ;) And my grandson had an imaginary friend...that completely threw me.

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