My cousin Harry is quite a researcher into family history. From time to time he sends me photos and descriptions of material that he has uncovered about our common ancestors. His mother is my father's sister.
Last week Harry sent me a 20 page history of our common ancestry. The timing was actually pretty interesting. Thanksgiving was the holiday that we usually shared with Harry's family, including our grandmother. Fay was very fond of Lydia Rapport, her mother-in-law. When they were courting, my father would take Fay to his house on Virginia Avenue in south St. Louis. My mom used to tell me how civilized she thought the Rapports were. They actually set the table with knives and forks at each place instead of piling them in the middle of the table like her mother did.
I think Lydia taught my mother to cook. Since Fay was the youngest in a family that included four daughters, her jobs around the house were mostly cleaning up; certainly not cooking. My mom made delicious fried chicken and great fruit pies (I liked cherry best), skills she learned from Lydia.
I brought Harry's family history with me this weekend and read Fay some of the parts I thought she'd be most interested in. Fay was pretty sleepy both Saturday and Sunday this week. But when I asked her if she remembered Virginia Avenue, she said "yes" and smiled. I reminder her about the pies, and she smiled at that too.
On Thanksgiving Day, Wendy, Misha, and Simon will come to us for a few days. We told Fay that Wendy and her family would be coming to see her. She commented that Simon was cute, so I suspect that she understands that Wendy has a child. We're looking forward to the visit.
