Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Drum Roll Please......

And the winner is....... 

 
Kaz
Congratulations! Now here's the rule....you have until 5:00 PM PDT on September 13th.,  to email me (see my profile) or comment on this blog page.  Please do not put your contact info into the comment section, however let me know your full name and address if you are emailing me. 
 
Remember, if I don't hear from Kaz, I'll have my husband draw another name.  So, maybe you'll still have a chance to win.....
 
When I came home from class today, I was met with an envelope of photos sent to me by my cousin, Diane.  I haven't seen Diane since sometime in the 1960's, so it's been awhile, however, we did find one another on Facebook and have recently exchanged short messages and emails. 
 
I'm going to tell you a bit of a story about the photo I'm going to share and then you'll know why I'm writing this post to thank Diane.  When I was a small child, my brother and I went to live in foster care.  We were very lucky.  I was about 5 and my brother 8 or 9.  Don and Marion brought us into their family and we lived there until we graduated from High School and to this day refer to them as "Mom and Dad" and though Becky is the only sister that remains living, we came into a family with another brother and two sisters. 
 
The down side to this story is, there were many years that passed that I didn't have much contact with my birth family.  I did stay in touch with my Aunt Effie, Uncle Rosie, Aunt Kate and Uncle Ollie and though as an adult I moved 2500 miles away, I would visit them whenever I went to visit my foster family.  Which I will admit was not often enough. 
 
Diane told me while going through her mother's things, she found several photos that I might be interested in having.  Today they arrived.  I can't tell you, and I'm sure those who have close birth families can't understand how I felt.  I am now in possession of more photos of my mom and dad than I have ever seen.  I also have photos of me in the early years.  Photos  of me with cousins and aunts and uncles as kids. 
 
I'm going to post two photos.  In the first photo, I'm the short blond and Diane is the blond standing next to me.  As a child she was my hero.  I thought she was the prettiest girl I'd ever seen and when I grew up, I wanted to look just like her.  I was on the hand-me-down list for all of the clothing she'd outgrown and I loved every item.  So, here we are:
The next photo of is of little ole me....
I think I'm about 5 or 6, and the doll I'm holding I do remember.  I actually had her into my teens.  Her name was Temar.  I have absolutely no idea where she came from or why I named her Temar.  I think she was probably the only toy I took with me into foster care, and though I can't tell you for sure, that might be why I hung onto her for so many years. 
 
My brother and I were very fortunate.  We had wonderful foster parents and foster siblings.  I also have memories of my mom and dad, that my Aunt Effie and Aunt Kate kept alive.  I am so thankful that Diane passed the photos on to me. 
 
For my kids,  I'll be posting more on Face Book as I scan them. 
 
Have a most wonderful week.  I'll see you in cyberspace...
 
Hugs,
Mary
AKA:  Glitter Grammy

9 comments:

  1. Oh Mary, what a touching post. Thank you for sharing. Hugs, Di xx

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  2. It must have been an emotional moment for you Mary!! Beautiful memories of childhood are always cherished...and its strange how they make you smile each time !! Such a touching post! Lovely pics I must say!! Enjoy...
    And congrats to Kaz!!!

    Hugs
    Jaya

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  3. what a lovely post. I'm sending prayers to you and all those who loved you.
    Natasha

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  4. Such a moving and emotional story Mary, thank you for sharing it with us. It's great to think these photo's have survived all this time without getting lost or damaged, a truly precious memory for you to keep and pass to your kids.

    Have a great week xx

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  5. Oh what a moving post this is Mary...I cannot imagine how you felt seeing those photos!!

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  6. Lovely post and very moving story Mary, I can't imagine all the emotions you felt when you received these photos...they're adorable too :)

    Tags xx

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  7. Sweet tale Mary. Lovely photo's . . . glad you get to treasure them now.

    Congrats to your winner.

    Hugs
    Sarn xxx

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  8. Oh Mary, I loved the photos of you as a child and I'd love to see more if you wouldn't mind sharing. I understand completely how you felt when you received them. My own father dies when I was 5 and I have no photos of him, only my memories, and my greatest fear in life is that I will wake up one day and won't be able to remember his face. If someone gave me a photo of him now I'd be totally overcome with emotion.

    Hugs
    Brenda

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  9. Hi Mary,

    What a great story. I'm so glad that you now have these photos. You were such a little cutie patootie! I absolutely love old photos.

    I'm slowly catching up with my blogging friends. I'm so glad I came to this post.

    Hugs,
    Kay

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