Loved Ones Long Gone

          I grew up not knowing who my Grandparents were because they were all dead before I was born.  This saddened me greatly and I had this unnatural (bordering on obsessive) desire to know them.   Through the years I have come to learn a lot about them, some things that even my mother and father did not know.   I became obsessed with genealogy (the study of one’s family history) when I was in my very early 20’s and now have tens of thousands of relatives (and yes, I have that many) in a database with their dates of birth, marriage and deaths, places and photos of their graves, and photos and stories of their lives.

          My intent has always been to publish a story about what I find, but it is an overwhelming task.  I can not tell you just how many hours of my life I have spent doing family history research, but it is far too many to count.   One day I hope to make my book a reality, but until then, I’ll keep on digging for the stories that make the loved ones I never knew real to me.

          I love old cemeteries, old stories and most of all, old pictures.   Pictures capture a moment in time that would all but be lost, especially for those who never knew the people in them.  Below are a few of my family members that I love to look at and share.

          On the left is my Grandmother and Grandfather, Elijah Albright “Lige” Veal and Carrie Elizabeth Edna Frances Sarratt Veal.  In the middle is my father, Joe Dorsey “J.D.” Petty when he looked like a little girl, haha!  And then my mother, Martha Frances Veal when she was 3 years old.

 

          On the left is (from left to right), my great-grandfather,  Green Berry Sarratt, my grandfather, Elijah Albright Veal, Sr., Bobby Davis, my uncle, E. A. “Bub” Veal, Jr. and my great-grandmother Alice Miller Turner Sarratt.  Bobby Davis was the grandson of Alice’s sister Ella Sarratt Mitchell and Bub Veal is the brother of Martha and Eloise Veal.      The next picture is of my great aunt, Lucy Hope Sarratt (sister of Carrie) and a friend sometime around 1914 or so when she was about 20.    And the picture on the right is of my mother and her sister, Martha Frances Veal and Alice Eloise Veal.

          My mother and her mother shortly before Grandmother died in 1938.   My mother in about 1935 at about age 25 and then my dad when he was in the service, somewhere around 1943.

 

          My mother’s grandmother, Alice Miller Turner Sarratt and then her daughter, Ella Sarratt Mitchell.   One of the only pictures we have of my mother and both of her siblings, E. A. “Bub” Veal, Jr., my mother, Martha Frances Veal Petty and their sister, Alice Eloise Veal Mitchell.

          I know that they are now all together and happy again, but it still doesn’t make it any easier on those of us left behind.  I miss each and every one of them more than I can express and long for the days when we will all be together again.  In the meantime, I will try to make them proud of those of us who carry on the legacy they left behind.

          Remember to honor those you love and make them proud, whether they are still here or “Long Gone”.

Mom, April and Steve naming Becca

My mother and father lived for the day when I would have them some grandchildren. When Steve came along, they doted on him and spoiled him every chance that they got. My mother would say that his “poop” didn’t stink (I’m here to tell you it did, but that’s another story).

When we found out that we were going to have another baby and it was a girl, Mom and Steve decided that they were going to name her. I only had one stipulation and that was that I wanted her middle name to be Joenne after me. They both agreed and immediately said Stephanie (after Steve) Joenne, but my sister-in-law and I were both pregnant and she had already decided to name her’s Stephanie if it was a little girl.

They were disappointed but set out on a quest to find just the right name. Steve got out books so he could find girl names and he and Mom sat on the sofa and put names together for what seemed like hours. Bobby wanted her named something that would have a nickname that he could call her by. It was funny listening to all the combinations that Mom and Steve came up with. Bobby would check each name for what the initials would spell, what nicknames she could be called by and other name related problems. The whole family got in on the act. Mom and Steve finally came up with Rebecca Joenne and it was agreed that we would call her Becca.

Never in the history of our family has it taken so much time and effort to name a new baby. But it was worth it, Becca seems to fit her just perfectly. And the whole family was happy with her name.

I have a P.S. to this story - April called me and reminded me that she was the one who originally said something to my mom about calling the baby "Becca" and I have no doubt that she did.  No matter what, it's fun that we all had a hand in naming her!