Monday Memories: Grandma

Today, I’m sharing memories of my maternal grandmother, whose given name was “Rosa Mae”, but her friends called her “Mae”.

One of the most interesting things about Grandma was, after her death, we discovered that she was born on June 15. She had always celebrated on June 23, and we never knew why she chose to claim 8 days later as her birthday.

This is the earliest photo I have of Grandma. When I was a child, someone in the family discovered this picture.  At this time, Ben and Mae Ellis were the parents of ten children.  It was determined that the two babies were Thomas (l) and Bennie (r).  Bennie was born in 1921, and this picture was obviously summertime, so all calculations point to this being the summer of 1922. My mom is the dark-haired girl, third from the left.  She would have been 12 then.

Grandma would later give birth to Stanley in 1923, and Sarah in 1925.

I don’t know the date on this photo, but it was prior to 1952, the year my grandfather passed away.

This photo, taken at one of our family reunions in the 1960’s, is how I remember Grandma. She passed away at the age of 82, when I was 16.

Several years ago, I was asked to portray her during a ‘ghost walk’ at Bacon’s Castle.  It was quite an honor. These pictures were both taken at ‘the Castle’.  If you can’t tell, that’s Grandma on the left and me on the right. I’m standing in the same area that she was, but the steps had been removed.

Mom and I lived about a quarter mile from Grandma, so we spent quite a bit of time with her during my childhood.

So, Happy Birthday, yesterday, Grandma.  Your birthday will always be June 23 to me, just as it was to you….for reasons unknown.

~These Days Of Mine~