Thursday, October 22, 2009

Remembering those who came before


This is a photo of my Great Grandmother and Grandfather. Valentine and Julia were married in Poland on October 28th 1916. Very often marriages took place before winter in the area where they came from. That makes sense to have someone to go through the winter with to keep you warm!

I am fascinated by this photo because of my Grandmother's wedding gown. There are herbs and foliage sew into her gown. I have never seen anything like it before. My Great Aunts told me rosemary was used and other herbs. They are hard to make out from the photo. Rosemary for remembrance. So your husband would not wander he would remember his love. Good idea in my opinion. Anyway, I thought I'd share this and if anyone has a similar photo of family I'd love to here all about it.

Valentine and Julia went on to have five children. My Grandmother being one of them. I never got a chance to meet them. Great Grandmother lives on through me in the recipes that have been handed down to me. My sons share some similar features with my Great Grandfather Valentine. Don't you just love that name it was passed down several times. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

10 comments:

Kris Dickinson said...

What a wonderful picture and interesting story. Thanks so much for sharing.- Kris

Chris 'Frog Queen' Davis said...

Quite interesting. Had never heard of the herb idea before. A bit of magic mixed in the ceremony, I like that :)

Thanks for sharing that lovely story and what a great name!

Cheers!

Dede said...

Oh Becca you are so lucky to have pictures of your great grandparents. I don't even have one. Due to a loss in a move, mom had told me and I guess the rest due to a fire.

I love the thought of sewing herbs into the dress. I bet it was beautiful in color!

The name is a wonderful old name. Treasure those pictures and keep them safe.

(((HUGS)))

Suzie said...

Oh how lucky you are to have photos of your Great Grandparents! They are beyond value!!

That is SO interesting about the herbs sewn into her dress, like that. I have heard of one or two sewn into a hem, but never that many, and in that fashion. That is SO interesting!

It seems that your interest in the majickal world comes through in your genes. What a wonderful legacy they left you!

magikalseasons said...

Thanks everyone! I am very lucky to have these and many more. I enjoy looking through them. I have some of a 1950's Thanksgiving of my family I will post. They are so nostalgic.
I'm sorry Dede that yours have been lost.
Suzie I have heard of sewing herbs into a hem. My Grandmother's have passed on some magical traits. :)

Sharon Day said...

Wow! I realize how very old my parents were. My dad was born in 1919 and my grandparents were married in 1916. I love the rosemary. That's so cool. If I were her, I would have kept rosemary under his pillow all his life just so he doesn't forget his love. That's so romantic. I have a similar picture of my grandparents married in Norway. I look at it and wish I had her dress so much. It sucks being the baby of both sides of a huge family. It's like all the good stuff happened before you come along. I never got to meet my grandparents. My parents were so old, they were like grandparents, so they just told me their stories. I always wanted the elderly grandparents with the stories of the old country. Polish blood, huh? They make some beautiful people! When I used to model, the girls from Poland were hugely popular!

Rue said...

Beautiful picture and wonderful about the herbs! Very earthy and magical!

I knew a guy who changed his name to Valentine. He though it was very distinguished. I agree!

yoborobo said...

What a sweet picture - they are young and in love. :) And I wonder if you could smell the herbs in her gown while she walked down the aisle? Isn't it nice that we have scanners so we can make copies of things? We send CDs of our old family pics to our family members to keep as extra copies. I guess we're paranoid! LOL!!

The Artful Gypsy aka Wendy the Very Good Witch said...

Wow...GREAT photo. And you can see the herbs sewn in. How fabulous! I love to see old photos like these, especially ones with interesting details such as that. Thank you so much for sharing with us! :o)

Jeanne said...

Thanks for sharing! A unique bit of history that can be handed down through the generations.