Memories of the War Years

William Williams was my Grandpa John Williams' brother.

I recently discovered this photo last evening while interviewing my Dad. He had it stored in a box along with the newspaper clipping below. He died in WWI.

This is the medal given to Williams' family. My Dad now owns it.

At last, I've found a picture with more information about William who was nicknamed Willie.

What a sad and awful thing war is.

Don't be kidnapped by research!

My title was a sentence I found at Institute of Children's Literature, while reading an article by Kim Delmar Cory. I think that's what's happened to me! I could spend years sitting in the library doing research. I love to delve into the past. Somehow I must find the secret which will motivate me to finish my story. I will be 50 years old on June 15, and it's freaking me out. I've said it so many times before; unless I have a deadline, I seem to freeze and accomplish nothing. I will list the reasons why I should finish my story:

1. I believe it should be told.
2. My Mom and her sister, Emma, wish to read it.
3. Emma will be 90 years old next month. (so I'd better hurry)
4. It would give me a sense of great accomplishment.
5. If it was actually published I'd be thrilled beyond words. (it can't be published if it isn't written)
6. There aren't too many stories like it out there, so I feel it has a chance.

Now I have no excuses. My research is half finished, I bought all the books I'll ever need for my own use, and I must simply buckle down to work. Thanks for your support!

Memory Monday...Gusa Family

100 years ago in 1910, this family was preparing to leave their homeland near Rovno, Russia, now known as Ukraine. My Aunt Emma gave me this picture when I was a teen-ager, and my Mother kept it, making copies for all of us first. I was around 14 or 15 when the thought of "ancestors" began to intrigue me. For years I didn't clue in to the difficult life those relatives lived while in Russia at the turn of the last century.

My goal this year is to research the country from which the Gusa Family emigrated, along with the political situation, etc, in order to write a children's novel based on the life of my maternal Grandmother, Helena, whom I never met. She isn't shown in the picture above, taken in 1913, as she was married in 1912. However, she sewed her sisters beautiful dresses, and I've always been interested in that fact, as I inherited her love of sewing.

I've borrowed a few thick volumes on Ukraine's history, and it amazes me that I haven't had nightmares yet. I'm so thankful that my great grandparents had the foresight to escape in 1910, and create a new life in America, settling in Taylor, Texas first, until they paid off their ship indenture by picking cotton, and then relocating to the beautiful Eola Hills in Amity Oregon.

It's quite the story. I'm sure there is such a story in most of our backgrounds. I long to unearth it and share it with the world.