It’s been a great week with my NewYork girls! Today we’ll be entertaining Aunties and Cousins, taking final group pictures on the swing, and fixing our Forever sign, so it will be just a blink before we find ourselves hugging these sweeties good-bye on Sunday.
You could guess that I talk about our ancestry with the grands whenever I can, so Emma and Eliza were held hostage the other night as I read to them about my grandparents, Verla Ruth and Robert A. Mayne. It was almost spooky when I read that they had married on August 8, 1926–100 years ago today.
Writing their story was some of the most engrossing research I have ever done. My grandfather was the Big Mayne Family Secret, not to be spoken of. My grandmother lived to be 90 and I knew her well, but she did not want to talk about it. My Dad finally spoke of him when he was dying.
It’s a Tragic Story, this one, and I thought you might like to read it. It was published on my family genealogy blog, All My Ancestors, in 2022.
I don’t know what to think about an ancestor like my grandfather. It took us two generations to undo his damage.
I’m so Grateful that my grandchildren won’t have to be saddened when they read my life story.
I hope your story is a happy one, too!
Peace
P.S. Thanks again to all the new subscribers! I’ll be sharing photos from the grandies’ visit next week and get back to regular posting!
Discover more from The News from Sonnystone Acres
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The News from Sonnystone Acres 
Jo, there’s real courage in what you’ve done. You went looking into the dark places, the things nobody wanted to talk about. And you didn’t look away. You researched. You wrote it down. You broke the silence.
That’s how healing happens. Not by pretending. By naming it. By saying: this happened. It hurt. But it stops here. It doesn’t get passed down again.
And now you’re building something different with Emma and Eliza. A story where the forever sign holds, where the family pictures don’t hide secrets, where they can read your life without carrying shame that isn’t theirs to carry.
That’s the real legacy. Not what your grandfather did. What you did,the breaking of the cycle. The choosing to be different. The writing it down so it never has to be a secret again.
Beautiful, hard, necessary work. 💙
Love and hugs 🫂
Khadija
LikeLike