I thought some of you might be interested to see the original photos I cropped to make the art piece for Monday’s Poetry Party. The woman on the top was my paternal grandmother Erika who died when I was one year old. The middle woman I actually don’t know, I found her photo among the others and loved the way she was looking at the camera. She is connected to my family in some way, but it is still a mystery. The woman in the bottom photo was my great grandmother, Erika’s mother Ernestine, but she went by Erna. Erika and Erna are from the Austrian side of my ancestry.
The winner of this week’s drawing for a copy of Callings is Sue at Discombobula!
Thank you again to everyone who participated. I am blessed with such gifted readers. Our next Poetry Party will be on Monday, January 7th so we’re taking a little break until 2008.
Have a good weekend, may you find some moments to tend to the invitations of Advent and the gifts of winter.
-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts
9 Responses
Coincidentally, my mother’s name was Ernestine also – perhaps we’re all related:)
SS
Thanks Bette, so sweet of you to say and I like the mystery too. :-)
Christine, I see you in these beautiful women! So glad you shared these photos, and I kinda like the fact that the middle photo is a mystery ;-)
thanks lucy :-) You mayvery well have some Austrian blood in you, and who knows what you might discover when you dive into that family tree? Definitely soul sisters. :-)
ditto on your paternal grandmother. she has your smile & vibrance :-) also, a little fyi–my mother’s name was ernestine, not a name you hear very often. maybe i have a little austrian ancestry in there?!?!? maybe we are long lost relatives? soul sisters, at least :-)
Suz, I have an oil painting of her on my wall at home and several people have said the same thing to me. Its funny because even though I never knew her, I feel more connected to her becauseof her vibrance than my other grandmother who lived until I was 24 but never expressed any joy.
Kigen, thanks for sharing the beautiful haiku, very profound. How funny about the St Therese image, there is a resemblence in the eyes. Something joyful.
Sue, I am glad it came on a day when you needed it. Now lets hope the postal service gets it to you before next year! :-)
Hooray for me winning a copy of Callings! Hip hip hooray :)
This is my present for getting up on Saturday morning and going to work all day :)
Thanks, Christine
Christine,
a haiku by Chiyo-ni (1703-1775)
(from Women Poets from Antiquity to Now)
(p.174)
“Once my parents were older
than I, still children,
same cicadas.”
It seems odd, but we are all yet
as we once were — mother, daughter —
two children at play.
Seeing just the eyes I thought your
grandmom might be St. Thérèse of Lisieux
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thérèse_de_Lisieux
Thanks for sharing the photos, angelic!
Kigen
Oh, my, Christine…your paternal grandmother looks so much like you! That is so incredible.