52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy - Worst School Subject

Week 43:  Worst School Subject. What was your worst or least favorite subject in school and why?

 My least favorite schools subjects - and the ones I struggled in the most - were math and science.  I still don't like them today, which is probably why I struggle so much trying to understand DNA!  I find that I have forgotten a lot of my multiplication tables and am totally dependent on a calculator.  The first "C" I ever got on a report card was in 5th grade math.  That's how big an impression it made on me.  That and the fact my father went and spoke to my teacher about my grade.  That is the same year we discovered that I am nearsighted, and I started wearing glasses.  I could blame my poor grade in math on my not being able to see the chalkboard, but that wasn't it.  I am just bad at math.  Even though I have many left brain characteristics, being good at math is not one of them!  All those X's and Y's make no sense to me.

 

As I mentioned, I never cared for science, either.  Especially not biology.  I am not squeamish about much, but dissecting frogs did NOT appeal to me at all.  Maybe I'm too much of an animal lover.   Chemistry is too much like math, in my opinion.  I would much rather know when we landed on the moon than how the rocket got there. 

So, Ginger, when you are trying to explain DNA results to me, with words like genomes and chromosomes or acronyms like mtDNA, and my eyes glaze over... now you know why!

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2011) that invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants. You do not have to be a blogger to participate. If you do not have a genealogy blog, write down your memories on your computer, or simply record them on paper and keep them with your files.

 

Which Traits are you Passing Down?

The idea for this post came from Marian's Roots & Rambles blog. 

It's always neat to find common interests, vocations, or physical traits that we share with our ancestors.  My father told me that I walk just like his mother.  I am one in a long line of cat lovers which includes my great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother. 

If you could leave a note for your descendants, which traits would you tell them about yourself?  Now I do not have children, but I do have nieces and nephews, and I see myself in them.  I am fond of stating "He/She gets that from me" about any one of them when they say or do something familiar.

"Dear future generations,

While I will never meet you in person, I am happy to know that many of you carry a piece of me, whether it be a physical trait or a personality quirk.  I'd like to share some things you may have gotten from me: 

Thick hair.  So thick that combs have broken while trying to go through it.  It is heavy, hard to style, and has a mind of its own.  So if you have thick hair, you may have gotten that from me.

My love of animals.  I do not like to see any animal hurt (especially the non-predatory kind).  They are the most innocent of beings and domestic animals depend on humans for their well-being.  My home has always been open to cats, dogs, and even fish.  If you love animals, you probably got that from me.

My interest in history and genealogy.  If you find yourself visiting historic sites on vacations or staying up until the wee hours of morning searching through online census records, then you may have inherited my obsession.  This will be maddening and time consuming, but well worth it.  Trust me. 

There are many other things about me you may have inherited... My love of potatoes, Mexican food, and McDonald's french fries; my bluntness; my sarcastic sense of humor; my loyalty to those I love; my inherent kindness and generosity; my temper; my moodiness; or my ability to organize.  Embrace these things. 

Love,

Your ancestor, 

Aunt Lizzie"

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Vacations

Week 27:  Vacations. Where did your family go on vacation? Did you have a favorite place? Is it still there? If not, how has the area changed?

Even though I do not have any children of my own, since I was a child at one time myself, I have a few definite ideas of things I believe are good for them:  sitting down to dinner as a family every night, being read to every night before bed, having the responsibility of caring for a pet, and taking a VACATION every year.  I have to give my parents their due:  We did go on vacation when I was a child.  It was almost always to the same place, but we went.

Our vacation spot was in Lake Lure, North Carolina every June (see map).  Its claim to fame now is that it is where "Dirty Dancing" was filmed.  We were going there before that.  We were usually there over my birthday, and my mom would make sure I had a birthday cake and gifts in our motel room to celebrate.

Image courtesy of The Town of Lake Lure official website

Lake Lure is in the mountains, and it was and probably still is a beautiful place.  I haven't been there in years and years and years, so I do not even know what it looks like today.  I am sure there are more motels now than there were back in the late 1970's.  The town's official website gives the history of the area and describes what it is like today.

I found some postcards and pictures I have from those trips:

Lake Lure

Bottomless Pools, Lake Lure

Where we stayed

See the specs in the bottom, left-hand corner of the pictures?  That would be me and a friend at Lake Lure. I'm the taller one.

Just down the road from Lake Lure was Chimney Rock.  You didn't visit one without visiting the other.  Here are a postcard I collected and a few pictures from there:

That would be me.

(Even as a child, I loved and collected postcards everywhere I went!)

I will post just one more picture... this is one of the beautiful mountain streams in the area:

My father, Gilbert Tapley, along with my grand-aunt, Alice Thornburg (with her back turned), me, and a family friend.