Mono ..........

 ........Monday109 (MM109) - Ancestors.

A photo of a photo taken in 1934 in Scarborough, Yorkshire - from left to right:

Frank (aged 8) my uncle,
Ruth (aged 32) my paternal grandma
George (aged 30) my paternal grandad
May (aged about 28) my great aunt (Ruth's sister)
(lady at the back unknown)
Don (aged 10) my dad.
Bill (age unknown) my great uncle (married to May)

I love that three of the men/boys are actually wearing swimming costumes, my grandad's trouser waistband held up high with braces and wearing a jacket.   Frank is obviously being held still by my grandma!!  :o))

It's so sad to think that none of these people are still alive - my Grandad died from cancer in 1976, my Grandma in 2002 (aged 99), Frank in 2004 and my lovely Dad in 2006, May in 2008 - am not sure when her husband, Bill, died but it was some time in the late '90s.

My Grandad was born in Luddenden Foot in West Yorkshire and my Grandma (and Dad) in York - they met when my Grandad worked for the Post Office in York and, during the war, he served with the Fire Service in Hull.  
My Dad followed him into the PO, starting as a Telegraph Boy at age 15.  He joined the Air Force in late 1940 and served mainly in the Far East, as well as in the UK, until 1945 rejoining the PO on his return where he worked until his retirement aged 60.

Frank joined the Army as a sapper and reached the rank of Major - after retirement he stayed on in a civilian capacity and was, amongst other things, the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages based in Monchengladbach (Germany) - he actually signed our wedding certificate and gave me away when I married Himself in 1988 in Soest.  
We only found out after his death that he worked "hush hush" in the Pentagon and was also involved in a lot of Middle Eastern machinations - he spoke 4 languages fluently and a couple of others with basic knowledge - we found photos of him with King Hussein of Jordan as well as a lot of paperwork.   He loved the USA and I also found photos of him in a lot of the places that I have photos of myself - we both photographed car number plates (tags) showing different states as well as state border signs - spooky!

Both May and Bill worked for BOAC (later to become British Airways) as did their only daughter Linda who was a flight attendant (when they were called Air Hostesses and it was classed as quite a difficult job to get).

So .......... these are some of my paternal ancestors - I can see some of their traits in me and am very proud of that fact.  We would be nothing without our past - whether it be good or bad it shapes us to be the people we are today.

Thank you for all your comments, stars and hearts on my red pepper yesterday - surprising how an emergency blip can turn out to be so popular!!!     :o))

~ Anni ~