Summertime is soon upon us again, my friends – hooray! We moved our deck furniture out of the basement last weekend. My husband let the girls help to sponge the chairs with some soap and hose them off. The two of them then ran around the house breathless (“daddy let us help!”) and completely soaked.
Even though my husband and daughter are suffering from terrible allergies this year, it’s hard to keep anyone inside. Jack and Jill gave us some seeds to plant so once they germinated at the windowsill, my youngest helped to dig out a hole in the front bed. (And then dig many more holes willy-nilly, dirt flying everywhere.) I’ve been out every night to keep them watered. I’ve actually never grown anything from seed and am anxious to see if we’ll get any flowers!
Have you been out and about this past week? Do you get as nostalgic this season as I do? I pulled out my old diaries again (against my better judgement) and found one from May 1997. I had just gotten home from college and was calling around to meet up with all my returning friends. I wrote one entry from the tennis courts where my younger sister had stopped by on her way to Senior prom.
It definitely got me thinking again about those “small” pieces of personal history or family history that take place, always against the backdrop of world history. In May 1997 an IBM computer beat the World champion of chess and a tornado killed 27 people in Texas. But to me, it will be remembered for the month I came home from school and took a picture with my sister going to prom.
Similarly, the pictures in my grandmother’s album from this time start to run into the buildup to war. On June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, which started World War I. But the pictures from that time in the album, of course, just show the day-to-day of life in Middletown. Today’s is a trip to a neighbor’s house, Mrs. Ennis.
The picture was taken at the farm of Michael and Clara Ennis, in Wawayanda Township near Ridgebury. Mr. Ennis (Michael) was born in Bloomingburg on February 24, 1866 and had three sisters: Elizabeth, Ellen (a nurse) and Catherine. They had one son, Joseph J. who was born in 1902.
Joseph went on to marry Ruth Field Bennett and was a bookkeeper in New York City (so says the 1930 census). They lived at 74 Irwin Avenue which is…essentially where Middletown High School sits today. The children were Ruth (born ~1924), Joseph (born ~1927) and Clara (born ~1929). I’m not sure who’s in the picture except for the Dunning children. I’m pretty sure my grandmother is the one looking rather like me in the front, and that Clara is the one with the pretty gingham bow.
Besides knowing the name of the Ennis’ children and grandchildren (and that their farm was in Town of Walkill) I couldn’t find anything else much about them. In fact, the only big reference to the family came from a copy of the Times Herald Record from August 19, 1937.
On page 2, you’ll find the “world news” of the day detailing the horrors of the Spanish Civil War. This beside the “personal history” of the Middletown Fire Department and the Ennis Family getting Nosey the Cat out of an oak tree.
And my conclusion, something I pondered on a very nice outdoor walk today, is that it all matters. Clearly, the history of the Spanish Civil War mattered. In fact, my first job out of college was to dictate very long interviews my professor had recorded with Spaniards who had lived through it. It was fascinating, putting on my headphones and hearing ‘live’ accounts from the elderly subjects in their own language. At any rate, the history mattered so much that it was my professor’s life’s work.
But what about a trip to Mrs. Ennis’ house? How does that matter? Maybe not entirely but then…these are the bows the girls wore, this is how they let the children hold the baby, it’s sunny but the baby doesn’t have a hat on, the shrubs haven’t been neatly trimmed. The moment gets a chance to live again. By looking at the picture, it’s like history folds over on itself for a minute and I love that.
Hope you are all doing well and enjoying your moment in history today.
Yes! I am enjoying my moment in history! When I focus on timeless Truths lived out in the context of the day-to-day with my family, I’m much happier! Today’s news, played out on cable TV and the Internet, has such a short cycle. It’s super stressful! I try hard to tune it out. My friends have assured me that if something very important happens, they will let me know!
I’m very glad to hear this. I had just brought up how stressful I found the news to my parents the other day and they reminded me the old adage “good news doesn’t sell papers”. At least you have been able to turn off social media, which has an even shorter cycle and which I find equally (or even more) anxiety-provoking. I love that you have third-partied that off to your kind friends. XXX
A simple subject but thoughtfully written, as always.
Thank you for that.
I love how you compare the big moments in history and the little ones we may best remember. A lovely blog entry, Martha.