Throwback Thursday - Then and Now

Ida Roehm - My Great, Great Aunt (2nd Great Aunt)

Ida Roehm was my Great Grandfather's sister, She was born August 15th, 1890 and married Ezra Bastien in 1925. It appears they did not have children. She lived in Illinois most of her adult life until she passed away in 1987. 

Here are two photos from when Ida was young and one photo when she was much older. I cannot locate any of her between this time. However, I hope to find some photos of her when she was more middle-aged. My Grandma said she was a nice lady. I will have to find out more about Ida. I'd like to keep her memory alive. 

 Ida Roehm in Wishek with a cat and her dog. This appears to be where her brother (my great grandfather, George) and his wife (Lydia Herr), lived. This was likely taken sometime between 1915-1920.

Ida Roehm, Lydia [Herr] Roehm and a friend, showing off the men's hunt for the day, circa 1920-21. 

Lydia [Herr] Roehm Murphy with her sister-in-law, Ida Roehm Bastien, in Illinois, circa 1981.

Perfectly Lovely

It's a bright and warm Sunday afternoon in July, one can feel a soft breeze while the wind chimes trickle.

I am feeling the sunbeams hit my face as they are strewn across the white carpet. I try to keep papers in a particular order to make some collages with some old family photographs. 

I don't want to lose this afternoon light that is slipping through my fingers. I gather a few items here and there and try to coordinate some colors that will go with a particular theme. 

And with that, out came some of these sweet and gentle photo collages, with just a touch of Summer left in them, but as we all know, the tide is turning to a less frantic time - Autumn is just before us. 

Please enjoy!

Grandpa's feather watches over my Grandmother, a photograph of her in the 1940's. After my Grandpa passed, I found this feather pressed into one of the photograph albums we gave him while he was in the nursing home. He had it with a picture of my Grandma. I hung onto the feather, knowing just what it meant to him, and now to me.

The Braun girls and a calling card

The Murphy family and Braun family. Christiana Braun married into the Murphy family, a well-to-do farming family from Brentwood, CA. This is a collage of the family members of these two families that combined together - all photos are between the 1880's through the 1920's.

Life as seen through a Bird Cage - The Murphy daughters - a mix of Irish and German heritage, are photographed here, circa 1900-1901.

National Cousin's Day

Today is National Cousin's Day, and just reading about this gives me a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings of some of the best times in my life. Most of those times were spent with my cousins. I am so fortunate to have cousins who I am not afraid to call my best friends. We are all very lucky to love one another very much.

In honor of celebrating cousins, here's some pictures of me with my cousins and also several generations past of cousins:

Cousins - Alice Roehm and Annette Roehm - 1944-45, Richmond, CA

Cousins - Donald Babitzke and Annette Roehm, circa 1974

Cousins - Babitzke daughters with Annette, and Annette's nieces and nephews, circa 1941

Cousins - Krissy and Jesse, circa 1994

Cousins - Krissy and Melissa, circa 1988

Cousins - Krissy and Melissa - Circa 1990

Cousins - Tiffany and Krissy, 1988

Cousins - Melissa, Jesse, Krissy and David, circa 1990

Cousins - Noelle and Tiffany, circa 1987

Cousins - David and Scott, circa 1981

Cousins - Scott and Jesse, circa 1988

Cousins - Scott and Tiffany, circa 1981

Cousins - Yvonne and Louise Babitzke with Annette Roehm in the middle, on the Babitzke farm, circa 1940-41