Category Genealogy
Planting the Mulberry Tree
Yesterday brought an event I’ve long anticipated: The Planting of Grandma’s Mulberry Tree. I’d been dreaming of that moment since I ordered the tree in November. Grandma had grown up with a mulberry tree that supported and nourished her. (I wrote about her bond with it in my posting “The Mulberry Tree.”) I’d envisioned the […]
“Naomi’s Story” now has its own blog
I’ve finally got a new blog specifically for postings about my grandma, Naomi Kimball Harris, and her life story. I spent Friday afternoon going through photos with her and getting a few new stories; I tell you, every time I think her life couldn’t have been more complex or painful, she casually throws in some […]
Naomi’s mother: Mattie Bertha Rawlings
Mattie was born in Prince George’s County, Virginia, on Jan. 1, 1884. She was an only child; her mother died giving birth to her. She was raised by an African-American Mammy on a tobacco farm there. She contracted tuberculosis when she was young; Naomi believes she was exposed to it by her Mammy, who in […]
Overview of the “Naomi’s Story” project
After many years of hearing my grandmother’s stories, I realized that it’s time to start recording them. My first effort on this front, “Naomi’s Rebellion,” was written last summer and included in the 2012 edition of the Poetica Grandma-tica anthology. I posted that story to Moments of Unexpected Beauty on Jan. 8, 2013; a brief […]
The debut of Naomi’s story
I’ve just spent quite a bit of time trying to create a new blog to honor my grandma’s life story; her name is Naomi Kimball Harris, and I’ve been interviewing her about her life, so I’d like to create a blog to record the information. However, each time I created a new blog, I would […]
Moments of Unexpected Beauty 