I think we all become a little nostalgic at this time of year. I for one love to here oral family history retold, even if not connected to the family. It would be great if list members felt like sharing some of the family history in this format. Christmas stories would be great but any story that would let us know more about your quest and your family would be wonderful. You don't have to be a great writer to contribute, I'm certainly not a great writer but I'll go first and then will sit back and wait to read what you would like to share with us. TIA A Christmas Doll My mother Mary Garner Carmichael was born in a log house in Niangua, Webster Co. Missouri in 1915. She came to Tulare Co., California, an agricultural area in the great central San Joaquin Valley when she was 3 years old. She arrived here on a train with her father and her 8 siblings, some siblings with their own families in tow. Her mother died shortly after she was born, her father never remarried, and died when she was 7 or 8. she lived with her brother and his wife until she graduated from 8th grade. then she was more or less on her own. Her mother died either when she was born or shortly after, a "cousin" everyone called Aunt Beck took her when her mother died and kept her for about 3 years. Out of the blue her family packed up what little belongings they had and stopped by "Aunt Becks" to picked her up on their way to California, (she never saw "Aunt Beck" again). She really didn't know her family after the long separation, but it was important to her father to keep the nine children all together. They arrived in Tulare Co, California sometime in 1918 and stayed. The children had a very hard life. Rube Garner was a very harsh man, given to rages. He seemed to have been mentally unstable, and he had little to do with anyone other than his family. He supported all these Children as a day laborer. They always had food and a roof over their head, but little else. My mother, always had feelings of inferiority because of her early school years, being uncomfortable because of her clothes and "taking biscuit instead of bread for lunch". The four younger children were the only children who attended school three of the children left school after 2nd grade to do field work. My mother only completed 8th grade because her sister-in-law insisted on it. My mother received only one doll in all her childhood. When she was seven she had been in the hospital with pneumonia and the Red Cross got the family name as a family in need of help. It was Christmas time and the Red Cross brought food and toys for the children. My Mom and her sister received buckskin dolls with porcelain faces and brown eyes ( my mother always wanted brown eyed children, but only had blue eyed children) . Her sister being older and wiser hid her doll because she was afraid that their father wouldn't let them keep "charity". But he did allow them to keep their dolls. Shortly before Christmas my mother and her nephew, contracted diphtheria. The baby was very ill and wanted her doll, since the adults knew he was dying they gave the doll to him, he died that night, and the doll had to be destroyed. No one had any sympathy for a little girl who was sad to loose a cherished doll when they had lost a cherished child. My mother still feels guilty because she didn't want to give up her doll to this dying nephew. This was the only "doll" she ever received she and her sister would stuff clothes (Overalls and a shirt) with rags and play with these headless dolls, and of course once in a while they would have squirming Piglets for their play children. My mother, longed for a mother all her life. She has no idea what her mother looked like, because there were no pictures taken by this poor family, but her father kept her mother's clothes. She and her sister would often take out their mothers clothes and look at them and hold them. The dresses were very tiny and so my mother always day dreamed of this tiny loving mother. After her father died one of the daughter-in-laws cut up the dresses to make much needed children's clothes. We forget how hard times were in times past. My mother is almost 84 and her family has always been a mystery for her. we have been very lucky and have discovered much about her family in the last few years, I just wish we had started sooner. Donna Carmichael - [email protected] Listowner - NCGRANVI-L (Granville NC) mailing list