It's National Grandparents Day!

Did she have a rogue Scottish accent?  I'd like to think so!

This is my Great-Grandmother Mackenzie!  I had the opportunity to know all of my immediate grandparents, but unfortunately none of my great-grandparents.  So often, we don't ask important questions when we're younger....Where were my great-grandparents from?  What were they like?  Where are they buried?  

Over the past several years I have managed to obtain death certificates for all of my great-grandparents except one; thus allowing me to find the cemeteries where these important family members are buried.  Sadly, one of my paternal great-grandfathers is in an unmarked grave and the cemetery records were destroyed in a fire many years ago.  My maternal great-grandparents from Scotland are in two different cemeteries and one of them, rumored to have tuberculosis, didn't even have a headstone.  Ironically, he was a stone-cutter.  I have since had a head-stone made for him and planted a mum there just last week.  My paternal great-grandparents from Norway have beautifully carved marble headstones and rest side-by-side as do my maternal great-grandparents from Germany.

It's Lumina that I can't find.  She's my French-Canadian paternal great-grandmother who's trail disappears in Rhode Island.  Did she go back to Canada?  Perhaps she re-married and took another name.  

I simply love the name Lumina!  It conjures up an image of an amazing woman; one who lives life to the fullest.  Meaning radiating or reflecting light; I can only hope that these rays of light guide me to her one day.  

If you have the opportunity to speak to your grandparents or great-grandparents, call them today and say hello.  Tell them you love them and ask family questions that only they can answer.

Happy National Grandparents Day!