110 Years Ago Today - Galveston Hurricane - September 8, 1900

Galveston before Hurricane - 1900

Galveston, Texas - September 9, 1900

It was 110 years ago today my country's worst natural disasters occurred. It took place in Galveston, Texas and was known as the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. Estimates of the cost of life was astronomical... 6,000, 10,000 and 12,000 have all been figures quoted throughout the years.

My great-grandparents, Rosa and Rosario, were living in the small town of Dickinson, Texas not far from the shores of Galveston. Rosa's brother and family lived in the Galveston area. Surrounding towns were either totally devastated and wiped off the map or suffered terrible damage and loss of life.

Rosario and Rosa DePaquale

The family story is that during this terrible storm my great-grandmother, Rosa, who was pregnant with my grandfather, crawled on her stomach from one building to another managing to carry a lamp with her. Debris was flying everywhere and rain was coming down in torrents. She reached her destination and discovered that she had been battered badly by flying tree branches, parts to buildings and other flying objects. Her face was cut and bruised. The lantern she carried was dented. Today I have the lantern she carried. The lamp is packed away do to my fairly recent remodel but below is a picture I posted over a year ago. I do prefer to keep it displayed because it reminds me of my great-grandmother's courage.

The dented lamp from the storm

Naturally through the years stories of the hurricane were shared by family and friends. My great-grandmother's brother went into real estate and was part of the mass project of rebuilding.


My grandfather became a civil engineer, earning his master's degree from Cornell University. He returned to Galveston County and helped with the expansion of the seawall on Galveston beach. On our family's last trip there we searched for as many of the plaques honoring the men who were part of that project. We felt so proud to see my grandfather's name on all of the plaques.

My cousin with one of the plaques.

One of seven plaques along the Galveston

Seawall.

If you look on the right column of the plaque you will see

D.V. DePasquale's name.

If you want to read more about this very devastating hurricane you can see actual footage of the disaster on these YouTube videos:

Galveston Waterfront
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izdonjcm1zk&feature=related
Galveston, 1900 - After the Storm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG5bNUH5sgM&feature=related

I am linking to My Romantic Home

for Show and Tell Friday

http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

It's Toot Your Horn Tuesday - And what a birthday it was!!

My birthday cake - made of flowers!

I entered my 63rd year on September 2nd...

and what a day of fun it was!

Two dear friends from my prayer group took

me to breakfast at a local place that serve

delicious breakfasts... with singing chefs!

They sang "Las Mananitas"...

the traditional birthday song in Mexico.

I met with my two sisters-in-law who both

have birthdays within two weeks of mine.

We meet annually to celebrate our "advancing"

year and to share a little fun gift for each other.

The day seemed to go on and on and lots of

great visiting.

That evening my husband and son took me

to El Divino, a tapas style restaurant.

I wish the pictures did justice to the food,

but here goes...

(Would be you believe there was no moaning and groaning as I took

pictures of the food??!! )

Shrimp Tacos

Grilled Asparagus

Tuna Sashimi

and my favorite...

Scallops Wrapped in Bacon

What a fun day...

(I think I gained a few pounds AND a year!)

Toot Your Horn Tuesday

A Silly Little Sparrow

http://www.sillylittlesparrow.com/

Vintage Thingy Thursday - Which is it??

"The Edge of Night"

ca. 1954

My sister and I enjoyed watching my grandmother's TV

so much. Here we are glued to the set (I am on the right) either watching

The Edge of Night or possibly some variety show... Ted Mack Amateur Hour, maybe?

I blogged yesterday about my grandmother's ceramics.

Look on top of the television set and you'll see more of the

ceramics she painted.

Well, you may think that the TV is the vintage thingy in the picture. It is... but the other vintage thingy is ME!

I'm 63 years old today.

Yayyy!!

Visit The Colorado Lady

for a lot of fun!

http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/

White Wednesday - Ruby's Ceramics

Ruby's Ceramics

ca. 1948

My paternal grandmother's name was "Ruby", but to

us she was "Mother 'B'" ... or rather to us children,

"Bum B". Sounds probably funny but I think she

liked it. She never corrected us... and she would have had she not approved of something we said or did.

Mother "B" liked painting ceramics. She went with

other ladies to enjoy some girl talk.

One time I actually was allowed to go with her.

I was probably about three.

She was working on a ceramic head of a woman who

was wearing a hat.

All of the ladies there sat around an oblong table with all of their supplies. They were so well dressed... I especially remember that.

She made the ceramic mugs in the picture above

and used lettering to name each mug after members

of the family.

The small mug has my nickname on it.

I was the only child to get a mug, so I am sure that

she did this before my three siblings were born.

All of this took place in Midland, Texas.

Ruby

Actually, in high school my grandmother changed the spelling of her name. When the picture above was taken she was about fifteen years old and spelling her name "Rubye".

She was an only child and her mother loved taking

pictures of her daughter.

I am fortunate to have many of my grandmother's photo albums showing her primarily in her high school years. She enjoyed a very full social life and was active in school events such as plays.

It's so much fun to flip the pages of her albums and

see my grandmother having a good time with

friends.

She was always very social and enjoyed having

many girl friends throughout her life... staying in touch through the years with many of them.

Today I am linking to

Faded Charm

White Wednesday

http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/

8 Questions and 8 Answers: Compliments of Donna at "The House on the Corner"

Christmas at Jean's

1954

(I had the mumps!)

What is your favorite childhood memory?

I have to say ONE of my favorite memories (I have many!) was Christmas at Jean's... my grandparents' home. There were always tons of gifts, wonderful food... and the children were allowed to have a little bit of watered down Mogan David wine. Yippee!!

If you could come back as any person in history, who would it be and why?

Believe it or not, considering the way she ended up.. I would have to say Amelia Earhart. I have always admired her bravery. Some stories say that she wasn't the pilot that she was made out to be, but in my book she was!


You have 5 minutes to evacuate your house. All your loved ones are safe (both the two legged and four legged varieties). What would you grab from your home on your way out the door?

Hands down it would be my genealogy files and pictures. Which tells me I should have them on separate discs and a copy kept outside of the home.

Of the posts you have created for your own blog, which one was your favorite (be sure and link it to your answer) and why?

Oh, dear, that is hard. The postings I made about my family and relatives... which is about what most of my blog centers around.

What is your dream vacation?

I would love to spend five days in Blowing Rock, North Carolina and five days in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. I've spent time in both places but never got my fill. If you are a fan of Jan Karon and the Mitford series... Mitford was patterned after Blowing Rock.

When you know you don't have to leave the house - do you get dressed or stay in your PJ's?

Oh, dear, I can see my friend, Laura (White Spray Paint), shaking her head at me. If my hair, makeup and half-way decent clothes are not right, then it's just not a good day for me. Even sloppy, fast makeup doesn't do the trick for me. (I know... I am hopeless!!)

Do you sing in the car when you're all alone?

Wow! Doesn't everyone?? My favorite is Chuck Berry!! "Ridin' around in my automobile...."
Have you ever been to an auction and if so, what did you buy? Were you totally in love with the item - or did you accidentally, through no fault of your own, get caught up in the moment and buy something that when you later got home, wondered - "why in the world".......not that that has happened to me....I'm just saying......

I have been to an auction, but found out quickly that I did not care for the atmosphere at all. Now, I can get pretty competitive with a silent auction. I did end up with a bracelet that I've never worn. Not good!

Show and Tell Friday - Mother's cream pitcher

Spode/Copeland Creamer

This little cream pitcher has shaped my love of ceramics probably more than anything my mother ever gave me. Poor little pitcher had a broken "arm" and Mother patched it up with a glue that has yellowed with time. The bottom of the pitcher

reads "Copeland - Spode - England".

Mother tucked a little note inside the creamer that reads,

July, 2002

Dear Karen - Spode later became Copeland. "Brown transfer of a farm scene." Is one of 3 pcs. I only have this one --

Wedding gift from Bobby and Camille.

Love, Mother

I know this little pitcher is the basis for my love of

MacKenzie-Childs, MacLachlan pattern. This little salad plate alone is $145... a reason why I have none of it!

But wouldn't my little pitcher look sweet with a grouping of this pattern??

I should find a daisy and start picking the petals. "Shall I; shall I not?"

I cannot publish a picture that includes the books to the right of my little pitcher without mentioning that these are three of my parents' books.

The red book is my mother's book that is filled with interview of

decendents of early Italian settlers in the Brazos Bottom in Texas.

The white book is her written history of our family and

their adventure coming to America.

The black book is my father's which records the history and stories

of the Seventh Armored Division during WWII.

I so miss my parents!

I am linking the posting to

My Romantic Home
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

for

Show and Tell Friday