Another busy Saturday; another repost. This was originally posted at the old blog.
This is my grandma, my mother’s mother, on the left, with her sister-in-law, showing off the catch from their latest fishing trip. I can’t tell what kind of fish those are; perhaps salmon, since there were salmon in the rivers around where they lived in southern Idaho, or maybe lake trout.
My grandma’s name is Rosa Mackie Deckard, and her sister-in-law is Beatrice Mackie, who was married to my grandma’s brother Hollace. The home would be Beatrice and Haulace Mackie’s, I think, since I don’t remember my grandma’s house being as well-kept as this.
My grandma had a difficult life. She moved from Missouri to Idaho with her new husband when she was only nineteen. They hoped to make a better life, but I’m not sure that’s what she got. She had very little, managing to raise eight children while living with an alcoholic husband who was often unemployed.
And when she left her family behind in Missouri, she really left them behind. Trips back were not in her budget and she only made a couple of them over the 50 years that she lived in Idaho. Of course, she had her brother Hollace and his family, who lived in the same small town.
She was a strong woman and a hard worker. And sometimes a lonely woman, I suspect, especially after her children left and her husband died. My family lived in a little town 5 miles south of her for a couple of years, and I remember several times when Grandma Deckard came over for an afternoon visit and ended up staying for a few days.
I love the overalls, the high-waisted slacks, and the bandanas covering the hair. It looks like she had a good time on her fishing trip, and I’m glad for that.
You’ll find a little bit more about my Grandma Deckard’s life here.