This week, I am participating in +Genea Bloggers' Treasure Chest Thursday.
Years ago, my mom's family passed along my grandfather's childhood rosary to me. Though my grandfather, Andrew Joseph Pampas, Jr. (1923-1995), grew up Catholic in Louisiana, my grandmother was Protestant. After marrying Grandmama, he went to church with her and became a member of her church. So, he was never a practicing Catholic during the years I spent around him.
I still clearly remember this rosary hanging on the top corner of the mirror of the vanity in my grandparents' bedroom, and I always thought it was quite lovely and a bit mysterious. It is made of mother of pearl and metal (perhaps silver that has now tarnished?). I haven't cleaned it, because I want to preserve it as-is.
Now that I have it, I store it - along with some other family heirlooms - in a unique, antique, compartmentalized box that my grandmother gave me. (I will do a future Treasure Chest Tuesday post on the box.)
When my daughter moved from public school to Catholic school in 2013, my grandmama sent her a very similar rosary that also belonged to Granddaddy. I didn't realize that he had owned more than one until then, and I was thrilled for her to receive such a meaningful gift to connect her to her great-grandfather, especially since she never got to meet him.
It truly seems to be the little things, like this rosary, that offer us strong connections to our ancestors and past. I miss Granddaddy every day and am so thankful to have this piece of his life to treasure.
©Amy Wood Kelly, 2015 - I am happy to share my genealogical research and writing with others, as well as to help others with their research efforts. However, please do not reprint this post in full or in part or use excerpts from this post without giving full credit to me, Amy Wood Kelly, as the researcher and author as well as providing the permalink to this post. Thank you, in advance, for showing respect for my request and the work I put into creating this post.
Years ago, my mom's family passed along my grandfather's childhood rosary to me. Though my grandfather, Andrew Joseph Pampas, Jr. (1923-1995), grew up Catholic in Louisiana, my grandmother was Protestant. After marrying Grandmama, he went to church with her and became a member of her church. So, he was never a practicing Catholic during the years I spent around him.
I still clearly remember this rosary hanging on the top corner of the mirror of the vanity in my grandparents' bedroom, and I always thought it was quite lovely and a bit mysterious. It is made of mother of pearl and metal (perhaps silver that has now tarnished?). I haven't cleaned it, because I want to preserve it as-is.
Now that I have it, I store it - along with some other family heirlooms - in a unique, antique, compartmentalized box that my grandmother gave me. (I will do a future Treasure Chest Tuesday post on the box.)
When my daughter moved from public school to Catholic school in 2013, my grandmama sent her a very similar rosary that also belonged to Granddaddy. I didn't realize that he had owned more than one until then, and I was thrilled for her to receive such a meaningful gift to connect her to her great-grandfather, especially since she never got to meet him.
It truly seems to be the little things, like this rosary, that offer us strong connections to our ancestors and past. I miss Granddaddy every day and am so thankful to have this piece of his life to treasure.
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| Granddaddy's rosary that was given to me. |
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| A closer up picture of Granddaddy's rosary that was given to me. |
©Amy Wood Kelly, 2015 - I am happy to share my genealogical research and writing with others, as well as to help others with their research efforts. However, please do not reprint this post in full or in part or use excerpts from this post without giving full credit to me, Amy Wood Kelly, as the researcher and author as well as providing the permalink to this post. Thank you, in advance, for showing respect for my request and the work I put into creating this post.
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