A new slate

 One of my teachers at school said something that has stuck with me all these years. She was probably in her 60s, when one is less than ten years of age it was really hard to decide if a person was as old as your grandmother or not and at that time my grandmother was in her 60s and she just seemed to be about that. One day she said to us each day is a new slate and that one should always move forward. I did learn that this lovely teacher (not everyone liked her; she was very strict but the classroom was quiet which was nice) had been young during the First World War and her wonderful fiance had gone off to war to fight and free France from the grip of war. He did not return. She still wore her engagement ring but like many young women in Canada their young men did not come home. Our losses were huge and many women mourned those beautiful young men lost in the height of their youth. But she found something else; she taught school for nearly fifty years at Tecumseh Avenue Public School and I learned a lot from her. But sometimes I think the new slate was one of her best gifts to learning. 

Every day I make a cup of tea and I ask Alexa to set a timer for five minutes for it to steep and then I say thank you. Why ever do I say thank you to an Artificial Intelligence? It is to keep up the skill; one of the many things I learned from my mother is always to end a conversation with a thank you if you have asked for something. Even if the individual with whom you are dealing has absolutely not assisted you in any way that would resemble co-operation and support you complete the conversation with a thank you and goodbye. God deals with stupidity. 

The field of war in which Israel must engage is weighted against her as a country because people do not condemn Hamas which is totally responsible for all the damage, all the deaths along with the Islamic Jihad which Hamas now claims holds some of the hostages and is responsible for some of the damage. What ignorant people these terrorists are. Iran is supporting them so Iran is also ignorant but then they shot an airplane down in Iran headed to Canada and killed all those Canadian citizens and others. Iran has not paid for that; for every offense there must be payment. 

Go Israel keep up the pressure, protect your people. And God said "Let my people go." Free the hostages. Another one found but dead in the courtyard of Al-Shifa hospital. No one even buried her; just left her there having killed her during the hostage taking. I do mourn for all the dead but these are innocents; people who were just going about their daily lives. Although forgiveness will come for Palestinians those caught up in this fight one remembers you have had twenty years to rid yourselves of Hamas; don't complain to the world that you are oppressed it is Hamas that oppresses you because they are terrorists and you elected them to power. Egypt does not tolerate Hamas terrorists; Israel does not for a good reason so why did you elect them? Help kick them out; expose them so that Israel can kill them since you do not. Israeli soldiers should not have to die taking your country back for you. The French Resistance during World War II suffered huge losses as they fought to get their country back. The payment exacted by the Nazis was huge often enough for each Nazi death. But the French wanted their country back and they did get it. The French Resistance also took back Paris when the time came and marched into Paris with their countrymen/women surrounding them with love and thanks for their freedom. The costs in human life - children, women and men were enormous - no other war has been so costly in lives lost. Get out of Gaza Hamas you are Satanists, you are the evil God throws into the pit of fire. Enjoy your swim perhaps the Houthi rebels will pick you up or maybe Hezbollah or you could just swim and swim until you find someone who will let you come onshore. Death waits you in Gaza. 

Be careful Palestinians. God be with you and claim your country; kill Hamas. They destroy your lives; no one else.

When this is all said and done the Palestinians will have to prove their loyalty to peace to both Egypt and Israel their neighbours - neither of them wants terrorists in their midst. 

Yesterday was shopping day and I am equipped once again for three weeks or more. I do not have to go out the door except to get the mail, read the gas meter, and for the moment move the leaves to where they will do some good. My car has its winter home in the garage. Fresh air too some days as I practice my skiing when the snow arrives. It will be great for sure. My groceries remain around $70-$75 per week but considering when we first married, Edward and I, our groceries combined were only $15 per week (and we did entertain sometimes and eat well) the cost of living has increased enormously, even in 1975 when we first came here our groceries were only $35 per week for three of us. I do notice the huge profits and I trust that the government tax coffers will benefit greatly as these large companies pay their taxes quarterly. Perhaps they could consider buying a large piece of military equipment and donating the money to the government - we could call it Loblaws or Metro I think our soldiers/sailors/airmen would love to have new pieces to work with. We do have three oceans to manage as well as a huge country. Think of the lovely donation break in the income tax. One thing that is God-ordained; you cannot take it with you and in general 90% of the inheritances are squandered in the next generation. 

No weight gain yet but with date squares (which I did forget to eat yesterday!), granola bars, cookies and chocolate ice cream I should gain my three pounds back eventually. My salmon was delicious and there is enough for three days once again. The pieces are very large and I had sweet potato mash with grated parmesan cheese, steamed broccoli so was too full for dessert. 

I also completed my first run through the 11th Generation material sent to me by one of my distant cousins. Today I will work on the census, refining it and putting it into footnotes. I need to acquire the archive reference material to add to the actual census. It is a gradual process getting the footnoting all done. Then on to the 12th generation and the last fortunately as I am getting a little bit tired of doing the generations. 

When I was young my grandfather could recite the generations back in his Blake line; I just thought every grandparent did that actually. I did not know my grandmother as well at that age and I was actually quite frightened of her as she was even stricter than my mother if that was possible even. She was extremely good to me. On learning from an ophthalmology student who lived up the street from her (actually she knew him quite well and I think his father was also a physician) but he told her that I would be blind at twenty so she taught me to read at the tender age of three years which was a real treat. She opened my eyes to a new world at that young age even if the process was quite strict and I had to sit still for forever it seemed. My response was also to learn Braille - we were at the usual Fall Fair and there was a stand where they were handing out braille cards and I learned that even blind people could read so picked up several of them. But one can understand perhaps my caution about students in medicine and always preferring to have the presiding physician's opinion as well! Students are great actually and they work hard to learn and acquire the skills necessary to become registered physicians. 

But my grandmother always said I never loved her until my grandfather died and that is probably true; fear does not generate love. But she softened as I was utterly lost when my grandfather died. Although the strictness was still there she tempered it somewhat (I would say maybe for a couple of years!) so that I found someone else to transfer that love to that I had had for him. But I am distracted from the story which was about learning the generations. 

My grandfather could recite his generations way back in time and I retained it for a while but with all the learning I did lose some of it over time. I should have written it down but I was an eight year old child and did go through this period when I didn't want to think about him anymore because it was painful. Then I wasn't that interested in surnames just sort of vaguely and gradually it was replaced by other exciting learning like science - chemistry, astronomy. But I did hold on to Nicholas as being way back there and my father reinforced that later when he talked about Nicholas at Old House and that they (my grandfather and his siblings) used to go and see where that had been at Knights Enham. But I worked my way back very carefully because one must always do that in surname research. 

On the other hand it was very difficult to get my grandmother to talk about her family. Her Buller line was almost totally unknown to me (and perhaps to her) but I have managed to get back to Christopher Buller born circa 1763 as he died in 1832 at Bermondsey, Surrey and his date of birth was estimated from that death registration by me. When we visited London we walked the streets of Bermondsey and visited the Church attended by this family (St Mary Magdalen (Bermondsey), badly damaged during World War II but being restored slowly). The grave yard where he was buried (formerly St Olave) has been moved to Bunhill Fields in London when the London Bridge extension was created. But underneath the extension there are lovely plaques remembering what the streets looked like and I can see Tooley Street where he had his shop (and this street exists above ground still). 

But my parent's surnames are coming first - Pincombe then Blake but hopefully, God willing and my cataract surgery it would appear, I will get to Buller and Taylor my grandmother's mother who lived only thirty seven years as she too succumbed to the bad air of Birmingham after influenza. That was one thing my grandmother did talk about was her mother (and her father). She was eleven when her mother died, the eldest of seven children she had to then leave school and look after her younger siblings whilst her father worked. But her father was well educated for the times and he taught her at night to make up for that somewhat but he worked hard as she said and used to fall asleep doing that but she did appreciate it that he tried. My daughter did suggest that I work on Pincombe and Blake at the same time as it will give me some variety; that is true and I may think about that. Youth has such good ideas.

There is also Rawlings and ? (my paternal grandmother's parents) to look at but a cousin of mine in Australia has done a lot of work on the Rawlings family and ? remains that in my mind although the priest did give the surname Cotterill as a middle name (Edith Bessie Cotterill Rawlings) to my grandmother at her baptism and just one Cotterill family in the parish. But I need proof always that is the scientific way and DNA arrived and so my interest in genealogy was born once again (along with that rather strong nudge from my cousin George DeKay who needed a Pincombe Profile for his book on the early families in Westminister/Delaware townships in Middlesex County, Ontario). I do have interesting matches in this unknown line but have not particularly pursued them; I need them to be my half-second cousins since their ancestor would be my father's half-first cousin and although some are close I have not yet actually contacted them and probably will not as I wait for that really good match that will catch my interest. My grandmother loved her family my grandfather always said (and the letters back and forth do prove that). She was raised by her mother as her parents took in that baby girl and she lived with them until her mother married and then was part of that family that grew with three boys (one died) and a little girl as half-siblings for my grandmother. Pictures tell the story of a loving family and since the child was kept in the family it does prove the love for sure. My paternal grandmother named her only child, my father, for the boy who died Ernest Edward.

The day moves on and I must accomplish more than reminiscing.  

Watched the news and there is one Israeli soldier held hostage dead by the hospital. Lucky I am not in charge; remember how Hamas considers the value of one Israeli soldier.  One Israeli soldier is worth 1000 Hamas. The Israelis hold at least 6,000 people associated with Hamas in some way and I know what my first thought would be if I was in charge. Get out of Gaza Hamas - swim to freedom!