Husband’s Annoying Hobby? Why I Love It

No these wine bottles are not from a crazy New Year’s party!  My husband collects these.  This mess annoys me…for over 20 years we have had empty wine bottles in our basement.  But my husband’s hobby turned out to record some of our best family moments. 

Here’s the back story.  Born in Belgium, my father brought his love for fine wine with him to the United States.  Wine was served at nearly every dinner, just like in Europe.  Dad scoured stores for good wines, bought one bottle, tasted it at home, and if he liked it, bought more.  In the 60’s, we had a locked cabinet full of wine in our basement before wine cellars were fashionable. 

My husband, Fred who comes from a family of German beer drinkers, married into a family of wine drinkers. He knew nothing about wine, and realized he needed to learn more. Whenever there was a family gathering, Fred took the label (or the empty bottle) home.  On simple college lined paper, he pasted the wine label, and added the date, who drank the wine and something about the taste.  Being a detailed engineer, he put these pages into a three ring binder, and using page dividers, organized by type of wine, reds, whites etc.  To be truthful, I wondered how this would be useful.  But Fred continues to do this, even now.

 

Why would I write about this in a genealogy blog?  Interesting you asked.  About a year ago, he showed me his binder.  I was so surprised, I was moved to tears.  Reading the pages, was like reading the story of all of the major family celebrations, brought back to life.  Included in his notes were details such as, who was in attendance, what we were celebrating and a few notes about the day.  Here are some examples:

September 14, 1988

(Label)

Dinner at our house (address) to say goodbye Jacquie’s sister and her husband.  They are leaving to live in Geneva, Switzerland for three years. 

(Names of ten guests.)

Sister video taped some of the evening for the first time.

(Remember those big video cameras?) 

March 29, 2008

(Label)

Donna and Keith over for dinner.  Fun night.  Everyone like this wine a lot.  Very sweet.

First time we got together since Mary (our daughter) asked  Johnny  (Donna and Keith’s grandson) to be ring bearer in her wedding. They are thrilled.  Played speed scrabble.

Here are some of the many other notes:
 

September 30, 1982 – 1^st episode of “Hill Street Blues”.  Ate shrimp and this champagne we got from the hospital when first daughter was born.  Wine followed great evening.

Spring 1984 – Armando’s Restaurant in Chicago.  Last night of restaurant in operation.  Armando signed the bottle.

November 28, 1991 –1st Thanksgiving after Fred’s parents died. All siblings together in PA.

Dec 24, 1990 – Christmas Eve celebration.  Great anticipation of Santa coming.

March 31, 1995 – Lots of discussion about Jacquie’s brother’s wedding in May

October 2007 – Fred’s sister announces they are going to be grandparents for the first time.  Exciting special moment.  We celebrated.

January 2008- Celebrated daughter’s engagement – includes many details 

Reading about these events, took me to the wonderful celebrations and holidays in our lives.  Reminded us of where we were, what we were eating, who was with us, and long forgotten details.  It felt like I was reliving some of the best days and dinners, moments and memories. 

 

If you look carefully at the picture, you’ll see that each empty bottle has masking tape, which has the information needed for the notebook. That part, plus the many empty bottles in our basement, still annoy me.  But I love that I can read his book and be transported back in time. 

Simple as it is, I’m thrilled that he keeps this book.  He and I enjoy looking through it, and hopefully our children will enjoy it also.

Do You Want a Simple Gift Idea for Christmas 2016

Why do my three children say that this rather plain red binder was one of their best Christmas presents ever?  Before you pack Christmas away, you might want to find out.

 
For me, it started with a project of consolidating several boxes of Christmas items.  One box was full of Christmas cards and letters.  While organizing it, I realized that it was full of Christmas letters that I had sent out since 1986.   This box had at least one copy of every letter and one photo for each year up until 2014

Yes, I know.  Regarding Christmas letters, people either love them or well…don’t.  I am on the “love” team.  In 1986, we were sending out over 100 Christmas cards and letters.  I just couldn’t write an individual letter to each person, so yes, that year, I started writing one Christmas letter to everyone. Upon opening the box,  I couldn’t help but read them.  Some news was funny, or embarrassing and even sad.  The letters recorded details of births, deaths, marriages, vacations, dance lessons and house projects…life in general.

Then the gift idea came!  It was simple!

 

First, I put the letters and photos in date order.  I only kept four copies of each, even if I found more.

Second, I bought four matching three ring binders and plenty of archival top loading sheet protectors.

 

Third, for those photos or letters I did not have four of, I made color copies of one I had.

Fourth, for each year, I inserted the letter with the photo behind it.  My letters are dated, so that was easy.

Fifth, on the first page of the binder I wrote a note, like a book preface, regarding these letters being mini-diaries of almost 20 years and I hope they enjoy reading the story of our lives.

On Christmas morning, my children, who have their own children, said that this was one of my best gifts ever. Really!  Sometimes the simplest gifts are the best.

I made one for each of my three children, and a fourth for myself. This year, I added our Christmas letter and photo to my binder and plan to continue to for many years.  In addition, I add the cards and/or photos that my children send me.

Do you have copies of your Christmas letters?  If you do, please consider giving them as a gift to your children.  Believe me, they’ll appreciate it.

 

Pedigree Chart - With a ChristianTwist

My family is mixed – religiously.  While both my husband and I come from long lines strong Christian ancestors, he was baptized Lutheran and I was baptized Roman Catholic.  One thing we both agreed on was the importantance of to us taking our future family to church together, so I am now a Lutheran.  Our children, raised Lutheran, are adults and (I am happy to say) making their own decisions about churches that are comfortable for them.  Many people are in the same situation as my husband and I were, and end up with a great story about the religious paths their lives travelled.

Between my husband and I, our ancestors have come from many religious denominations:  Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, 7^th Day Baptist, Free Baptist, Christian Scientist to name just a few.  In the mid-1800’s, our Alsace Lorraine ancestors left their Lutheran home town of Oberhoffen-sur-Moder, France and  built two Lutheran churches in their new homes of Boston, NY and Colden, NY.  Another ancestor, Gustave Schattner, (German) donated his hard earned money for stained glass windows in his new Lutheran church in West Seneca, NY.  Barney Coffey (Irish Catholic) built a house for a priest in the 1870’s in Kansas.  Hiram and Jemima Dunbar, joined a Congregational church in Princeton, IL which strongly supported the underground railroad.  They named a son, Owen Lovejoy after a minister with the same name whose brother was killed for his anti-slavery beliefs.

For many of us, our families’ histories (and our research) come from church records.  So with that in mind I’d like to show you a chart that I have used many times that you can easily make in your database (such as Family Tree Maker) yourself.  It will help you in understanding the religious path your family has walked by using a pedigree chart.This is the one that I make and I hope it will be helpful to you.  You can fill out their religion at the various times in their lives:birth, confirmation, marriage, death. 

 

First I created an unrelated family with the surname “NAME”.  I find this “family” helpful when I am teaching beginning genealogy.  In this family are the following “people”:

NAME, Your

NAME, Father's
NAME, Mother’s Maiden
NAME, Father’s Father’s
NAME, Father’s Mother’s

 

I think you get the idea.  So my NAME pedigree chart looks like this:

To take this chart to the next stage I did the following in my database [1]starting with the person “ Name, Your”. As with any pedigree chart start by using “Publish” and selecting “Pedigree Chart”  and “Create Chart”.  (Pick the formats you like the best. You may vary the number of generations, overlap etc.)  Next to change the fields from the normal birth, marriage and death, you go to “Items to Include” which in this case is by clicking on notebook page icon right below the “P” in Pedigree. (circled)

I keep the name and blank lines but use the red “X” to delete what items are currently there (usually birth, marriage, death) and using the blue “+” sign and holding down the control key add:  Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage  (or Marriage Fact) and Religion and then hit the OK button.

You can add the corner decorations and change the name of the chart to your satisfaction. 

Next hit generate chart.  You might have to try this, using variations of the instructions to make it the way you’d like to see it.  Here's a snapshot of what my instructions look like in Family Tree Maker:

 

By filling out this chart, you will be able to follow your ancestors’ religious changes and paths travelled. I hope I have not offended any non-Christian readers.  I’m sure with these instructions and a little creativity, you can, if you like, create charts that meet your needs also.  You could also fill in the information on your family members already in the database and print it out.

 I have used this chart for all sorts of events.  When I teach genealogy at churches, I give a copy to each student in the class. I’ve used it while teaching confirmation classes, and as a craft at church picnics etc.  If you prefer, and you like the chart just the way it is, you can print the chart or email me for a PDF copy.(2) I hope you enjoy using it as much as I do.

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[1] I use Family Tree Maker but you can do something similar in most an genealogical database programs.

[2] Please, it’s for personal use only, not for sale.