(This is day 5 of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories: Outdoor Decorations…In Memory of my Dad) When I was growing up in the late 1960s and early 1970s, almost everyone in our neighborhood put up Christmas lights. Each house had one strand of big colored light bulbs and that was that. We had two…
Tombstone Tuesday: Learning Melvin Medeiros’ Story
My Pacheco and de Braga lines intersect with a family from Kilauea, Kauai, Hawaii, who went by de la Cross (or de la Cruz), Medeiros, and Andrew or Andrew Medeiros–take your pick. As our lines crossed a few times, I ended up documenting their descendants as well as mine. One of the descendants, Melvin Medeiros,…
Advent Calendar: Christmas Cards
(This is day 4 in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories) I remember sitting down and watching my Mom write out Christmas cards. They went to family and friends, some we hadn’t seen all year, but they were remembered with a card. I used to wait eagerly each day to see what cards came in…
My Christmas Ornament Collection
(Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories Day 3: Christmas Ornaments) When we were little, my parents bought the ornaments that came in a box. They were either satiny balls or colored glass ornaments with glitter on them. We had 5 or 6 boxes of ornaments that we put on the tree. Then in the 1970s, Hallmark…
Christmas Morning–Breakfast
(This is day two of Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories…Holiday Foods) Ever since I was wee child my family had a tradition. After all the stockings were emptied and the presents unwrapped, we’d sit down for Christmas breakfast. This included bacon, eggs cooked in several ways, toast, and because of my Mom’s Portuguese roots, linguinca….