Another Gladys Box (Part One)

 These pictures are all kinds of out of order.  Bear with me.  

Second Sister discovered a box of things we believed to have been passed down from our Great-aunt Gladys, socked away in her closet since before I was appointed Family Archivist.  She promptly contacted me and Eldest Sister so we could see what kind of treasure we had.

I kept this felt bookmark-thing because it has my name on it. 

Turns out this Bible belonged originally to our great-grandmother Maggie!  

We figure it went to Gladys at Maggie's death, then possibly to our grandmother (Gladys's sister-in-law) and then to the granddaughter most known for photo albums and keepsakes.

There were two other Bibles, both in better condition than this.  No identification of ownership on them and they've been adopted by The Boy.

The Bible was crammed with newspaper clippings.  Most of the dates were in the 1920s.  A relative few could be connected to my tree, which were taped into the Family Tree Binder.  That gallon baggie up top holds the rest. 

The Bible in question and a few larger, flat keepsakes.

The box after the Bible-in-a-bag was removed.   

Ignore the messy apartment. 

One of the keepsakes.  James Cox ran for President in 1920, with FDR as a running mate!

Photo compare for possible identification.  

The larger ones were in the box, the smaller ones are known to be Arthur and Marian Parker.  

Another comparison for hopeful identification.  The center lady gave us Purkiser vibes, so here she is with some possible kin or even herself.  The known elements are Maggie Purkiser Parker (original owner of the Bible and our great-grandmother), Dora/Anna  Hayes Purkiser (Maggie's mother), and Lida/Lydia Purkiser (Maggie's sister).

One of the few identified photos in the box.  Maggie Purkiser.

Notice the different handwriting as the Bible changed hands.

The Dora on these pages is not Maggie's mother, but her stepdaughter.

*****

More to come... 

No Kings Day

 The situation here - my personal situation - has held steady.  My SSDI hasn't been interrupted, thank all the gods ever.  My food stamps and Medicare/Medicaid haven't changed, but I worry more the longer this goes on.  My area is rife with food pantries.  But not so much Prozac and Metformin pantries.  So I worry more about the meds. 

It's becoming more and more difficult to remain nonpartisan.  MAGA has weaponized the party division even worse than the 2016 election meddling did.  I always hoped, believed, that the Elected would eschew partisanship to fight a blatant abuse of power.  A few of them have and I applaud them.  But far too many of the Republicans are sitting on their hands.  

Most man-on-the-street Republicans are not okay with things as they are.  Nobody I know (or at least nobody I respect) voted for Trump because they hate immigrants.  I suspect gas and grocery prices had a lot to do with it.  Many people blamed Biden for the post-pandemic inflation that the whole world is dealing with.  People vote what they think is best for "me-and-mine".  They expect our checks and balances to, ya know, check and balance. 

The government is in shutdown as I write this.  Both parties are more focused on their own agendas than on what needs to be done. (Nothing new there, but I digress.)  Federal employees, including but not limited to the military, are either going without pay or facing that possibility.  On what planet is this preferable to giving a medical care to non-citizens?  

Today people all over the world are holding No Kings rallies.  Protests about the overreach and abuse of power by the current POTUS.  I have chosen not to participate, mostly due to my crowd phobia and the distance I'd have to drive to find one, but my heart is with them.  And I honestly think we'd be surprised how many of those protestors voted for Donald Trump.  

People who voted for him are now suffering from his policies.  Those who opposed him from the start are gloating! This is not cool.  No one deserves to be screwed out of their livelihood by a person they trusted. They put their trust in the wrong man (or men, considering the failure of the legislative wing to stop this), and now they need compassion.  Now they need to be shown forgiveness for their error.  

We The People can get through this.  But not by continuing this partisan bickering. Certainly not by assuming that, because I'm from a certain demographic, that you know how I voted. Some of those farmers losing their homes voted Harris or third parties or maybe didn't vote at all.  Just give each other a break, benefit of the doubt, and be kind.  Stand together with your fellow Americans.  Hell, with your fellow earthlings.