How Can It Almost Be Over?

And here goes my last week of work in Florida…

I can’t believe that my time here is almost up. It feels like it was just last week that I was bidding Savannah goodbye. I feel like time has just sped by and I haven’t done enough.

Last week, I made some great progress, but it still doesn’t feel like I worked hard enough. One of my projects for this coming week is to scan all the information about my great aunts and uncles. My aunt has made a binder for her and each of her siblings. This will be what I’m scanning next.

Now I realize that I haven’t quite explained the Rahenkamp family. My grandmother was one in ten. She had three brothers and six sisters! Their names in the order of their birth are: Paul, Geneva (who I’m staying with), Ray (Vivian, she goes by Ray), Phebe, Naomi, Lois, Jimmy, Miriam, Eunice (my grandma, who I never got to meet), and Joe.

(Left to Right:)
Back Row: Ray, Paul, Geneva
Middle Row: Lois, Phebe, Naomi, Jimmy
Front Row: Eunice, Miriam, Joe

Phew. That’s a mouthful. I can’t even imagine having that many siblings, or even being the parents of that many kids. That would get exhausting.

Currently, only Geneva, Ray, Phebe, Lois, Jimmy, Miriam, and Joe are alive. We lost my grandma, Eunice, in 1984 (right before my parents got married), Paul in 2010, and Naomi in 2014.

I’ve gotten to hear so many stories about everyone. Mostly little pieces of information are shot my way. Segments that I’m slowly trying to piece together to make a more complete image. Scanning all this stuff is also really helping to give me background on everyone.

The letters are my favorite to scan. I don’t have much time to read them as I’m scanning, but I can’t wait till I get the chance. Sadly, they are all a bit one-sided. So many times I see the reply letters hinting at something, but I have nothing else to tell me what that something was.

All this information is turning into small scraps that I’m trying to finagle together to form a quilt, but they don’t all fit perfectly. I have a huge project ahead of me to try to organize and make something of all this information. I’m excited about it, but it can sure be daunting at the same time.

Hattie, Philip, & Viola

Young Philip & Hattie

On this trip to Florida, I have been learning a whole lot about my extended family. One couple and their niece have really stuck with me and I’ve been so interested in learning more about them. At this point, I haven’t done any research online (my internet capabilities are limited), but I intend to sometime, which will probably be after I get back to Texas.

My great-grandfather’s sister Hattie, from what I’ve heard, seems like a super sweet Christian lady. She married Philip Hampsten.

Viola & Hattie

Then, here’s where the story gets a bit more interesting, my great-grandfather’s brother, George, was the father of Viola. See Viola was his last child from his first marriage. Her mom died, I think, shortly after Viola was born. While Viola was young it sounds like Hattie and Philip took her in for a time.

At some point Viola moved back in with her father, who remarried and had more children. There sounds like there was some tension between integrating the families, or something, but I don’t want to get into that.

Throughout the years it sounds like Viola stayed close with Hattie and Philip. When she was old enough to leave home, she moved in with them. They stayed a happy little family for quite a few years. I have many letters that were sent to my great-grandmother from Hattie during those many years.

Announcing Henrietta's (Hattie) Funeral

On March 9, 1969, Hattie passed away. The last letter we have from her was written on January 1, 1969, but her handwriting is so shaky that it is super hard to read.

At some point after that, Viola and Philip married. It was the proper thing to do, since they were still planning on living in the same house. Definitely in that time, it was improper to have an unmarried man and woman living together.

Viola wrote a few letters to my great-grandmother, but not nearly as much as Hattie did. In a letter she wrote on November 10, 1980, she mentions rushing ‘Daddy’ to the hospital. I have no idea if the ‘Daddy’ she is referring to is Philip, but her dad, George, died in 1957, so it’s easy to say it wasn’t him. From this, their marriage definitely sounds like just the thing they did for propriety sake.

Announcing Philip's Funeral

On June 20, 1994, Philip passed away and Viola was heartbroken. In her letters she refers to Philip as ‘her heart.’ (Excerpt from a Letter written on August 3, 1994) “I am writing you with a heavy heart. My sweet heart went to be with the Lord June 20^th at 5:00AM.” In another letter from December of that same year she writes this: “I miss my sweet heart so much. It is so lonely without him.”

My mind totally riddles with what her words mean. I’m sure they were very close and definitely had the relationship similar to best friends. They had about 25 years together before Philip passed away. I’m totally not trying to suggest anything, but my mind does wonder.

At first, I thought that Viola had passed away in 1994 as well, but I later found out she lived four more years and died in 1998. Hattie and Philip had no children that survived (they had a baby, but she died as an infant), so there is no one to ask about them. I really wish I could have met them. They sound like amazing people and this short write-up doesn’t do them justice.

Viola, Hattie, & Philip (sometime before Hattie passed away).

Update Number Two

It’s kind of about time that I give another update of my time in Florida. Really, before I do, I just have to gush a bit about how I have another nephew! Little Carl Jacob Jeffery Rohleder was born on June 12^th! I’m really sad I won’t get to see him for another month, but he is so adorable from the pictures I’ve seen.

Photo Credit: Chris Rohleder

Honestly, it really stinks to be so far away from my family when something so exciting happens. It definitely solidifies my desired to always live close to my family (the Lord willing). Family means the world to me and I can’t imagine a future without them close. I’m sure it would break my heart if I had to live far away for very long.

Okay, sorry about the pity party. Now on to other exciting things, well I guess exciting for me… I’m learning so much about my family history. I’ve definitely even started to like some of my relatives over others and feel defensive when I hear stories of the relative saying anything bad about others. I’m weird. I know it.

The worst thing in all of this, is that most of the people I’m learning so much about (through their letters and stories that my great aunt is telling me) have passed away. I will never get to meet them and the most I can get to know them is through the things they left behind.

It’s still really cool to read the letters and know that the things they talked about actually went on in the past. I’ve seen letters as far back as the 1940s! It’s so cool and to think that it’s all a part of my history! It really changes your perspective when the pieces of history are related to people that are family, however distant.

One of my proudest accomplishments so far is actually puzzling out my great grandfather’s family picture. My aunt pointed out some people, but most of the children were unknown to her. Based on ages and a bit of deductive reasoning, I think I just placed a name to every face. Now, I can never be one hundred percent sure that I’m right, but I think I’ve gotten as close as anyone could get.

William & Letha are my great-grandparents. Paul is my great uncle. Edward August and Mary Elizabeth are my great-great-grandparents. Mary, Charlie, Sophie, Hattie, Edward, George, William, and Emma (listed in their birth order) are the children of Edward August and Mary Elizabeth. The rest are spouses.

And these are all the children of the various couples. All the kids ages are next to their names because that's partly what I used to figure out who each one was. Mary's oldest son I figured was not there at the time. His age suggests that he'd left home, maybe to get married, maybe to go to college. I don't know.

Other than those things, I’ve just mostly been reading and writing a bit. I can’t believe my trip is already halfway over. Before I know it, I’ll be back in Texas and real life, but I am sure having fun here.

Quick Update

This summer I am spending time with my great aunts and uncles in Florida and I’m going to try and keep my blog updated of what’s been happening on this trip.

The first whole week had been just a bunch of hanging out. I dragged my friend, Savannah Rohloff, along with me and she spent that time with me and my relatives. We did everything from visiting all my family that is living in the area to going to the park and reading the day away.

One day we went to see the ocean, but sadly that day didn’t have the best weather, so we didn’t stay for too long. We did eat at this really unique store that had just a few tables for dining in. The food was delicious, with fare that ranged from Panini’s to wonderfully seasoned home cooking. This shop was filled to the brim with beer selections. Being not one particularly fond of beer, I didn’t think it amazing, but it was still pretty cool and the shop had lots of other things to grab my attention. Mostly, it was a store with about four tables that people could stop at for some food.

Savannah (my friend, not me) left a week ago and now I’m ready to buckle down to get to work. One of the big reasons for my trip, is that I am going to help my great aunt Genny with all the genealogy stuff she has collected. I’m planning on helping her type out all her notes she’s written over the long time she has been collecting information and I’m going to put it altogether eventually.

On a more somber note, my aunts have run into a few minor health problems. They are all in their upper eighties to early nineties, so their health isn’t perfect to begin with, but just a few tiny setbacks have happened over the past few days. If you want to send up a quick prayer for them, that would be much appreciated.

Not much else is going on at the moment, but I’m hoping to get back to blogging and writing more now that school and finals are over and I’m starting to settle down here.