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My "I got an Idea" Girl Just Joined Her Father in Heaven

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                                                                                                                           Aine Maura Schulmire     May 14 1971 - 11 3 2021     I will write here so I can just tell everyone at the same time. My first born child and bright eyed loving girl has passed from this life to the arms of her Heavenly Father and to be with her earthly father.  She loved them both with all her heart. Those of us left behind, a loving husband, 8 children and one grandchild that she never got to see, are left bereft. She was a loving person, who helped others and taught her children to help others.  Her 5 siblings looked to her as a leader in the family as the oldest.  Let me tell you some of her history. She loved reading, writing and had joy in service. She was also competitive. She started out playing a matching game with her dad at 3. He would have to work to stay up with her.  In school, she would work hard to be the best. She was so upset when she lacked half a

Write 25 reasons Why I chose You

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Your eyes sparkled when I first met you. You spoke of ideas. You were a dreamer. You hoped for the best. You made me laugh. You were honest. You were a thinker. You were a writer, especially of poems  (which you read to me) You cared about people You were family oriented. You wanted children. You were interested in finding truths. You read and studied even when it wasn't necessary. You cared about me. You were a talker,  I could feel safe being quiet in a social setting. You encouraged me to grow. You held my hand. You excited me. You loved life. You loved to travel. You were able to look at each as a unique individual.  You were a hard worker. You were willing to do what it took to overcome. You loved me back. When you held me in your arms, I knew I was safe. We are one for all eternity, For that I am grateful. Aine posted a prompt at Blue Ras

Trying to Balance My Passion of Genealogy and Family

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I posted this on a collaborative Genealogy blog , but wanted to have it for my kids too in case the blog should go away.  I will share with you the past few months of my life.  I worked with the Preserve the War of 1812 Pensions campaign for 3 years.  I loved the purpose and the activity of searching the files and finding living descendants.  When the funding was accomplished, my activity there was little needed, and I turned to other projects. At the same time, my children decided they and their children needed equal time with me and this is a bit of my journey into creating family history with my grandchildren and as I have written about before, bridging the generations. During the summer, we had our first family reunion.  This was important for those who could go because family had not gathered as a unit since my husband, their father, died in 2008.  All but two of 6 children could make it. The single son who was working and a daughter who was pregnant and expecting her 4

School By Skype and Fall Happenings

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In September, my daughter decided that I could teach an hour class for 4 Mondays by Skype on World War II.  It was so much fun looking at the screen and seeing my 6 grands looking back at me from Idaho. I shared my screen with them and told them of the years leading up to WWII.  They were interested in the happening and choices made by the governments, and the people of the world's reactions from old newspaper clippings.  Their main goal was to hear about their great grandfather's experience which I had researched through old newspapers and his file and wrote about on a genealogy blog, Worldwide Genealogy   We had mediocre discussions, but I ended it with an appeal to them to learn of history and search out information for themselves so they would know what is truth. They were given documentaries, and things to read to remind me of what we had covered. The ages were from 3 to 15, learning abilities autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, and normal. They all learned a little, and one eve

Sunshine in My Soul

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"There is sunshine in my soul, when the peaceful happy moments flow..." While listening to a variation of this song, by a young woman who was singing of her little daughter and the joy she brought to her, I was transported back in time.  My mind took me on a journey of my six sunbeams in my life, and the tears flowed.  I decided to write a brief love note to each so they will know how much I love them then and now. Just after Ned's funeral in 2008 There was the life changing first child a sweet little bundle of joy, a girl. She was so full of "I've got an idea", bright smiles and loving life to the fullest. She has never failed to amaze me with her abilities to overcome and her capacity to love and give. We are waiting patiently (lol) for her first novel. She is now a mother of 8. Our first trip at 6 months old. 18 months old Number two child and daughter began her life as a little ray of sunshine and continues to strive to

Books!

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Back home now after thoroughly enjoying my visits with my two daughters and their families.  It has been so much fun getting to know them again, sometimes a month or two can bring big changes in your family's lives.   While visiting with my daughters, I saw that my love of books as they were growing up touched their lives too. There is joy in reading books. I called my granddaughter last night to wish her a happy 8th birthday and asked if she had been helping her mom. (smiles)... Her answer was "No, I was up on my bunk reading a new book. I love it! It is "The Secret Garden"." Later, her mom told me it was one of the old books she had from her growing up. Loved the old cover. As my children grew up and moved out of the house, I let them pick books from the library that I had accumulated while homeschooling them to use for their own families.  Now, let me explain.  A large number of my book were books from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.  When I woul

Welcome Grandchild Number 25!

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We, meaning the dad, the mom (of course) and I arrived at the hospital Tuesday evening at the suggestion of the Doctor who said the mom was at 5 cm and should have the baby soon. She was 4 days over her due date.  At the hospital, they were busy, and a mother not having hard labor, (her contractions were spread apart) was not something they wanted to see, so they sent her to the waiting room to "wait and see".  The room was so full, I had to go to the entrance waiting room to wait for word as to whether they would admit her or not.  Sigh. After an hour, my son-in-law came down and said there was room, would I come up and wait with them.  Sure.  Once there, it was about another 30 minutes before they asked them to come back to the Triage room, only room for the mom and dad.  That's fine.   They waited until about 11 pm. She wasn't making progress so the nurses wanted to send her home.  A call to the doctor changed their mind. He said, keep her.  At about midnight,