It's amazing how many women like your grandmother did not let the conventions of the day stop them. It's a reminder to us to take risks and do the things we want to do, no matter the personal cost.
What a great story. My grandmother was an poor orphan and was sent vby her guardian to Germany in 1914 to be a companion to the daughter of a wealthy doctor. She had to leave just before the First World War broke out and because of the war was never allowed to talk about her visit or continue her study of the German language. She gave me some books in German when I was studying it at university, but could no longer read them herself. In 2012 I took my mother and daughter to the village in what had been East Germany to see where she had lived. My grandmother had died in 1989 and we discovered that her German friend had died in 1986. It is a big regret of mine that we did not research this before and get them together again before it was too late.
It is sad that your grandmother and her friend did not meet again - we always think we have more time than we do. But I love that you took your mother and daughter to the village where your grandmother had lived. You created special memories for you all.
A really enjoyable and thoughtful post, Kate. But it makes me reflect on the huge work needed to bridge the gaps between peoples and cultures. The British Empire arguably made the world smaller but left it more divided. I have an ancestor who seems to have worked on a gunboat that went to China. There aren't many details but I may try to emulate your post one day!
Thank you for your comment. I agree, all colonialism had consequences, many were terrible and have an effect on people and politics to this day. But it is very hard to understand the world from the perspective of people at the time. I hope that I would have seen past the prejudices but it is impossible to know.
It's amazing how many women like your grandmother did not let the conventions of the day stop them. It's a reminder to us to take risks and do the things we want to do, no matter the personal cost.
Absolutely! Thank you for your comment and the restack 🙏
Beautiful story! Thank you for sharing. And the paintings are wonderful!
Thank you. I agree, Nesbitt was a lovely painter.
What a great story. My grandmother was an poor orphan and was sent vby her guardian to Germany in 1914 to be a companion to the daughter of a wealthy doctor. She had to leave just before the First World War broke out and because of the war was never allowed to talk about her visit or continue her study of the German language. She gave me some books in German when I was studying it at university, but could no longer read them herself. In 2012 I took my mother and daughter to the village in what had been East Germany to see where she had lived. My grandmother had died in 1989 and we discovered that her German friend had died in 1986. It is a big regret of mine that we did not research this before and get them together again before it was too late.
It is sad that your grandmother and her friend did not meet again - we always think we have more time than we do. But I love that you took your mother and daughter to the village where your grandmother had lived. You created special memories for you all.
Love how your grandmother wasn’t restrained by society at the time. Go get ‘em. The map is fascinating too
When you think you can fly to Australia in 24 hours, but it would have taken months in my great-grandmothers time, it is amazing!
Blows my mind. Not just the time but the conditions and hardship of travel, especially for women too.
A really enjoyable and thoughtful post, Kate. But it makes me reflect on the huge work needed to bridge the gaps between peoples and cultures. The British Empire arguably made the world smaller but left it more divided. I have an ancestor who seems to have worked on a gunboat that went to China. There aren't many details but I may try to emulate your post one day!
Thank you for your comment. I agree, all colonialism had consequences, many were terrible and have an effect on people and politics to this day. But it is very hard to understand the world from the perspective of people at the time. I hope that I would have seen past the prejudices but it is impossible to know.