Invite to Dinner

I am participating in the #52Ancestor challenge.  Each week there will be a prompt (I missed the prompt the first three weeks, so wrote stories at random) and I will write something about an ancestor or family member.  The stories about our ancestors are what helps to keep their memories alive!

This weeks prompt is "Invite to Dinner".  So, I am asking myself what ancestor would I love to invite for dinner?  Well, I never met my Grandma Crowley because she passed away before I was born.  Unfortunately, not much about her life was passed down to me,  However, through my family history research I have learned a lot about this sweet Grandma of mine.  What I know gives me strength!  You see life was hard for Mary Rose Constantineau Crowley, my paternal grandmother.  She was born on Christmas day 1874. And died just a month after her 66th birthday. Such a short life.  

I know that she had a lot of loss starting as a young girl. Her father died when she was only 12 years old. Five of her eleven children (my dad always said there were twelve children) died before reaching adulthood. Three of them were just babies, one of them being just two days old at time of his passing. It must be the hardest thing in life to bury your children. My father was just a baby when the family home was damaged in a fire and Grandma Crowley's father-in-law, Jeremiah Crowley, who was living in the home, passed away due to severe burns. I know she must have had a strong faith to keep going. I wish I could sit at a meal with her and learn more of her life and let her know that her strength helps me to be strong with my challenges. I have so many questions to ask her.  Was there a twelfth child that was missed?  Who is it? Why can't I find them?  How do you keep going when your babies pass away?  Where did you find strength?  Faith, family, neighbors, what helped the most?  I am a grandma myself now, so I would ask her for advice on how to be a grandparent.  

I bet my Grandma Crowley was a good cook, who knows how many meals she served.  I would love to spoil her with a delicious dinner and just let her know how much she means to me.  I can't wait to give her a big hug one day when we do finally meet!!