Aunt Eek

I have two children. Lily is eight and has Prader-Willi Syndrome. Lonas is three. I am a stay-at-home mother, part-time student, and part-time web designer. I am happily married to my husband, Tony. He manages Coal Creek Armory in Knoxville, Tennessee. We live in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
To some, it would seem I lead a mundane life. I take care of my family and home, go to school, and work on websites. I am too busy to pursue most of my interests. But, the things that make me happiest are seeing my family happy and well. So, though I may whine at my lack of time and resources to entertain myself, I really am doing what makes me happy and what I feel I am meant to do.
Things I Like:
Victorian Hairwork As a child, I saw two hair wreaths in the parlor of the Iroquois County Historical Society Museum in Watseka, Illinois. Ever since, I have been interested in Victorian Hairwork. I hope to some day learn how to do it, myself. This example is in the collection of the Memorial Hall Museum in Deerfield, Massachusetts and was made by Mrs. Josiah Marvin of Brattleboro, Vermont.
Walter Potter and Other Anthropomorphic Taxidermy "The Kittens' Wedding" (1898) is just one of the hundreds of works by Walter Potter, an English Victorian taxidermist. His dioramas featured scores of animals, some clothed, in scenes of everyday human life. Kittens have tea parties, bunnies go to school, and toads play at the park. Potter also created two headed animals, and mixed animal parts to create grotesque abominations, which I'm not terribly fond of. His museum's collection was sold at auction in 2006 and is now in the hands of collectors around the world.
Fern Andra "The Mary Pickford of Germany" was born Vernal Andrews in Watseka, Illinois on November 24, 1893. She starred in a number of silent films in Germany, including "Genuine: A Tale of a Vampire," which was directed in 1920 by Robert Weine of "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." Fern was a student of Max Reinhardt and wrote, directed, and produced her own films. She died in Aiken, South Carolina in 1974. Fern Andra was the first cousin, once removed, of the husband of my half second great-grand aunt -- which means we're not really related. But, she's from my home town and died the year I was born. I collect Fern Andra postcards.
Genealogy:
Although I don't have much time for it, I love to research my family tree. My ancestry is about one third each English, German, and Irish, with a bit of French thrown in. If I could just travel and spend my days looking through records or searching out old, forgotten cemeteries, I would. But, that kind of thing is not possible with children in tow -- at least my children in tow. So, I do my research with stolen minutes and online access. Maybe someday...
Joseph Julien
1825-1870
Mary Louise Gettings Julien
1829-1873
They were my fourth great grandparents. He was born in Ohio, of French descent. She was born in Maryland. They married in Ohio in 1847 and farmed there until their deaths. Their daughter, Rhoda, was my third great grandmother.
The Nathaniel Light Family abt. 1907
Nathaniel Light, my second great grandfather, owned a threshing machine. He is on the steps of the building, holding my great grandmother, Clara. Her mother is beside them. This was taken in the Dakotas, where they went to thresh wheat. The others are his workers and members of the Light family.
Daniel Franklin Schlotman 1850-1908
A skeleton in the family closet -- D.F. Schlotman (right) posed with friend, Oscar Johnson, playing cards! As you can see, some upright member of the family scratched out his image, but they should have destroyed this photo all together. To think that my third great grandfather...where's my smelling salts?
Lottie Mae Sigman Stone 1887-1968
My great grandmother (left) and her sister-in-law, Viola. Lottie had six children by the time she reached my age.
Words, Words, Words:
Emily Brontë 1818-1848 Wuthering Heights (1847)
"He turned abruptly to the fire, and continued, with what, for lack of a better word, I must call a smile - 'I'll tell you what I did yesterday! I got the sexton, who was digging Linton's grave, to remove the earth off her coffin lid, and I opened it. I thought, once, I would have stayed there: when I saw her face again - it is hers yet! - he had hard work to stir me; but he said it would change if the air blew on it, and so I struck one side of the coffin loose, and covered it up: not Linton's side, damn him! I wish he'd been soldered in lead. And I bribed the sexton to pull it away when I'm laid there, and slide mine out too; I'll have it made so: and then by the time Linton gets to us he'll not know which is which!"
Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892-1950 The Shroud (1917)
Death, I say, my heart is bowed
Unto thine,—O mother!
This red gown will make a shroud
Good as any other!
(I, that would not wait to wear
My own bridal things,
In a dress dark as my hair
Made my answerings.
I, to-night, that till he came
Could not, could not wait,
In a gown as bright as flame
Held for them the gate.)
Death, I say, my heart is bowed
Unto thine,—O mother!
This red gown will make a shroud
Good as any other!
Edgar Lee Masters 1869-1950 Charlie French
from Spoon River Anthology (1917)
Did you ever find out
Which one of the O’Brien boys it was
Who snapped the toy pistol against my hand?
There when the flags were red and white
In the breeze and “Bucky” Estil
Was firing the cannon brought to Spoon River
From Vicksburg by Captain Harris;
And the lemonade stands were running
And the band was playing,
To have it all spoiled
By a piece of a cap shot under the skin of my hand,
And the boys all crowding about me saying:
“You’ll die of lock-jaw, Charlie, sure.”
Oh, dear! oh, dear!
What chum of mine could have done it?
Edgar Allan Poe 1809-1849 From Alone (1830)
From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Louisa May Alcott
Margaret Mitchell
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Ross Lockridge, Jr.
Anne Frank
Ray Bradbury
Art:
"La mort du fossoyeur" (The death of the gravedigger)
Carlos Schwabe, 1895
Musée du Louvre, Cabinet des dessins, Paris
Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels
Jean Fouquet, 1450
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp
The Vale of Rest
Sir John Everett Millais, 1858
Tate Gallery, London
The Virgin, the Baby Jesus and St. John the Baptist
William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1875
Private Collection
Humour
My Pen! - Kids in the Hall
Heroes
My Husband, Tony
"I love you - those three words have my life in them."
(Alexandrea to Nicholas III)
My Great Grandmother, Clara Light Schlotman
1905-2001
Here she is in 1927 with my great grandfather, Dan Schlotman.