Liv's Tree House

As a child from a split home, I have the great blessing of having twice the grandparents, twice the love, and twice the ancestors' stories to tell. Thus Marion and Erma Bennett Winn are the subjects of my week 3 post for #52Ancestors.  As soon as I heard the topic of the week I immediately thought of my great grandparents, on my step-dad's side, affectionately known as Grandma & Grandpa Great! Marion and Erma were both raised in Idaho, born in the early 1900's, then married in 1924.  They became my Grandma and Grandpa Great in 1985 when my parents married that July.  The Winn family was fast to embrace my sister and me as their own, which is a tribute to their wonderful legacy of love and support.  Fast forward to the turn of the century when Allstate Insurance Company reached out to this now aged couple.  The company had performed what they called a nationwide search for the "longest married couple in the United States", and had found Marion and Erma to be ...

This photo of my 2nd great grandparents on my dad's side, Charles Arthur Welch & Mary Loiza Hinckley, has always been my very favorite family history photo.  I have it displayed prominently in my new home "family history" office.  There's something so perfect about their middle-aged selves, the years worth of ups and downs that they have surely experienced together, holding their heads so slightly tilted with affection, softly expressing their sincerest feelings of pure love that warms my heart.  In a time when most photos were stern or solemn, these two so naturally held a pose that shows their truest affections.  I love the soft smile on my dear grandmother's face, it tells of sincere and content happiness and love.  When I look at it I'm reminded of the times when I just breathe in the same feelings as I admire the wonderful man I was lucky enough to marry, with him everything is just whole.  I feel much the same about Charles's expression, but in c...