A Little Girl

The shelf under my bedroom window holds a number of framed photos of days gone by... I love pictures of long ago; especially ones of family or ancestors. Of course there weren't a lot of photos taken back then, so the ones we do have are very special.

The little girl in these photos was named Albina Marie; a name that was pretty unique here but fairly common in the country her mother came from, which was Bohemia. Unfortunately her mother died when she was 18 months old. After that, her main caretaker was her paternal grandmother; along with aunts and uncles that still lived at home. Her Auntie Ann was especially attentive to her and this photo shows them sitting in a field of tall grass together. I would estimate that Albina was about 4 years old here. I love the straw hats they are wearing and her little hand that is resting on her Aunt's knee:)

This photo appears to be taken the same day and has her holding a big work horse whose head is the same size as Albina's whole body! It must have been a very calm, well behaved horse!
I was always intrigued about this little girl, so would constantly ask my Mom questions about her. It was told to me that Albina never remembered her mother as she was so young when she died. She did though, recall her Dad coming to the grandmother's house after work; he would pick her up on his lap and she remembered playing with his pocket watch.

I look at these photos often and wonder what her life was really like then...
Now that I am a grandmother I can relate more to this story and am comforted by the care and love she must have received from her grandmother and aunt. I am so thankful that this little girl had a loving family that helped raise her as Albina grew up to be a wonderful mother.
I knew her well; I called her Mom:)