MANA'S SHORT STORY SERIES LIST ON SIDE COLUMN

A Mother Shares 82 Years of Living History In "A Collage of Family History"

What was it like living during the Great Depression? 

What was it like living during World War II? 

How did women cope during these difficult times in the United States? 

What made families so special in the 40s and 50s? 

How did a divorced young mother cope in the early years, when this was not “common”? 

Etta Wilson Lawrence’s book, A Collage of Family History: Sharing the Memories answers these questions and more.

Ms. Lawrence shares eighty-two years of living history with her readers. She has worked in a wide range of jobs. Quite frankly, there is little she has not done and not seen. For example, there are fond and funny moments when she visits the farm and enjoys the butterflies or the family pig. Then, she shares her experiences as she traveled in the United States and in the Caribbean. And what about that bull and outhouse?

Etta Wilson Lawrence introduces you to her family members and the stories behind each one:

Granpaw, William Ervin, was called "Erv." He was about six feet, had lots of dark brown hair which often fell across his brow. His eyes were very blue and he loved to joke and tell stories, especially about his Moonshiner days...He was about eighteen when he married his schoolteacher, Mary Elizabeth "Bettie."

"I never knew Granmaw's real name until I saw it in her personal Bible that Aunt Maude had until she died early in 1994," Ms. Lawrence recalls. "Aunt Maude was Margie's mother ... Granmaw Bettie was a tiny woman, about five feet tall with dark hair that she wore in a bun on the top of her head. She was full of life and her brown eyes would sparkle when she told some of her stories, many that we had heard before..."

For an enjoyable read and a book that may inspire you to write about your own family history, check out A Collage of Family History: Sharing the Memories by Etta Wilson Laurence by clicking HERE.