[Note: Amanuensis is an ancient word meaning one who performs the function of writing down or transcribing the words of another. Derived from the Latin root manu- , meaning manual or hand, the word also has been used as a synonym for secretary or scribe.]
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| Inside cover of my mother’s baby book, as inscribed by her mother, Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon ca. July 1928 |
Joan is the dearest sweetest little girl I ever knew, and I consider myself a very lucky woman to be blessed with such lovely children and she and Tom. I know they will both always be the joy and comfort to me in my old age as they are now, and I only hope and pray I may live to see them both grown to manhood and womanhood. May God bless them and always keep them as dear and sweet as they were when they were little. I hope they will always stand for what is right, be good citizens and keep their religion and respect old age. This is the wish of their mother.
My mother, Joan Joyce Schiavon, made her grand entrance into the world on the Fourth of July in 1928, the second of two children born to Ralph and Alice Schiavon. Alice kept a small clothbound baby book, in which she shared her hopes and dreams for my mother and her older brother, Ralph Thomas “Tom”.
Her prayerful wishes were granted. Tom and Joan grew up to be people of faith and integrity. They had loving marriages and good children, looked out for others, and cared for their parents. My grandmother Alice always considered herself blessed to live long enough to see her dreams fulfilled. She was 67 years old when she died on New Year’s Day, 1963, not quite a year after the birth of my youngest sister, the last of her eight grandchildren.
Copyright © 2012 Linda Huesca Tully
Did you know, or are you a member of the Schiavon/Schiavone or McGinnis families? If so, share your memories and comments below.