Grandma On My Graduation Day

Prompt #2 from The Accidental Genealogist to celebrate National Women's History Month:

March 2 — Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

My grandmother, Beatrice (Cameron) Powers (1900-1974), is holding my sister, Mary Ann (1 year old), at my high school graduation party (1970) in a house that no longer exists.

When things got to chaotic at home, my grandparents' house was a refuge for me. Nothing exciting, just a calm, quiet place to be. Grandma was strict, but fair, and offered common sense advise when necessary. In her younger years, Grandma was an "egg candler" at a Dairy Co. (1920 census) and a machine operator at the Marvel Carburetor Co. (1923 Flint City Directory). When her kids were in high school, she owned and operated a small grocery store that was situated in the front of the family home (that house no longer exists, either; there's a gas station there now). I selected the picture of Grandma wearing my graduation cap and cord, probably because it symbolized the intertwining of our lives.

The photo reminded me of moving to Davison, Mich., shortly before I entered the 9th grade. The picture was taken in the dining room of the house on Baxter Road. The house and acres and acres of surrounding property, including Potter's Lake, was owned by the I.M.A; we were renters. The structure was burned as a practice exercise for the local fire department and the property where the house once stood became part of the Sugarbush Golf Course.

Mary Ann (the baby in the picture) is married and living in Houston, Texas; she's not even the youngest of my 7 siblings; Jennifer, born 1 1/2 years after that picture was taken, has that honor!