Sepia Saturday 145–Preparing to Leave

This is part of a series of posts dedicated to the immigration story of Debs Webster and his family.

Sepia Saturday provides an opportunity for genealogy bloggers to share their family history through photographs.



This week’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt shows a group of boys with sports gear in tow.  Something’s missing though…yep, you guessed it.  It’s their feet.  According to Alan, feet, or the absence of feet, is the theme this week.

The photo below fits perfectly with this week’s theme.  This is my Grandma Willis Webster.  Well, technically, she was my step-grandma.  But in every way, she was my grandma because she’s the only grandma I ever knew on my mom’s side.

My regular readers may remember that my mom’s mother, Sarah Vasques Madeira, passed away when my mom was very young.  Later, my Grandpa Debs Webster met and married Willis Quillin.


Willis Quillin Webster
with Suitcase and Large Trunk
Click to Enlarge

I love how my Grandpa Debs wrote on the edges of this photograph.  Since it’s a little bit hard to read, I’ll tell you what he wrote:

Top ~ She Is Getting

Bottom ~ Ready For The Trip

Left Side ~ In Sao Paulo July 1952

Right Side ~  Casa De Lucy

So, what trip is Grandma Willis getting ready for and who is Lucy?  Again, my regular readers my already be familiar with the trip my Grandma Willis was getting ready for.

In July of 1952 my Grandpa Debs Webster and his family, including my mom, immigrated to the U.S.A. from Brazil.  I started a series of posts recounting their actual journey HERE.

I also wrote a series of posts about how this branch of the Webster family (my Grandpa Debs and his family), who were living in Brazil at the time, made contact again with a relative in the U.S.A.  You can read about that HERE.

So, just who is Lucy?  She was one of my Grandma Willis’ sisters.  The photo above shows Grandma Willis at Lucy’s home in July 1952, the same month the Webster family immigrated to the U.S.A.  They stopped there for a visit.

I’m sure it was wonderful for my Grandma Willis and the rest of the Webster family to visit Willis’ sister Lucy before they immigrated to the U.S.A.  It must have been a very difficult thing for the two sisters to say goodbye.  Willis did make a visit to Brazil later and my mom thinks that Lucy made a trip to the U.S.A. for a visit as well.  Lucy’s mom, Helena, was also immigrating with Grandma Willis and her family.  So that must have been even more difficult for Lucy.

Moving far away from family is difficult even in today’s world of email, Facebook, Skype, etc.   I can’t imagine how unbearable it must have been back then without all of our modern technological conveniences.

To see what other Sepia Saturday participants have written this week, click HERE.

Thanks for reading!

Jana


Copyright © Jana Last 2012