I love listening to peoples’ stories. My favorite stories are love stories. And my all time favorite stories are about people who faced enormous challenges and stayed together despite the odds. When they weren’t sure how to get enough money for a Sunday pair of shoes for all of their children, and then grasshoppers or hail storms destroyed their crops. How did they overcome hardships like this? What did they do when life felt so difficult? Many older people I’ve interviewed have no idea how their parents met. It seems it was an intrusive or too personal question?
These are 3 wedding pictures I know of, from Mecklenburg, VA. Nannie Gray and Jimmy Kidd. The 6 men picture is Nannie’s brothers and brother in laws, for Alginon Gray’s wedding. (upper right) The picture on the far right is Jimmy’s brother Samuel Kidd married to Lorena Ridout. (picture from Nancy Johnson).
Do you have a wedding picture? Do you know how they met? If not a wedding picture, any picture? Do you know about the bride’s dress? Was it just a new dress that could be worn on Sundays or special occasions to be practical? Do you know if they married at home or at church? How was the day celebrated? What food was served? Who was invited? What kinds of gifts were given? Did the groom wear a ring? Did your family have any wedding traditions? I’m looking for stories of any ethnicity, any religion (or not religious), any people who at some point lived in Mecklenburg, VA. These stories will post in June.
Please send submissions to: mecklenburgvagen@gmail.com
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