Skip to main content

Wisdom Wednesday -- the wisdom of my grandfather

Doris Shirley Silverman (my Mom)
Mark Silverman (1905 - 1966)


My grandfather, Mark Silverman, whom I affectionately called Pop Pop, was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants who came to this country during the Pogroms of Czar Nicholas. He was a dedicated son and hard worker who left school following the death of his father to get a job and help support his family.


He died of cancer when I was just four years old, but I have fond memories of him playing Tiddlywinks, taking me to the park, pushing me on the swings, going for walks and getting ice cream.


My mother always told me throughout my childhood of the advice he gave her while growing up...


Ecclesiastes 9:10a
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.


And with it, the advice of Polonius to his son, Laertes...



This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
William Shakespeare, Hamlet, I, iii, 78-80



Mom reminded me of a third thing just the other day . . .


Be honest unto pain of death.


Labels:

Comments

  1. Root DiggerAugust 3, 2011 at 4:15 PM

    Those are two of my most favorite wisdom scriptures and quotes. Thank you, I needed that. I see that his wisdom has rubbed off on you too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Debra Newton-CarterAugust 3, 2011 at 5:10 PM

    It's hard to believe that he was born only five years before Cedric's father...Pop Pop was born in Nov 1905; Chester Carter was born in Dec 1910.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Honoring our Ancestors: Free Black Patriots of the Revolutionary War

When I was first contacted last October to assist in some research for a member of the DAR who was looking for the burial ground of her ancestor, Isaac Carter, I had no idea it would lead to such a wonderful tribute--with full honors--to our free black ancestors of Craven County, North Carolina. Nor would I have guessed that I would be meeting together with Ms. Maria William Cole, National Vice Chairman Insignia, of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, and a host of other dignitaries, from the highest officials of the SAR to state and local political and community service leaders, to pay tribute to these patriots. The turnout exceeded my expectation when this event proceeded on a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon, with close to a hundred and fifty people or more, seated on folding chairs under three canopy tents. The microphone cable lay along the wet grass and soon died out, and we, the speakers, were asked to use our "mother's voices" to make o
7 comments
Read more

How Family History Writing Forces Us to Dig DEEPER

February is Family History Writing Month During the month of February, I went on hiatus from the Civil War Pension File of Isaac Carter in order to participate in the Family History Writing Challenge. My goal was quite ambitious, but I did succeed in setting up the framework of the family history memoir, and wrote a rough draft of the opening scenes. The memoir focuses on a promise I had made to our Cousin Hattie Carter Becton in an interview, following the the 2009 George Family Reunion in North Harlowe, North Carolina. In case you missed the Challenge, you can find the posts here . The site was developed especially for writing challenges, beginning with this year's; so, you may want to go back to the first posts in the archive. March was memoir reading, research & development month Last month I continued working on the writing, but also began focusing on webinars and YouTube videos related to writing memoir. Two really great sites are National Association of Memoir Writ
8 comments
Read more

Those Places Thursday -- Robert Livingston House, Little River, SC

In July of 2008 we attended the Prince Livingston Family Reunion in Wampee, Horry County, South Carolina (my husband's maternal family). During our down time we decided to take a drive through Little River where the plantation owner, Robert Livingston, had once lived.  We inquired at the Visitor Center, and learned that the Robert Livingston House had been preserved as an historical landmark. The brochure we received listed several different sites that interested us, but the Livingston House was our first destination.  We drove along Highway 17S and drove past the turn off for Lakeside Drive. At the next light we turned around and headed back down the highway until we came to the street. About two-thirds of the way down the road we saw a sign along the roadside: 19th Century Victorian Home for Sale. Was that the house? The number on the mail box was 4441. That's it! We got out of the car and looked around only to find that the owner was at home, and he was in the process
Post a Comment
Read more