Stylin’ Sibs and Family!!

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Sep 21, 2016

Stylish

Stephen and I have been Stylin’ since we were babies. I grew up as a Girly Girl. A real Clotheshorse especially when I was younger. I had more shoes in my closet than Imelda Marcos and after I moved into my own apartment the clothes bar in my closet broke under the weight of all my outfits! LOL!! My Dad used to joke that I had to get dressed just to put out the garbage. I think that I took after my Aunt Thelma who had those same attributes and passed them along to me!! LOL!!

I was never much on make-up (except lip stick otherwise I look like a blank slate), fake eyelashes or fake nails but since my job requires me to be on my feet for long hours bi-monthly pedicures are a must. I do get manicures but neat, short, clean with clear polish because I still must cook, clean the house and do dishes. Of course hair care is a must!! As you can see from my photos I’ve had every hair style know to Black People from the 60s up to and including the present. Now I color my hair. I loathe gray hair. I do not look good in gray hair and let’s not advance my age more than it is already. Getting older should not include looking like a frump or a bag lady. Yes, Vanity Thy Name is Woman!! LOL!!

My Mom Mable Elizabeth Palmer who was born in the small town of Davy, WV and raised in Dayton, Ohio also Loved to dress well. Her beauty and style are what captured the heart of my Dad Edward G. Palmer.

My Mom Mable Elizabeth Palmer.

Mable Elizabeth Palmer ~~ My Mom

My Paternal Aunts Thelma Palmer Varner and Helen Palmer Garcia.

Aunt Thelma, yours truly, Aunt Helen HS Graduation 1977

Stylin’ Sibs plus Dad!!

Me and Dad

2002 MMC Grad

Me and an Army Friend

Me and the Borg at my old office job where I made more money and had a better life.

Church Lady Blue

Regal Blue Church Lady

#NoMakeup

Natural Beauty

DeBorah & Stephen 1961

Defiant precocious DeBorah

1961- A Very Good Year

MMC 2002 Graduation

Me and Stephen March 1964. Dig my crazy pigtail hat!! LOL!!

Natural Beauty

Fifty-Sexy

Fifty Sultry Sexy

#NoMakeup

Me and My Birthday Cake

My Birthday Celebration

School Days

Little Me

Share Your World – 2016 Week 35

On August 29, 2016August 29, 2016 By dancingpalmtreesIn DeBorah, DeBorah Ann Palmer, Hattie Banks, Hattie Finney Banks, Helen Garcia, Helen James, Helen Palmer Garcia, Mable Elizabeth Palmer, Mable Palmer, Rufus & Chaka Khan - Once You Get Started, Rufus and Chaka Khan ~~ Tell Me Something Good, Share Your World – 2016 Week 35, Stephen, Stephen Vincent Palmer, Thelma Palmer Varner, Uncategorized11 Comments

https://ceenphotography.com/2016/08/29/share-your-world-2016-week-36/#like-19322

Share Your World – 2016 Week 35

With your answers, please remember we are in the SYW world which may not always match our reality.

List 2 things you have to be happy about?

My brother Stephen
My Cat Sylvester
A measure of health and strength
My Blogging Family

As always I get carried away and can’t just list two!!

If you could take a photograph, paint a picture or write a story of any place in the world, what and where would it be?

Hawaii. It’s a place that I’ve yet to visit and is on my list of places to Travel when Retired.

Should children be seen and not heard?

Sounds like what my Dad used to say when we were kids, “That children should be seen and not heard!” Ha! Ha! LOL!! Well that did not work as I was always bugging him. I think he used to say that as a joke. Daddy would come home from work and even though he was tired he would get down on the floor and play with us if we were awake and he always took us places on the weekends to give my Mom a break.

I never had children but when my young cousins were little kids I took them many places and enjoyed their company. Child care can be challenging but I enjoyed babysitting them. I encouraged them to speak up to talk with me. In my opinion communication with kids is vital. Even if you disagree with the child or they say something completely off well that gives the adult the opportunity to explain to them about plants, animals, people and life in general. Always listen to children. They have wonderful unfettered imaginations!

List at least five of your favorite first names.

DeBorah
Stephen
Edward
Mable
Thelma
Helen
William
Eva
Gladys
Clarence
Hattie
Veronica

Yup!! These are all Family Names!! I know this list is more than five but once you get started!!

Family Photo_Collage (1) — Family Photo Collage

Rufus & Chaka Khan – Once You Get Started

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Health
Well-being
A nice clean safe place to Love. I Love Brooklyn!!
My Cat Sylvester.
Wonderful co-workers with whom I laugh and joke with about the nuttiness on our job.

Childhood | The Daily Post

On June 5, 2016 By dancingpalmtreesIn DeBorah, DeBorah Ann Palmer, Edward G. Palmer, Edward Gordon Palmer, Edward Palmer, Helen Garcia, Helen Palmer Garcia, Stephen, Stephen Vincent Palmer, Thelma Palmer Varner, Uncategorized, William J. Palmer, William Junius Palmer, William Palmer

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TheDailyPost

Jun 4, 2016

DAILY PROMPT

Childhood

Photos of me, Stephen, my father Edward Gordon Palmer and my Aunts as children. I don’t have any pictures of my Mom Mable Elizabeth Palmer as a child because her family was too poor to afford a camera or have photos taken of them. I have included a picture of my childhood dresser which I’ve had since I was five years old. It came as part of a Vanity set but only this piece survives.

Also shown is a photographer of my paternal Grandfather William Junius Palmer with some of his children taken around 1923 in Mt. Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park) in Harlem. My Dad Edward Palmer is not in this photo because he was born in Feb. 1930. The little boy seated on my Grandfather’s lap who would have been my Uncle died of polio. My grandparents lost at least two boys to this disease. My Dad was the only boy to survive and he was nicknamed Precious.

The photo of my Dad Edward G. Palmer was done in around 1935 by famous Harlem Renaissance photographer James Van Der Zee. http://www.biography.com/people/james-van-der-zee-9515411

Baby Me & Lamby Pie

Me and Stephen 1961

Little Me

My Childhood Dresser I’ve had since age 5.

DeBorah had a Little Lamb

1961- A Very Good Year

Defiant precocious DeBorah

My Grandfather William J. Palmer with some of his children in Mt. Morris aka Marcus Garvey Park

Black HerStory Month

On March 9, 2016March 9, 2016 By dancingpalmtreesIn Ancestor, Ancestors, Ancestral Memories, Ancestry, DeBorah Ann Palmer, Eva Gordon Palmer, Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer, Hattie Banks, Hattie Finney Banks, Helen Garcia, Helen James, Helen Palmer Garcia, Mable Elizabeth Palmer, Mable Palmer, Maternal Heritage, Maternal lineage, Matriarchy, Thelma Palmer Varner5 Comments

In the USA March is Women’s History Month. Borrowing a phrase I heard used I Declare and Decree this Black HerStory Month. Twenty-Eight or in the case of this year 29 days is not enough to celebrate the achievements of African Americans nor do we often hear about the accomplishments or even acknowledge Black Women so I Proclaim March Black HerStory Month.

First Honors and Praises to the Our Black Family Matriarchs. Our Queens! From what I’ve been told I am very Blessed and Fortunate to have family photos from my Dad’s side dating back to the 19th century. My Paternal Grandmother Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer kept meticulous records recording the name of each ancestor on the back of the photos. The one Woman ancestor photo that does not have a name is a tintype and at some point the name either fell off or became detached.

I have only a few photos of my Maternal Women ancestors as my mother’s family did not have the money to either purchase cameras or pay to have their photos professionally taken. All have now gone onto to Glory and passed into eternity but even the 19th Century Queens who I did not get a chance to meet in person I carry not only their DNA but their strength, faith and fortitude to preserve in and over all circumstances. Ancestral Memories flow through my veins.

Aunt Carrie_George Gordon's sister — Aunt Carrie_George Gordon’s sister

Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer -- Paternal Grandmother — Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer — Paternal Grandmother

Maternal Grandmother Hattie Banks 12251974_Dayton Ohio

Rosalie Palmer_William Palmer's Sister — Rosalie Palmer_William Palmer’s Sister

Aunt Helen_Obit(1) — Helen Louise Palmer Garcia ~~ My Dad’s Oldest Sister

Ancestor_Dad_Side — Unknown Woman Ancestor on my Dad’s side. This is a tintype and her name must have fallen off at some point.

Two of the Sisters. My Mom Mable Elizabeth Palmer and Helen James.

Quilts

On January 18, 2016March 18, 2017 By dancingpalmtreesIn DeBorah Ann Palmer, Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer, Everyday Use Short story by Alice Walker, Helen Garcia, Helen Palmer Garcia, Quilts, Thelma Palmer Varner, Uncategorized, William J. Palmer, William Junius Palmer, William Palmer12 Comments

https://goo.gl/photos/93pk8FMZcV3ezqss9

Quilts

On the surface the beautiful design, the warmth on a cold winters night while underneath an intricate patchwork of stitches all coming together joining not just pieces of fabric but generations. In my case me granddaughter to my paternal Grandmother Eva Palmer. Grandma Eva died when I was 5 or 6 so I did not get to know her well but that quilt held her memory however faint to me for quite some time. The colorful triangular patches sewn together combining functional with fancy.

Grandma Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer — Grandmother Music Sewing Box

Grandmother Eva’s Music Sewing Box

Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer — Grandmother Music Sewing Box

Grandma Eva’s Musical Sewing Box that plays, “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.”

Her patchwork quilt so lovingly made for me the first child of her only surviving son, my Dad Edward G. Palmer was like an umbilical cord linking us together. Now both my grandmother and my Dad have long since passed on but every time I see quilts I think of Grandma. Some threads represented the sons she lost to Polio other threads her grandchildren representing the next generation. And I possess her quiet strength and strong faith to endure tragedies and celebrate triumphs.

Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer -- Grandmother — Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer — Grandmother

Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer. My Dad’s Mom. She married my Grandfather William Julius Palmer on Jan. 15, 1919. My grandmother was 27 when she got married to my grandfather who was 40. My grandmother was a Milliner, my grandfather a shipping clerk. I have very vague memories of her.

When I read the story Everyday Use by Alice Walker which is supposed to be a riff on the Bible’s Prodigal son I the good girl, the faithful daughter became the prodigal daughter who eventually returned to the fold. Every so often whether permitting I make my pilgrimage to Harlem to walk the streets of the Harlem Renaissance and every day people like William and Eva Palmer raising a family on a shipping clerk’s salary. My Grandfather William Palmer taking the kids to Mt. Morris Park (Now Marcus Garvey Park) on an outing.

My Grandfather William Palmer with four of his children at Mt. Morris Park around 1926. My Dad Edward G. Palmer is not in the photo because he was not born until 1930. The little boy on my GrandDad’s lap later died from polio.

Everyday Use

Short story by Alice Walker

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug97/quilt/walker.html

Sometimes I can still remember traveling to Harlem with my Dad to visit my Grandma Eva. In my mind I’m still walking around her large apartment. I see my Aunt Eva’s piano. I see my Dad looking out the window while playing with the window blind cords and then I hear my Grandmother’s voice telling him to stop and for all of us to come eat.

Then memories fade………….