Photo restoration, Cliff Beaman
Photos re-create family history like nothing else can do.
Before the Henry R. Longenecker family built their home near Rheems, Pennsylvania, they lived in a small house on the corner across from Bossler Mennonite Church. In the winter of 1922, someone (perhaps grandpa Henry) took a photograph of my grandma Fannie Longenecker, looking pleased sitting with her two children on a sled. My father Ray, age six, smiled at the camera. His sister, Aunt Ruthie, blinked at the shutter shot, maybe closing her eyes at the glare of the glistening snow. She was three years old.
At three, she was probably not reading and certainly not writing in a diary, but thirteen years later at age 16, she recorded her thoughts about the value of making New Year’s resolutions—or not.
You’ve seen this diary before in a previous post, which you can view here.
New Year’s Resolutions Ruthie’s diary, 1935-1938
January 1, 1935 (age 16) The opportunities before me are great entering a New Year. I hope I’m able to meet them full hearted and come out this year with a whiter page than ever before.
January 1, 1936 (age 17, probably returning to college at EMS, Eastern Mennonite School) “Left home 3:30 P.M. with heavy heart. Arrived 10:06 P.M. I made no resolutions, dear Diary, for I didn’t want the responsibility.”
January 1, 1937 (age 18) “I make no rash promises.”
January 1, 1938 (age 19) “It’s no use making resolutions ‘cause you always break them. I just thought of a few things that would be profitable. Rec’d my check this morning. [Apparently from office at EMS (Eastern Mennonite School) for helping secretary hectograph materials]
Hectograph: According to Dictionary.com: a process for making copies of a letter, memorandum, etc., from a prepared gelatin surface to which the original writing has been transferred.
January 1, 1939 (age 20) “On the dot of Jan 1, 39, I was awakened by all the clanging & noise E-town could make. Just now I finished writing ups since Dec 26, so it’s best I make no resolutions.”
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Mary Oliver Photo courtesy Poetry Foundation
American poet Mary Oliver ponders the question of purpose in one’s life. In her memorable “A Summer’s Day,” she asks in her oft-quoted last lines, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
My adaptation: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious year?”
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13 . . . but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. . . .”
Have you made New Year’s resolutions for 2022?
What is your opinion of New Year’s resolutions? Is it different from Aunt Ruthie’s?
How would you answer Mary Oliver’s question?
Good morning, Marian! I love that photo and the diary. Once again–how fortunate you are to have these things.
I’ve never made New Year’s resolutions. 😀 To answer your question, I do have some writing plans and goals for the year.
Merril, New Year’s resolutions would be superfluous for you, I think. You have deeply ingrained work habits, blogging almost daily and publishing poetry regularly. I’m glad that reading/responding in this space is one of your habits. I’m lucky that you do — and also fortunate to have Aunt Ruthie’s diaries. Thanks! 😀
You’re very welcome, Marian. It’s a pleasure.
And thank you for the praise. I feel like I’m kind of lazy. 😀
You are absolutely not lazy. That’s a statement of fact from me – hahaha!
Thank you!😀😀
I always love the diary shares, Marian. I don’t make resolutions. I write down achievable goals for the year. Writing them in my journal is important. Happy New Year!
Jill, I have often heard that writing down goals makes them more achievable, so you have prompted me to do some research. What I found: “You are 42 percent more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down. Writing your goals down not only forces you to get clear on what. . . you want to accomplish, but doing so plays a part in motivating you to complete the tasks necessary for your success.” Writing activates both brain hemispheres. The source:
https://www.google.com/search?as_q=statistics&as_epq=writing+down+goals&as_oq=effectiveness&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&as_filetype=&tbs=
Enjoy the day using both sides of that imaginative/analytical brain, Jill! 😀
Like Jill, I set goals and write them in my journal and share them on my blog. I love Aunt Ruthie´s dairy entries. I agree, photos re-create family history. I love the photo you shared today. Happy New Year to you and yours, Marian.
Darlene, you go the extra step and make your goals public. That’s another reason why, I think, you can celebrate so very MANY achievements at year’s end. Full steam ahead in 2022! 😀
I have not made resolutions as such in a long time. I love Mary Oliver’s line, and it is worth pondering for sure! Having newly lost my mother and am feeling the challenge of me and my siblings being the “oldest” generation in our family, I want to make the most of times with our children and grandchildren. Too often I get caught up in the cleaning, cooking and putting things away, when I need to make sure to interact 1-1 with each one as I can.
It is a setback in time and energy to lose such a loved one, especially your mother. From my own experience, I encourage you to be patient with yourself as you recoup and find your balance again. From my perspective, you are doing fine with those grand-boys and faithfully making a record of some events on your blog. Blessings, dear Melodie! 😀
I’m sorry to hear that you’ve lost your mother, Melodie. It’s so hard.
:-/ Yes, we know, Liz!
Your thoughts are appreciated. 🙂
😀
Marian, you have wonderful posts! It’s interesting that you mention purpose because I heard a few sermons on that at the turn of the year. I usually don’t make resolutions. But like Jill said, I see the value in making goals (with God’s help).
Happy New Year!
I think it’s typical for preachers to give messages on having purpose and setting good goals. The trick is to make small steps toward our goals every day. You do that, L. Marie.
All the best in 2022! 😀
I love Aunt Ruthie’s 16-year-old resolution: “The opportunities before me are great entering a New Year. I hope I’m able to meet them full hearted and come out this year with a whiter page than ever before.” It’s the only one she made in all five years. And it’s more of a hope than an exact goal. There is ambition present (“a whiter page than ever before”). Does she mean she hopes she will sin less, do you think? My personal 2022 holds much promise. On May 3 The Mindful Grandparent: The Art of Loving Our Children’s Children will be published. I want to be full hearted like Aunt Ruthie, sharing the book with others and (like Melodie above) interacting with our grandchildren 1-1 as much as possible. I take my theme word from Aunt Ruthie this year: full hearted. Thank you, Marian.
I too am playing a guessing game as I read her lines. In some of the lines, I have yet to discern her intention as a 16-19 year old emerging woman in Mennonite land. It’s alternately fun and exasperating to try though.
Just this morning my creative “buddy” and I decided to give priority to one of two writing projects. One is moved to the back burner for now, so we can concentrate on bringing the other to fruition. it’s a relief to have a single focus.
How exciting to anticipate a book launch this year. I imagine it would be double the fun with a co-author. I expect your path to publication and beyond will be full-hearted, just like Aunt Ruthie’s. Forward, ho! 😀
Not inclined to make NY resolutions, but I did set some goals for 2022. I adore: “I make no rash promises.” Delightful wisdom from one so young. As for what I plan to do this year, it is to stay healthy. Is that a rash promise, all things considered?
Boy, staying health is certainly not a rash promise or goal. Just this morning husband purchased at-home Covid tests at our next door neighbor’s request. Online sources are sold out, and someone with symptoms (like our neighbor) shouldn’t venture out to buy one. Two set aside for us, praying they are not needed. In the meantime we take vitamins, drink plenty of fluids, wear masks, and stay “cool.” At some point, enough bodies will have antibodies, and cases will decline.
God help us! Thanks for checking in, Ally. I didn’t mean to write so much, but it just came out. :-O
Marian, as a “diarist” (is that even a word?) your aunt’s and other people’s diaries always intrigue me. I just hope to get through this year without catching the Corona virus. That is a lame response! Better to say, “I hope to work on my next memoir”! Better yet, “I will work on my next memoir!” Although I also want to say with Aunt Ruthie “I make no rash promises.”
Elfrieda, I do think diarist is a word, and I don’t think your response is at all lame. If you read my comment to Ally (just above), I too hope we won’t catch the virus–and pray that the plague will end this year.
I really enjoyed your post this week, so full of nostalgia, along with honour to a good friend. Thanks, Elfrieda!
Lovely New Year post, Marian! Wishing one and all God’s richest blessings in 2022! <3
Thank you, Bette, always ready with encouragement and hope! 😀
I’m with your Aunt Ruthie on her post-1935 New Year’s resolutions perspective. I do planning with weekly tasking and a calendar in Evernote for everything I want to accomplish with my creative life. I’ve always appreciated that Mary Oliver quote. My answer to her question? I will be grateful for my one wild and precious life.
Liz, I sense that you also see the glass as half-full, sometimes even overflowing. You could not have accomplished all that you have without clear goals. Good for you! And I join you in gratitude for my one wild and precious life. 😀
Yes, I do go back and forth, in the water-in-the- glass-regard. 😉
We all do. . . you are in good company!
Good to know! I’m glad I’m not alone in that.
Rather than a resolution, I aim towards goals, much like the idea of a carrot being held in front of the horse’s nose to entice him along! I have my journaling and art/craft goals lined out. Realizing they may go sideways at any time due to health issues, I give myself permission to “condense and combine” as needed. And my ultimate goal remains, to be a pain in the a** as long as I can to as many people as possible, documenting in my “Fight Back! My “No Mercy” Journey” journal/book.
I gotta love that gutsy woman in you, GInger. The carrot image is spot on. I’ve never seen it applied to New Year’s goals, but it fits perfectly.
Blessings on your life and wishes for good health as you fill up pages of your journal/book! 😀
I love the picture. Dad at six and aunt ruthie 3 grandma so young beautiful. You are so blessed to have all these memories. Thank you for sharing them. Diary I never had one. I try to journal then get all turned around. I admire how you and the majority of your readers love words and books. I’m just not disciplined. I have no resolutions just taking a day at a time. Just got over an illness not COVID I believe it’s just stressed. It happened to me when I lost Linda. That time I got shingles. I’m better today. Waiting for niece to run errands. Have a nice day
No one who commented on this blog has a better image of my family, and specifically of Aunt Ruthie than you have.
Your reply is a reminder to pray for you more as you deal with the loss of another beloved family member. It takes courage and effort to read my blot and respond. God bless you for that. P.S. I’m glad you have a niece who can run errands. Hugs, dear Gloria! ((( )))
Marian — No resolutions, but as in the last few years, focusing on the phrase “Joie de Vivre!” (exuberant enjoyment of life). It continues to serve me ever so well.
To answer your question, “What do you plan to do with your one wild and precious year?” I’m up to be nostrils in writing “Iniquity” — book four in the Sean McPherson series.
Laurie, you are the only writer I know who can blend Joie de Vivre and the iniquity of crime dramas to produce a satisfying elixir. I mean it! You deserve all the accolades you are receiving these days. Forward ho! 😀
You are lucky to have those diaries and photos, Marian I hope one day in the future someone will feel blessed to be reading mine…as for New Year Resolutions I don’t make them but do set goals as I see many others do…not so many this year thus far I am just taking a day at a time..x
You are an accomplished woman, both in the kitchen and on the computer. You are so faithful in posting on your blog and interacting with others. We so appreciate it all! 😀
Thank you so much for your kind words, Marian 🙂 x
That is a lovely picture, Marian. Your Aunt Ruthie was was not to make frivolous resolutions. I don’t make resolutions either. My plans for 2022are to return to the office twice a week, to get my new historical novel finished. I aim to publish in Feb 2023. I also aim to let recent hurts go and not let them upset me so much. That is the hardest thing. 😊
You are an accomplished woman with achievements above and beyond most of us, both in your day job and in your writing life. I look forward to your new book early next year. Interestingly, one of Aunt Ruthie’s pronouncements is that she (as a teen) will aim at a target and shoot at it, very colorful wording I think.
About the hurts. I have experienced many. Before we may have met each other online I wrote about an offense and how I got over it. You may want to read it here. https://marianbeaman.com/2020/09/09/slights-offenses-how-you-handle-them/
May you experience healing over time, Robbie. Hugs! 😀
Oh, by the way, I recently added a special YouTube song from Matthew West to this post on Slights and Offenses. I listen to it every so often. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMn0QNdiuGE&ab_channel=skhaikhai
I loved the line about not making resolutions because she didn’t want the responsibility. I’d never thought of it that way before. I don’t make resolutions, but I do choose a word. This year it is FOCUS. I have a lot of different jobs and responsibilities, and I have found myself jumping around among them all doing bits and pieces here and there. I chose FOCUS to encourage myself to delve into one thing at a time and do one thing at a time well. Here I go …
You’ll go FAR with a word like focus. In fact, that wqs my word choice just a few years ago. Blessings as you focus in 2022, Arlene! 😀
That is a 100-year-old photo Marian! And it is so beautifully restored. Wow, what a family treasure. I love Aunt Ruthie’s words too “I make no rash promises.” She was quite wise for her age. I don’t make resolutions either. It’s ironic though that my comment falls below Arlene’s because I decided on Dec. 31st that I wanted to push myself this year. So I thought I would adopt “Push” as my theme. I will be gentle on myself, it’s more push a little harder to get this task done or do something that pushes past my many routines to explore and open up my world a bit. 🙂 Small steps!
Even small steps will get you where you want to go, Melanie. In fact, I’ve seen this saying on green-themed greeting cards. I agree, “push” and “focus” are a winning combo, especially with a gentle touch.
Thank you! 😀
😊
Thanks Marian, lovely post – loved Aunt Ruthie’s entries for several years on Jan 1. I’m not for making resolutions. In a way it sets me up for a personal sense failure if I don’t keep them. So rather, I’ll try to be resolute about things that are worth of being resolute – eg health, family, in my immediate sphere of influence- and where I can in the outer sphere. Here’s to a wonderful year for you and family Marian.
I like the word “resolute.” It sounds firm and foundational.
Also, I like that you parse the ideas of ever-widening spheres of influence, inner and outer spheres. You have a global word view, which I admire. Thank you for the wisdom here, Susan. 😀
Happy New Year to you Marian. Wonderful share. I think your Aunty Ruthie was a wise woman, I’m with her on not making resolutions. I just try to do my best every day and know good intentions can still go awry. 🙂 x
Intentions are powerful and in our control. Circumstances are not and can test our resilience and even drive us mad at times. Here’s to a year of finding balance and joyful surprises. Much love, Debby! oxo
I’ll cheers to that Marian. Sending some love back to you. <3
Such a precious family photo, Marian. And that diary reveals so much of Aunt Ruthie and her time. Not a person to commit to new year’s resolutions, apparently. I’m not a fan of all the trendy terms: “resolutions,” “bucket list,” … I’d like to think of them more as intentions. If it’s a resolution, you should stick to it. Other forms of ideas and goals allow for leeway and flexibility. 🙂
There is no way you and Mark could have survived on the road for so many years without allowing for leeway and flexibility. But that’s true for us too in a different way. I wrote down some goals, (weakly) and then put down the pen. I’m just not ready to throw down the gauntlet with a declaration.
Judging from the comments here, “resolutions” are out and like you, “intentions” are IN, just like you said. Here’s to a year of smoother sailing, Liesbet!
I’m curious how the tradition of making New Year’s resolutions started. I find it comical that even Aunt Ruthie knew way back then that resolutions weren’t worth anything.
I succumbed to your tease here and looked the origin of New Year’s resolutions on the History channel. Here’s what I found: “The ancient Babylonians were the first people to make New Year’s resolutions, some 4000 years ago.” You can find more here: https://www.history.com/news/the-history-of-new-years-resolutions
May you enjoy a winter without needing snow chains again and savor every season all year long.
Thanks, Pete!
It’s such a privilege to own your Aunt’s diaries . Thank goodness that were kept and not thrown away or burnt like so many others .
As I’ve said before , I kept diaries from 13 till 18 . I sometimes dip in and can be shocked at my voice and how much I’ve changed .
I don’t really do resolutions but I do set and intention of sorts and have a power word . Mine this year is BRAVE .
I have endless stories and poems and I have always longed to see them in print and this year I want to be brave and motivated enough to send them to a publisher . So I guess that is my aim .
Happy NewYear , let’s hope it’s a good one .
Cherryx
I simply LOVE your word. BRAVE – it even sounds bold if you say it out loud.
Cherry, I would be first in line to buy a collection of stories or poems with your name on it. You have talent and a distinctive voice, that’s for sure. ((( )))!
Thank you Marian that means loads 🤭😘xx
This year’s Word” “The JOY of the Lord is my strength”. Neh. 8:19 We are currently under major covid restrictions…again…With numbers climbing, it’s necessary, but discouraging too. But no matter the season in the year or in life, there are blessings. I may be “done” with this pandemic, but I’m “done” with an enemy who would seek to steal my joy! 🙂
Once I complained to my mom how tired I was and she responded, “The joy of the LORD is your strength.” I think of that often, like now, when I’m feeling tired. I’m glad you declare that joy from the Lord is durable and eternal, a very good thing, Jenn! 😀
I enjoyed this post, Marian. Ruthie has some practical thoughts about resolutions in her diary entries. Happy New Year to you and keep these posts coming!
I’m working my way through her teenage diary now, hoping to get to the end of May 1935-39 this week. I’m surprised at all the emotion she shared. But then, diaries invited honest feelings.
Thanks for the encouragement, Barb. 😀
I’m with 1937: “Make no rash promises.” I hope to get an acceptable draft of my book or a pamphlet about protecting Monarch butterflies and, at the same time, stay fit enough to live in my rural home another year. I’m dealing with 11 inches of snow this morning with more light fluffy stuff falling from the sky. My helper will plow me out and I’ll snowshoe with the dogs, but I watch my friends receive harsh diagnoses and know nothing lasts forever. Maybe the best resolution is to learn to accept what is when it appears. (I apologize for being so late, but I’m here!)
I got out my fluffiest winter coat to go outside this morning. What we experienced as rain and a stiff, persistent wind, has become snow for you, my sister close to the NY border and many other online friends in the Northeast. Your kind neighbors are always looking out for you. I’m glad to hear that continues.
As I climb up the ladder in a new decade, I’m hearing others’ “dire diagnoses” too and got my own scare about a month ago, the result of not taking my meds consistently.
Elaine, I also don’t think acceptance means giving up. . . making adjustments maybe, but not giving up. Take care! ((( )))