List of the most popular hashtags for theme #GPAD_FEATURE

Brothers Karl and Otto Erma knew a few pranks, I'm sure. The two of them had quite the jolly evening in 1921, when Karl was visiting his younger brother Otto in Tartu, a town of students. As the evening drew to an end, Karl, as a gentleman, wanted to make sure the lovely young lady he had met on their pub crawl got on the late night train safe and sound. Otto offered his brother some moral support, while Karl and the lady said their goodbyes on the departure platform. A ticket inspector approached the group and asked to see their tickets. Karl and Otto, probably pretty tipsy and fearless in their condition, argued that they were just fulfilling their chivalrous duty, making sure the young lady was safe, and that they didn't need a ticket for that. Some more jokes were made at the ticket inspector's expense after which the ticket inspector slapped them with a law suit. They were found guilty of insulting an official and appearing on a departure platform without a valid ticket, and had to pay a fine. I like to think that regardless of the consequences of this prank, it was one of their most cherished memories together. Grateful that this court case involving my great-grandpa Karl and so many other old documents have been digitised and made available! Aitäh @rahvusarhiiv ! Photo taken in Estonia "Prank" for #genealogyphotoaday #family #ancestors #familyheritage #ancestry #myheritage #reallifetimetravels #timetravel #beautyfromthepast #oldphoto #familyphoto #familyphotoalbum #genealogy #savefamilyphotos #savefamilymemories #familyhistory #генеалогия #womanthroughacentury #gpad_feature

My paternal great-grandma Helene, here in a colorisation by @myretrophoto Funny how you can love someone without ever knowing them. That's what genealogy does to you. I feel spiritually very connected to Helene. Maybe it's because she passed away two weeks before I was born. Perhaps because I've read all her letters to her son's family that she wrote from exile and have the feeling I know her. Maybe I'm just so struck by her beauty. #genealogyphotoaday #family #ancestors #familyheritage #ancestry #myheritage #reallifetimetravels #timetravel #beautyfromthepast #oldphoto #familyphoto #familyphotoalbum #genealogy #savefamilyphotos #savefamilymemories #familyhistory #генеалогия #womanthroughacentury #gpad_feature #1920s #1920sfashion

Four photos of my great-grandma Helene through the years. You can guess which photo was taken during the war years... The first photo shows her during her schoolteacher years in the 1920s when she and her husband Karl got married and had their son Hillar in 1923. The second photo is taken in the war refugee camp in Germany where Karl's health unfortunately failed and Helene became a widow. The third and the fourth photo were taken in the USA where Helene sailed to under the Displaced Persons Act in 1950. She somehow managed to get a job as an in-house cook and housekeeper for a wealthy family in New Jersey and spent the rest of her life in their home far away from her birth country Estonia. "4" for #genealogyphotoaday #family #ancestors #familyheritage #ancestry #myheritage #reallifetimetravels #timetravel #beautyfromthepast #oldphoto #familyphoto #familyphotoalbum #genealogy #savefamilyphotos #savefamilymemories #familyhistory #генеалогия #womanthroughacentury #gpad_feature

My mom on vacation in 1966 looking down at La Jolla Cove in California. . Today’s #genealogyphotoaday prompt is #beach and in 1966 my mom, dad, and sister left me home in Michigan with grandma (again) while they traveled down the coast of California, taking many photos of the beaches along the way. . I love seeing my mom’s polka dot “day dress” and her 60s hairstlye. . . #1960s #1960slajolla #1960sfashion #florencemaudstory #family #familystory #familyarchaeology #familyexcavation #archivist #familyhistory #midcenturyliving #midcenturyvacation #preservememories #thewaywewere #memorykeeper #savefamilyphotos #familyarchives #thosegonebeforeus #gpad_feature #historyinpictures #historyphotographed #1960shair

Like the fate of so many young men in the early 1940s, my grandpa Haralds was drafted into the army before he could even turn 18. As Latvia, like the other Baltic States, had by 1943 become the battlefield of the two WWII monsters, the Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, many underage school boys volunteered to defend Latvia's independence. And here was my grandpa, 17 years old, descendant of Latvians and Baltic Germans. He lived in times when his heritage could get him killed. In times when his 17 year old soul was confronted with so much death of his peers, his school buddies. He survived 2 years of Soviet war prison camp in the region of Amur in the very Far East, 10.000 km away from home. He never talked about his experience of the war or of the prison camp, or about his Baltic German roots, even after it became safe to talk about it again in the 1990s. I found out about his captivity only at his funeral, and about his family's Baltic German heritage only once I first tapped into genealogy. I wish I could have that talk now, I would have so many questions. "S" as in "Soldier" for #genealogyphotoaday #family #ancestors #familyheritage #ancestry #myheritage #reallifetimetravels #timetravel #beautyfromthepast #oldphoto #familyphoto #familyphotoalbum #genealogy #savefamilyphotos #savefamilymemories #familyhistory #генеалогия #womanthroughacentury #gpad_feature

July 1971 picnic at the lake and I’m sucking down a can of Pepsi before I dive into the marshmallow jello, potato chips, Oreos, and chocolate Voortman wafer cookies! Those were the days! (Is it any wonder I have issues with sugar?!) . . My mom didn’t usually put cookies on the table. She must have gone all out because we had company at the cottage. These are my childhood friends whose parents were my parents’ closest friends. We had a lot of great times at the lake before they moved away. . . I also love seeing Aunt Fern’s baked beans (they always looked a bit dried out but tasted fantastic), which were staples of every Higgins Lake meal in my childhood and my daughters’ childhoods. . #1970s #1970sstyle #1971 #picnic #1970spicnic #picnictable #vintagepicnic #familystory #oldphotos #familyarchaeology #familyexcavation #archivist #familyhistory #preservememories #thewaywewere #memorykeeper #savefamilyphotos #familyarchives #historyinpictures #historyphotographed #genealogyphotoaday #gpad_feature #vintagehigginslake #marthamimi

J is for Jack, Aunt Fern’s second husband. (#geneaologyphotoaday March challenge) . In the 1930s, Aunt Fern had a close friend named Leah Jane, who married a man named Jack. In the 1960s, Aunt Fern married Clarence and the two couples spent time together over the next 20 years. Jack and Leah Jane were married 50 years when Leah Jane passed away. Fern and Clarence had been married 20 years when Clarence passed away in 1986. . In 1998, when Aunt Fern was 84 years old, I got a phone call at work from my husband, who was whispering so fast I could hardly understand him. He said, “I just walked into a restaurant and caught Aunt Fern HOLDING HANDS across a table with a MAN!” When my husband went up to the table, Aunt Fern turned a deep shade of red and introduced her friend Jack, who loved to write poems. . A few months later, they were married. Aunt Fern said, “I know I’m 85 and he’s 75, but if we could just have 10 good years together, that would be wonderful.” . We welcomed him into the family and my mom and I became his “typists” for all the poems he wrote. They spent winters in Florida, visited Jack’s sons and families, and bought a house together in Saginaw. . In 2012, Jack’s health started declining and he had to go into a nursing home. Aunt Fern was 98 and the arthritis in her knees was so bad she couldn’t take care of him, for which she felt horribly guilty. We took her every evening at 5 pm to the nursing home, and picked her back up at 8 pm. She wanted to be the one to feed him his dinner every night, and she also refused to let the nursing home wash his clothes. She brought them home with her and made sure it was done right. . In 2014, a few weeks after Aunt Fern’s 100th birthday party, Jack’s son from Missouri came and took him to spend his final months there. Aunt Fern insisted that I go in the room with her to say goodbye to her husband because she couldn’t face it alone. It was probably the most heartbreaking moment I’ve ever witnessed. Jack passed away a few months later and since Aunt Fern couldn’t travel, we held our own funeral for him in Michigan. I read several of his poems during the service, especially the one entitled “Fern.”

1971: My husband (the one with the bangs) with his brother and parents. Did they have to get out a ladder to get things down from that high cupboard?! Loving those orange curtains! . Yesterday I shared a photo of me in my house in 1971, so I think it’s cool to see what my husband’s house looked like and what his life was like at the same time. . . We met a few years later when his family started attending the church my family went to, but then in ‘78 I moved with my family to California, so it’s kind of amazing we ended up together... but that’s a story for another day. . . #1971 #1970sdecor #vintageliving #gpad_feature #family #familystory #oldphotos #familyarchaeology #familyexcavation #archivist #familyhistory #preservememories #thewaywewere #memorykeeper #savefamilyphotos #familyarchives #familytree #myheritage #rememberyourroots #vintagephoto #genealogy #vintageapron #apron

Aunt Fern’s final months as Fern Soper must have been exciting and a bit scary. I wonder how she felt at 51 years old to finally be in love and planning to leave her mother and sister and make a home with a husband. . She sure looks happy here in her apron, a few months before her wedding. . . . #1960s #1960sstyle #auntfernstreasures #auntfernfanclub #genealogyphotoaday #surname #gpad_feature #family #familystory #oldphotos #familyarchaeology #familyexcavation #archivist #familyhistory #preservememories #thewaywewere #thosegonebeforeus #ancestors #memorykeeper #savefamilyphotos #familyarchives #telltheirstories #genealogy #apron #vintageapron #midcenturyliving