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New Developments in the Elliot/Darragh/Dillane Project

The 14 Day Research Like a Pro Challenge may be over, but the work goes on. There have been several developments since I finished up my project to discover if Joanna Elliot was the mother of Dorah Darragh, a third great-grandmother.    New Developments   I connected with a Dillane descendant on Ancestry via their messaging system. My theory is that Dorah Darragh's mother was Joanna Elliot, and that Joanna was a Dillane, accounting for the close connection between their families. I contacted my new friend after noticing that he had the Elliots, Darraghs, and Dillanes in his Ancestry family tree. He is a descendant of John Dillane, Charles Dillane's brother. My new collaborator held many of the same theories and conclusions that I had come to regarding these families.    He also corrected one relationship that I got wrong: The Esther Dillane living with Edward and "Georgina" Elliot  in 1861 was not Charles and Mary Dillane's daughter, but the daughter of ano...

The Thumb's Christmas

 

Our daughter, Anne, was a prolific artist when she was young. Our refrigerator door was full of her drawings, paintings, and school artwork. She liked to create little books, too, as she was also a natural storyteller.

One Christmas when she was about eight years old, Anne wrote and illustrated a Christmas story for her little brother, James. If memory serves, she drew her inspiration from a book she had recently gotten from the library by illustrator Ed Emberley. He wrote and illustrated The Great Thumbprint Drawing Book. In it, Emberley showed how to make a variety of animals and people using a thumbprint as a starting point. The creations are simple and charming. It's amazing what you can do with a blog of ink and a few black lines. It's art that's accessible to anyone.

Anne's story is called "The Thumb's Christmas," and is based on our family. There is a thumb with glasses (Anne), a thumb with little hair (toddler James), a thumb with a mustache (Jim), and one with a half-circle of curlicue hair (me). There is even a thumbprint Santa, bear, and Christmas tree, along with a little story.

I get a kick out of reading it every year. Not only is it creative, but it was a gift from the heart from our daughter to our son. I'll always treasure it. And hope you will like it too.



It's Christmas at the Thumbs!



 

They went for a walk in the snowy woods.


 

They wrote Christmas lists...


 

They set out eggnog and cookies for Santa.


 

Where are Mom and Pop going?


 

Shh!


 

What a nice surprise!
The End.

 

Until next time... 

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© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2024. All rights reserved.

P.S.  When Anne was a little older, she wrote a story called "Spider's Christmas," which I've featured here in the past. It's always fun to read again. Share it with a little one in your life this Christmas.



Comments

  1. Replies
    1. Isn't it delightful? She really got the expressions right!

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  2. Such a precious book! Fun and fanciful.

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    Replies
    1. I'll be sure to tell our daughter you liked it! Happy Holidays!

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  3. What a wonderfully creative imagination she had. So cute! My youngest used to make Christmas gifts like this for us as well! The best gifts to treasure always! Thanks for sharing. :)

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    Replies
    1. She really did...still does. I love these handmade gifts the most of all. Gets me where I live!

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