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From the Archive Closet: A Prayer Card Finds a New Home

Front of the prayer card commemorating Rev. Stephen Blasko's First Mass. It's been a while since I wrote about my ongoing battle with the Archive Closet! A tiny bit of good news: I have found a home for one artifact. I have many religious cards and books that belonged to my mother, grandmother, and great-grandparents. I've written previously about saving some of my grandmother Margaret Simonik Kozlina's prayer cards to Find a Grave and the FamilySearch Family Tree, and about her cathechism booklet .   I recently came across a different sort of card that belonged to Grandma. It was written in Slovak and had the name Štefan J. Blaško on it. I translated it using the Deepl translation tool: A prayer to the Lord of the priests: Praise and exalt him forever   Dan: 3:84 In Memory of My First Solemn Mass at St. John the Baptist Church in Campbell, Ohio April 28, 1935 Rev.  Štefan  J. Bla š ko Ordained a priest April 23, 1935 “O Jesus, accept this as a sign of my...

GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021 - Seeing Double

James, dwarfed by a Union Pacific engine.


 
James' grandpa, James Casey, Sr. enjoys his time on a train.

GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021

Seeing Double -  January 25th entry of a 31-day challenge to post a document, photo or artifact on social media every day in January.  

by Nancy Gilbride Casey


What is it about little boys and trains? Our son James was enamored of trains from the day he first noticed them as a tiny little guy. 

Whenever we saw one, he would want me to slow down the car so we could watch it, or roll the car windows down so that he could hear the train whistle. He collected Thomas the Tank Engine cars and track. I read him Thomas the Tank Engine books, and we watched the TV show too. With every library trip we took, we looked for any book with a train theme. I'm sure there was a train-themed birthday party at some point too.

James also loved a trip to the train museum with his Papa (James D. Casey, Sr.), or visiting other train exhibits in local small towns. Imagine his thrill when we took a ride on the actual Thomas the Train one year in Grapevine, Texas!

The love of trains must run in the family line: proven by this wonderful black and white photograph of James' Papa, standing on a train stairs when he was a little man. It wonderful to see shared interests passed through generations.


NEXT UP: Wartime Letter III

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