I'm a Williams!

 

Cecil Williams and
Mildred Bassham - 
wedding day 1929

Having been married for over half a century, there are many people who assume Sorensen is my given name.  When correcting people's spelling of SorensEn (not SorensOn), I have been known to say that I never experienced people misspelling Williams.

I realized recently that I have rarely mentioned my paternal family in this blog, and today I want to fix that.  My father's family settled in Tennessee and Alabama, with deeper roots in Kentucky, Virginia, and the Carolinas.  Much like my maternal line, these people arrived in the US centuries ago, fought in the various wars of our nation, and mostly farmed and raised large families.

Cecil & Mildred
with Opal (age 3) and
my dad Theo (about 1 yr)
Top left is Mildred's sister

My paternal grandparents, Cecil Williams and Mildred Bassham Williams married in 1929.  They raised six children, four girls and two boys, and my father was the second child and older son.  The family lived in Lawrence County, Tennessee, and I remember many fun times at the farm when I was a child, playing with my brothers and cousins, helping feel the animals, bringing in eggs, collecting produce from the garden, and learning to make biscuits with grandma.  

Cecil & Mildred, probably in the 1950s

Four generations:
Mildred, Cecil, Theo, with
Shawn (9 months) and me

I really enjoyed my grandparents and the love and attention they gave us. 

Grandma lived until 2002, when I was 48 years old, and my last visit with her was the summer before she passed at her home in Illinois.  She was in good spirits, cleaning her home, insisting on cooking for me, and giving me more information about our family, providing pictures, and sharing stories and memories.  It was a wonderful visit.