MEMOIRS OF GRAMFLAKES

About the Book

Eleanor was inspired by her father at an early age to appreciate family history. During her retired, lonely years as a widow she started writing for entertainment. She did not enjoy “pity parties” and found a joy in sitting in front of her computer to write about her memories. Some of her children and friends enjoyed hearing about past events that interested them and encouraged her to write. She was the only girl and oldest child and spent the majority of her growing up years around adults as they told their stories. That was their prime entertainment. She would like to inspire others to make notes and write stories for their future generations. She found that it is amazing how much one can remember and relive as the words appear on the computer screen.

About the Author

The author is a retired mother, grandmother and great grandmother who lived through some of the most interesting times in the twentieth century. She was born on October 27, 1922 and spent her formative years growing up on a small, hardscrabble, dairy farm near Charlotte, NC as the oldest of seven children. The Civil War was still a vivid memory to some of her older relatives, but her most powerful memories are of World War II. She feared her husband -- who fought for four years in that war flying in heavy bombers over Germany – might never return home to her. She also had brothers and in-laws who spent the war years in harm’s way. Eleanor’s work ethic is similar to so many of the generation who experienced the Great Depression. After the war, Eleanor was not a stay-at-home mom, but joined her husband in active employment to help buy a part of the American dream for her family. They accumulated a working farm, acre by acre. In the evenings and on the weekends, the family pitched in together to milk the cow, to feed beef cattle, pigs and chickens for sale and meat, to cultivate hay and row crops and to can and freeze the produce from a large garden. The author is especially proud of her four children who pitched in for the benefit of the whole family. Despite their coming of age in the turbulent sixties, they all have some form of college education. Eleanor’s odyssey is a unique, yet all American story, of courage, resilience and adventure. Eleanor lost her beloved husband in 1980, but she still lives independently in Boynton Beach, FL in the winter and Monroe, NC in the summer. Her email address is: Gramflakes@comcast.net.