My Grandparents


Tom-Tom, Lisa, & Mam-ma
These are my grandparents, Tom J. Johnston and Pansy Louise Lancaster.  I am standing between them and am probably less than a year old.  I think this because I am not standing up straight.

My grandfather was called Tom-Tom by his grandchildren and my grandmother was called Mam-ma.  They were in their late thirties when I was born, as their first grandchild, and felt they were too young to be grandparents.  So we did not call them "grandma" or "grandpa."  Also, in Texas, where my grandparents were born, a common name for grandmother was "Mam-ma."  My mother called her grandmother "Mam-ma," too.

Tom-Tom was a carpenter and worked at Diablo Valley College until his death.  Mam-ma worked outside the home in clothing stores.  She also made her own clothes, probably the dress she is shown wearing here.

Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

Comments

  1. Free Genealogy GuideJanuary 30, 2011 at 4:25 PM

    I've seen a lot of cases where the grandparents are reluctant to be called grandma and grandpa or any other name that would identify them as grandparents. After all, it's one of the mileposts of increasing age. But your grandparents look so young that I can't really fault them for sticking with Tom-Tom and Mam-Ma.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 2, 2011 at 9:26 AM

    Well, I found your blog. My you look so much like Elizabeth did at the same age!!

    Susan

    ReplyDelete

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