While some people were celebrating April Fool's Day last Friday, on Mr. Ginley's calendar, April 1st marked the arrival of the 1950 Census.
Every 10 years, the government releases the information that was taken during the U.S. Census 72 years prior. Mr. Ginley, being the genealogical wiz that he is, dug right in and found both his family's records and mine.
I lucked out because there were bonus questions for randomly selected citizens, and my grandparents each had them. Consequently, I learned my dad's mother attended four years of college and one year of nursing school. Her profession was listed as "registered nurse," although she wasn't working at the time. My grandfather was a pharmacist. The ages were messed up, but the rest of the information was accurate.
It was also pretty cool that my parents were living with them at the time, and my oldest brother had arrived, so he was part of the Census, too.
And their neighbors were from "Persian." Kinda exotic.
On my maternal grandparents' side, my grandfather owned his own company and was doing pretty well for himself. Two of their children were still living with them at the time.
A lot of folks don't get too excited about the Census, but I think it's pretty fascinating. I think about my young parents, their whole lives ahead of them. And of my grandparents, who didn't know the heartbreak that was to come. I would never know my father's dad. Just one year after this Census, he had a heart attack and died. My grandmother would move back to their hometown to be close to her daughters.
As to my maternal grandparents, they would do well for another 15 years or so, until my grandfather suffered a stroke that would rob him of his sweet personality.
It's probably best if we don't know what lies ahead.
And just live the hell out of every single day.
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