family things

Several years ago, my Aunt Helen passed away. Mom said she had some needlework from Aunt Helen if I wanted something as a rememberance. It arrived some time this year. What I didn't know was there was also a Battenburg lace project started by Helen's mother, my Great Aunt Alma.

Alma Hake Ludeke (1875-1972) is known to me as "Aunt Alma" - Mom's aunt and my great aunt. I hear about her every Christmas, because she loved the Holidays and always made a big effort to make sure Christmas was special.

I don't know enough about lace to say much about this piece, but it's nice to have something she handled. Her grandson wrote the note on the tag. "Oma" is like grandma in German.

This piece and another, a Bargello crewel work by Alma's daughter, my Aunt Helen (Ludeke) Walker, is also coming home with me. I will probably have it made into a pillow, as she likely intended.

Aunt Helen was one of the few members of the extended family I knew. For many years, she lived close by in Hopewell, where her husband Bill was the Mayor for more than one term. Later she lived in Jamesburg, closer to where I was living at the time. We would both look after my grandmother (my "Oma") who also lived close by.