With the heat of summer, I am reminded of some black and white pictures I found of my great grandmother Ada Elizabeth (Woolgar) Hill.

On what must have been an incredibly hot summer’s day, Ada took off from the housework and went to the swimming hole near her home in Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. All the stories I have heard about her, she was an incredibly hard working woman. She was always busy doing something around the house.

With 13 children, you can imagine how good it would feel to take a break from the chores, dip your toes in the water and just relax. Stop sweeping the endless amounts of dirt. Take a break from preparing mountains of food, doing laundry, tending gardens and just relax.

The pictures are not that clear but the feeling is. Peace and happiness. Oh Ada. How much I wish I had known you. All of the stories I have heard about you came from people who didn’t know you as a young mother. Those that only got to know you later in life.

Ada who was born in England but became the matriarch of the Hill family in Canada, your records in your bible have helped me better track our family history. You helped set me on my way and have helped me grow our family tree.

And now over 50 years after your death in 1962, I look at these pictures and I think of you and smile.

If you would like to learn more about my great-grandmother Ada Elizabeth (Woolgar) Hill, read this blog post from April 2014.