Welcome to America...

I haven't utilized this blog in a long time. As I've gotten older and the world has changed, I want to share less and less about my life with strangers. I deactivated most of my social media last year.  

This blog originally began as a place to record the story of our long-distance relationship during the early internet years (2003), how we navigated the immigration system before and after getting married in 2009. With the help of our immigration lawyer, we were able to bring F.B. to the United States from the Philippines as a permanent resident in 2011.

And then we became complacent. Life trucked along. There wasn't any rush to change his immigration status. Life in the United States felt monotonous, predictable, safe. Until it wasn't anymore...

In 2020, before the pandemic and widespread shutdowns, F.B. and I finally decided to submit his application for naturalization in the United States. In June 2021 he became a naturalized United States citizen, after taking the oath at an immigration office here in Philadelphia.

Between the pandemic and four years of an authoritarian president, things changed.

I have never felt this level of fear and uncertainty as an American, as a former federal employee. Even after 9/11 people came together, we weren't this divided as a country. Now it seems like cruelty is normalized. If you have empathy or compassion for other people different from you, there's something wrong with you. When did this happen? When did we let political sides dictate our humanity? 

Now it’s 2026. We’ve been married for nearly 17 years, and F.B. has been a U.S. citizen since 2021... and I'm still scared every single day since the 2024 elections. I worry that something, somewhere, is wrong in a government database, a mistake or typo that could have ICE knocking at our door, or worrying they will conduct raids at my husbands workplace, or pull him over in a traffic stop because of his skin color or Filipino accent. We scanned his naturalization paperwork so he can carry it with him, but what guarantees they would even look at it? This administration detains first and asks questions later.

I have flashbacks of the World War II history I've read about since I was 11. Our class had to read Anne Frank's diary for a book report. As an adult I dived into countless memoirs and history books about what happened during Hitlers reign. The similarities. History always repeats itself, but I never thought the whole world would be looking in abject horror at what's happening in the United States right now. How did we get here? Where has our humanity gone as a nation? None of this normal! 

Americans are being killed in the streets by federal employees. Immigrants, families, children, people who are following the law, attending their hearings and working with immigration lawyers are being detained, torn from their homes, schools and families. Deported to countries they are not from, or held in crowded prison camps. All of this is happening without due process. People. Humans. Disappeared. 

We're only twenty-six days into 2026 and now two Americans are deceased. Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Murdered by ICE in broad daylight. They were true American patriots who stood up against injustice and for the dignity of others. They deserve justice & will never be forgotten.

We are so fortunate to have people willing to put themselves at risk to witness and document the abuses being carried out by ICE and other government agencies under this administration. The right to protest an unjust government is protected by the First Amendment of our constitution. If no one speaks up, everyone is complicit. 

Please email your Senators and Representatives, protest safely if you can, register to vote, and vote in local, state, and federal elections. If you’re outside the country, please boycott the United States. We need your help!

I don't know where we go from here. It seems like every day there's some other new atrocity. Since last year, I've been in a cocoon here at home. Terrified to go anywhere. Only leaving when necessary.

Welcome to America...

Credit: C Whisenhunt. Death of Liberty & Justice.

Unprecedented times...

If anyone needs to get in contact with me you can find me on Bluesky. I've deactivated Facebook, Instagram & Twitter. Stay safe friends/family. Please pray for the United States. 

We're All Mad Here...

Alice in Wonderland has always been my favorite fairy tale. ❤️ When I was a kid I was obsessed with the TV movie. 

I'd play dress up in one of my old Christmas dresses, a red & white polka dot dress, similar to the one TV Alice wore, and when my Mom was in the kitchen I'd jump off the stairs onto the sofa below, pretending I was Alice falling down the rabbit hole, my dress puffing out like a parachute. 😂 

(Photo of me in my red dress from 1988.)

I've been looking for an antique copy of Alice in Wonderland and was lucky enough to find a 1920 copy from a shop in the UK for $16! 

The dodo bird illustration was always one of my favorites. I was terrified of the Cheshire Cat as a kid, but I love him now. 

CDV: (1895-1897) Girl with her Bicycle

I apologize, this photograph has been sitting in my draft posts for about a year. It is of a teenage girl around late 1800's. I love her puffed sleeves, it gives me Anne of Green Gables vibes. (Anne so wanted a dress with puffed sleeves!)

Speaking of which, did anyone see the Netflix series Anne with an E? I'm super disappointed it was canceled in Season 3, it was such a good show with great actors! The girl who played Anne, (Amybeth Mcnulty) was the entire essence of who Anne of Green Gables was! It was a Anne for this century covering multiple issues: bullying, abuse, racism, feminism, LGBT+, etc. I'm a sucker for any historical drama and I'm really sad it was canceled. (Maybe, sign the petition fans have created to bring the show back!)

I purchased this CDV off eBay from a seller in England. There was no info on the back, but her clothing suggests late 1800's, possibly 1895-1897. Her outfit is actually made for cycling! I recently obtained a reprint of the 1897 Sears, Roebuck & Co catalog and I've scanned a few pages from that (below) showing all the bicycle equipment you could buy in 1897. 

Outfits for cycling. Gentlemen had their own outfits, with knicker shorts. The bicycle suit for ladies had a skirt that was shorter than the dresses they would wear every day.

A few of the ladies bicycles for sale in the 1897 Sears, Roebuck & Co catalog. 

The lamp on the bicycle in the photograph is a carbide lamp. You can see some similar ones for sale in the 1897 catalog, it was fueled with acetylene gas. A few models (above) in the Sears catalog were fueled by kerosene. 

RPPC: Pets in the early 1900's.

Please see my previous post Pets in the 19th Century for even more photographs!

These are both antique photo postcards (RPPC) from around the early to mid 1900's that were each purchased at separate times. Both postcards were blank on the back so I have no way of properly identifying the people in them. It's lovely to see pets were cherished members of the family even 100 years ago. 

1911 Postcard: Lorraine Venus Austwick

Long time, no post. I hope everyone is holding up during the whirlwind of a year 2020 has been so far.

This is another antique photo postcard (RPPC) I purchased on eBay recently, of a little girl dressed up as leaves for a school program. The postcard says:

Jan 29, 1911

Dear friend Laura, I send this card for Lorraine, she was in a (intramural? instrumental?) and had to play just as the leaves came down, and she wanted you to have one but they are not very good.

Say, Mrs Tompson told me you sent for us to come visit there, but I moved and so did she and neither one got the letter or card in time. I am 2745 Gladys Ave near California, Van Buren so come and see me if you come to the city. Minnie A.

I love when there's just enough info on antique postcards or photographs that you're able to identify the people on them. I did some research online and was able to figure out Minnie A, the author of the postcard was Minnie Austwick, and her daughter was Lorraine Venus Austwick. They lived in Chicago at the time the postcard was written and Lorraine would have been around 7-8 years old in 1911.

9/11 #neverforget

*I originally published this blog in 2009. I've decided to update it for the 18th anniversary.


I can't believe it's been 18 years since 9/11. I was saying to my husband the other day, that we can't believe all the children born in 2001 after 9/11 are now 18 years old. We have a whole new generation that never experienced the fear of that morning 18 years ago. I'll never forget watching all of the coverage on the news... I would sit up late at night watching live CNN coverage of Ground Zero, crying.

I just wanted to take a moment to blog and share my personal experience.

In November of 2001. My churches youth group went up to New York for volunteer work. It was my very first trip to New York. We spent the whole afternoon putting bags together of supplies for NYC firefighters families.

(I was tearing my closest apart trying to find the laminated name tags we wore on that day as volunteers. I was hoping to scan it and add it to this blog. I have an awful habit of putting small memory items in odd places. It could be in a wallet, the back of a photo album, a box. I really wanted to find it, but I couldn't locate it. I'm sure when I'm not looking for it, I'll come across it).

Later in the evening we went to Ground Zero. Actually standing there looking at the wreckage and devastation. I'll never forget the jagged metal, the foggy air, the fenced off memorial wall that stretched for blocks & blocks. It was different from seeing it on the television. It was real. It was very humbling and like nothing I had ever experienced. I'll never forget it.

 (Similar to what I saw that night standing there. This is burned in my memory. Source.)

It was a life changing experience for all Americans. Especially for the younger generations. To feel that our freedom & security was violated. Our innocence taken away. We will never forget.

Arrow indicates where I am in the photo. (With my eyes closed, lol.) In Times Square with my youth group in 2001 heading towards Ground Zero. Photo courtesy of: Nina Krych.

CDV Photographs: Pets in the 19th Century

In some of the more rare carte de visite photographs, owners posed with their pets. These are a few CDV & cabinet cards with animals that I've collected. 

 CDV photo circa 1870-1880. Posing with their pet pony/horse. 

CDV Photo circa 1870. Posing with her little dog. 

CDV Photo circa 1880. Mummy & Fluffy is written on the back,
the other writing is hard to make out.

CDV Photo circa 1880. A photo anomaly: the dog moved in her lap as the photo was taken
and his head appears to be missing!

Cabinet Card. Photo circa 1870-1880. Posing with her dog. 

If you were ever curious of the size difference between a Cabinet Card and a Carte de Visite, you can see here how much larger the Cabinet Card is next to the CDV. 

 

CDV Photograph: Pince Nez Glasses 1870-1880

While looking for CDV (carte de visite) photographs, I noticed all the wacky antique glasses people used to wear. I made it my mission to try and obtain one for my CDV album and my patience paid off recently when I was able to get this photograph.

The photo is circa 1870-1880, and the studious girl from Massachusetts is wearing a pair Pince Nez glasses. There would have been a chain and a clip to secure to her dress and the glasses stayed on by pinching the bridge of her nose. While they definitely don't look very stylish today, I'm sure they were popular back in the day.

Here's an example of antique Pince Nez Glasses from Pinterest: