The Muse behind Dori Post
Posted by Dori Post at 1/8/2010 3:47 PM 
Categories: Inspiration
Tags: family history inspiration geneology writing muse
Categories: Inspiration
Tags: family history inspiration geneology writing muse
The inspiration behind Dori Post was born early in a ranch home of a colleague of her father's while they were traveling for his business. He worked for Internation Harvester (I think), the farming equipment company, and they were staying at a rancher's home in the small area of Fulda, Minnesota when she arrived unexpectedly on January 22, 1900.
She never had a birth certificate and she was an only child so the family tree stopped with her. It's difficult to trace it anywhere. Her father died when she was a teenager and her mother died before I was born. She was French Basque, the family tree traces from Canada. There was a single cousin that we visited once in Colorado when I was about twelve; and no one has any contact information for him anymore.
Unfortunately, all the family documents, heirlooms, etc. were lost in a fire that my grandfather died in. So there are no old trunks or photo albums or scrap books to go through.
She was brought up in finishing schools and destined to be a concert pianist. She had incredible insight and intelligence. She passed up the opportunity to be a concert pianist and instead stayed home to take care of her ailing mother. She married late and had three children in her late thirties and early forties. She never drove a car and walked to do most of her errands. She was a strong and proud woman that even walked with a straight and elegant gait that gave her a presence when she entered a room that made everyone take notice. She stood out and people were drawn to her. She could have been royalty.
She didn't have an easy life. They didn't have a lot of money and sometimes they had very little. At some points she took in sewing jobs or other things to make ends meet. She pawned her wedding rings once when it was necessary. She got new ones from her husband later when things got better. Despite the difficult times she maintained her dignity always and still had class. She still entered a room and people took notice. She made you realize that money isn't what gives someone class. It's something inside a person. It's heart.
She had so many different talents. In addition to music, she sewed flawlessly, she wrote beautifully, she was an incredible cook, she read avidly and had a wonderful mind for literature.
She once wrote a story about a little boy that got bounced around foster homes and all he had that was truly his was a teddy bear. It was for a fundraiser to buy kids in Juvenal Hall stuffed animals for Christmas. The story made people cry. The fundraiser was a screaming success. Everything she did came out flawless. It was amazing.
She demanded we all spoke proper English and even three generations later our children excel in vocabulary and language skills thanks to her.
When she married she converted to Catholicism for her husband and was the most devout Catholic I ever knew. While she may not have been the most devout mass attending person; she was a devout Christian. Never do unto others without conscience first. Always think how you would feel before you do to someone else. Put the shoe on your own foot first. Again, three generations later it is embedded in our children because of her. Children that never even had the opportunity to meet her.
I catch myself all the time living her legacies, quoting her, doing what she taught me, wanting to be like her. She was strong, inspiring, talented, intelligent, proud, charitable, and classy. I miss her terribly even though she has been gone 30 years. The best I can do to honor her is to try and carry on some of her best traits. She was truly an inspiring woman.
So that is who is behind Dori Post (not her name) for inspiration. A strong inspiring person that keeps up the fight.
She never had a birth certificate and she was an only child so the family tree stopped with her. It's difficult to trace it anywhere. Her father died when she was a teenager and her mother died before I was born. She was French Basque, the family tree traces from Canada. There was a single cousin that we visited once in Colorado when I was about twelve; and no one has any contact information for him anymore.
Unfortunately, all the family documents, heirlooms, etc. were lost in a fire that my grandfather died in. So there are no old trunks or photo albums or scrap books to go through.
She was brought up in finishing schools and destined to be a concert pianist. She had incredible insight and intelligence. She passed up the opportunity to be a concert pianist and instead stayed home to take care of her ailing mother. She married late and had three children in her late thirties and early forties. She never drove a car and walked to do most of her errands. She was a strong and proud woman that even walked with a straight and elegant gait that gave her a presence when she entered a room that made everyone take notice. She stood out and people were drawn to her. She could have been royalty.
She didn't have an easy life. They didn't have a lot of money and sometimes they had very little. At some points she took in sewing jobs or other things to make ends meet. She pawned her wedding rings once when it was necessary. She got new ones from her husband later when things got better. Despite the difficult times she maintained her dignity always and still had class. She still entered a room and people took notice. She made you realize that money isn't what gives someone class. It's something inside a person. It's heart.
She had so many different talents. In addition to music, she sewed flawlessly, she wrote beautifully, she was an incredible cook, she read avidly and had a wonderful mind for literature.
She once wrote a story about a little boy that got bounced around foster homes and all he had that was truly his was a teddy bear. It was for a fundraiser to buy kids in Juvenal Hall stuffed animals for Christmas. The story made people cry. The fundraiser was a screaming success. Everything she did came out flawless. It was amazing.
She demanded we all spoke proper English and even three generations later our children excel in vocabulary and language skills thanks to her.
When she married she converted to Catholicism for her husband and was the most devout Catholic I ever knew. While she may not have been the most devout mass attending person; she was a devout Christian. Never do unto others without conscience first. Always think how you would feel before you do to someone else. Put the shoe on your own foot first. Again, three generations later it is embedded in our children because of her. Children that never even had the opportunity to meet her.
I catch myself all the time living her legacies, quoting her, doing what she taught me, wanting to be like her. She was strong, inspiring, talented, intelligent, proud, charitable, and classy. I miss her terribly even though she has been gone 30 years. The best I can do to honor her is to try and carry on some of her best traits. She was truly an inspiring woman.
So that is who is behind Dori Post (not her name) for inspiration. A strong inspiring person that keeps up the fight.
bohzo (hello)
This women Dori, sounds a lot like a Pokagn Bannd of Potawatomi, we tend to have very little, we bounced around in foster care, and we are mainly Catholic, and we went to finishing schools, they probably are quite different than hers. we sell family heirlooms in difficult times only to get them back in some form or another. Great blog, i do know who Dori Post is.
Have a great day!
bama (Good bye)
David
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