Today is the thirtieth anniversary of my mother-in-law's unexpected death. She left behind her husband and ten children ages 14-28 at the time. I never met her and have often wondered about her.
She shares a number of uncanny similarities with my own mother. They have the same middle name, and their first names are variations of the same name. They both obtained masters degrees, and both taught school. Each married in March of her 27th year, and had her first child (a daughter) in December, followed by her second child (a son) the following December.
I feel a kinship with her in that she too moved to the community where her husband grew up, and made it her town as well. Once Mike showed me the cleaners where she took her clothes. I could see her running errands around town just like I do. Several people have filled in details. A man at our church was a teenage bagger at the A&P at the time, and said he bagged her groceries on a daily basis. (Ten kids, a lot of food.)
With that many children she certainly had her moments, and since she's like the rest of us she certainly wouldn't have been perfect. But she has been greatly missed both by those who knew her and those who never did. I look forward to meeting her one day.
4 comments:
Very interesting indeed--didn't have any idea that Mary Louise and I had so much in common.
Your new picture/heading of the Greenville downtown and you in a red blouse are delightful!
This is the most I ever knew about Mike's mother. Thanks for sharing--very interesting.
She's a lovely lady. I am sorry you never had the chance to know her. It;s neat you're in the same town with some of the same people and places.
The similarities to your mom are interesting.
I met Aunt Mary just months before her death and fell in love with her. We went for a week's visit and she talked me into staying two (an easy battle!) and by the end of that time had convinced me to come live with her and transfer to Clemson at the end of the summer.
I was thrilled with the prospect and returned to CA for my summer job. When she was killed suddenly that summer, it broke my heart to lose such a wonderful, amazing, strong and giving influence so soon.
I still miss her terribly. (And I, too, share her middle name, became a teacher and had my first child in December!) ;)
Love you and miss you, Aunt Mary! (Thanks for the tribute to her, Ann! You would have loved her!)
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