Old Family Tragedies

     In 1942, at only forty years of age, my maternal grandfather died. I wasn't born until the next decade so I  never knew much about Lawrence, except that he was a baker, that his marriage to my grandmother failed miserably and that he was an alcoholic. Even my mother, his only child, knew little about him; Lawrence was completely estranged from his family and lived in another state.

     However, genealogy research revealed a history of tragedies in Lawrence's immediate family of fivechildren. My sweet godmother was married to his youngest brother and when I inquired, she sent me a large folder of papers, documents and photographs. The newspaper clipping (c. 1927) shown here reports the death of another brother, Ted, who was five years younger than Lawrence. In the photo, Ted's stance is not just a brash young man - he appears insolent and possibly inebriated, which could explain the reason for the accident.

     Below is another article, this time recounting the death of Marie, an older sister. Apparently she was a working woman who had retired relatively young, was unmarried and lived alone. The palm trees indicate that this photograph was taken far from her native Michigan, perhaps on a vacation. Was this the happiest portrait found in her possessions?
     The untimely and adverse nature of the sibling's deaths lead one to the conclusion that the family shared some type of unfortunate or oppressive issues. Rebellion against life on the farm? First-generation Americans chagrined by immigrant parents? Or if it was a gene for weak personalities, the adage was borne out that only the strong survive...