This is a note I received today about my father from my oldest living brother:
Here's something I never knew.
In 1906, when Pa was 9 years old, his 12 year old sister, Sarah, died of pneumonia. Pa's mother, Winifred, was pregnant at the time and shortly delivered another girl, named Sarah in honor of the girl they had just lost. Within a month, Winifred died of Bright's Disease, an end-stage kidney disorder. That same month, Winifred's mother died, Pa's grandmother. And, to top it off, Winifred's brother, John, (Pa's uncle) died.
So, in one month in 1906, at the age of 9, Pa lost his sister, his mother, his grandmother, and his uncle.
That had to have some profound effect on a kid that age. His father, Michael, was now expected to raise five kids, including a newborn without a wife or extended family to help out.
I wish I had known this when Pa was alive, maybe talked to him about that month in 1906. But it's lead me to talk to my great-grands more, share some of my experiences, both good and not so good.
Stay safe and healthy,
Tom the Eldest
