When we pulled up to Aunt Eula’s house, it looked like a miniature version of the house I remembered going to with Granny. But so much of the place was exactly the same. There were still soybean farmers sitting in their lawn chairs in a circle under the big shade tree out front. There was still an old rusted tractor sitting out back. And inside the house, the pool table had been converted to a buffet table exactly the same as it was when I was a kid. There was even a watermelon “basket” full of fruit.
While my parents were catching up with some relatives outside, Kelsey and I went inside for some food. She and I made our way around the buffet and then we found a couple of empty seats in the row of chairs lining the perimeter of the front room. And as we enjoyed our lunch, I made small talk with folks sitting around us. I could tell they had no idea who I was because, without really “asking,” they were trying (not-so-subtly) to figure out how I was related.
During on of my conversations, I brought up the fact that I was Fanny’s great-granddaughter – I was hoping that a little name-dropping might give me some street cred. Then as if in slow motion, I watched my relative’s face as he mentally traced the family tree. Finally he made the connection, and then he looked at me and said, “Oh, so you’d be Edna’s Granddaughter.”
I felt like the wind had got knocked out of me just like the time when I was ten years old and fell backwards off our front porch. Only my mom wasn’t there to blow in my face.
It was so strange to be referred to in relation to Edna, because I never knew her – she died soon after I was born. And to be perfectly honest, I never really thought much about her at all. I’ve seen pictures of her of course, and my mom talked about her from time to time when I was growing up, but otherwise it was as if she didn’t exist at all.
That is until the day of my family reunion…now I think about her all the time.
Since the reunion, I’ve learned a little more about Edna’s life. She was born in 1925 and was the oldest of Fanny (my Granny) and Nathan’s four children. Here she is pictured with her siblings, Bud and Doris (seated) and one of her cousins (with the ball).
After the death of her father, who died in a horrific train wreck in 1938, she took care of her younger siblings while Granny worked to provide for her family. When Edna got a little older she also worked. During the summer, she helped her Aunts can vegetables plus many other odd jobs to help Granny make ends meet.
Here she is on the left pictured with her mom (my Granny) and her sister, Doris.
She and her husband Byron (a WWII veteran) were married in Kansas City on 1946.
She and Byron had two children, Sandy (my mom) and John.
According to my mom, Edna was an incredible seamstress and had impeccable taste in clothes.
She made all my mom’s school clothes and even sewed for others. One of my favorite stories about Edna is that when she and Granny were sewing my mom’s wedding dress, she accidentally stuck her finger and bled on part of the bodice. After that, Edna sent my mom to town for a several more yards of Peau De Soie.
Edna suffered most of her life with chronic illness. My mom recalls as a child being sent to a TB sanitarium with her little brother, while Edna was in a different part of the hospital being treated for the illness. Then later in life Edna was diagnosed with lymphoma and endured years of tests and debilitating treatments.
Edna died on May 26, 1968, exactly two weeks after I was born. She was just 43 years old…the same age that I am now.
Yesterday was Edna’s birthday. And I think it was so fitting that Mom and Kelsey and I were all together.
It might sound weird, but all day yesterday I felt her presence so strongly. Almost as if she was with us celebrating the close relationship we have.
So Edna, if somehow across the heavens you can see or hear me, I hope it brought you peace and joy to see us all together.
Happy Birthday.
Love, Your Granddaughter
Thank you Kelly for making my mom’s life worth something. She didn’t have enough time on earth to experience the joy of being a grandmother, the joy of being the “grandmother” at your wedding, or experiencing the joy and peace that comes from family. Through you and me and Kelsey, she lives on and I KNOW she is proud and I KNOW she loves you. I see a lot of what I can remember of her in you, her strength, her physical beauty and her endurance. I am proud to be her daughter and your mother.