My Families Steely Girth

I am now 68 years of age and have time to reflect on how my life has been influence by those around me from childhood on. I come from on my mothersside of the family, 5 generations or more of woman who were widowed and raised chidren on thier own or under challenging circumstances. My Aunt Norma grew up loving the Ballet and was very poor as a child and would work at a tender young age in harsh weather to get money to save up for what she loved, She became as an adult a world class Ballet Instructor and also held audience with the pope att he vatican which meant a great deal to her. She had a direct influence and her courage and strength were a constant in my life, she was not the type to back down from anything. My mother was widowed a week after my second birthday and she worked hard her whole life and raised myself and my baby sister under challenging circumstances which also included domestic violence when she remarried later. My grandmother worked her whole life too she raised my mom and my aunt alone after she was widowed when her children were 10 years of age. My great grandmother Annie raised 9 children alone after she was widowed, she was a bootlegger and lived to be 104 years old. My grandmother on my dads side lost my dad when he was 21 years of age her son , he died in an accident at work and my sister and I were babies, she had courage and such love all her life. in my family there was compassion, love and strength to deal with the painful dissapointments and other things they faced in their life time.

There were othe rinfluences such as my uncles and grandfather who took time for us as children and showed us love and humor.

Humor was a tool my family used a lot and it helped dispell the stress and greif over issues we faced.

I raised my 3 sons alone after my divorce. my youngest was 2 and they all went to college and university. My youngest graduated with his masters in politicial science and they all 3 have a good sense of humor.