On The Day I Was Born - Oh So ManyYears Ago

This picture is of the Des Moines River at flood stage as it roars through Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa. It is not an actual picture of the same flood condition as the day I was born, but similar. Ottumwa is separated into two parts by the Des Moines River.  The north side and the south side. My grandparents, Ralph and Hazel Cary, lived at 309 South Ward Street on the south side.  The Ottumwa Hospital was on the north side.  I think you are getting the gist of the story now, right?

In the last part of June, in 1935, my parents were living at 309 South Ward Street, with my grandparents.  I am not sure about all of the details that went into this situation, as I was just an innocent bystander at the time, but I can just about imagine the details.  My mother was seventeen years old and my father was twenty years old.  They were barely adults so had not gotten a real start in life yet, and here they were having a baby.  I don't apologize for that, as I had little to do with it, but I am grateful to them for having me at that particular time.   Later, would have made me a different person, and I like who I am, so I am happy.  Of course, I am using that very special thing called hindsight.

On that day, things weren't so rosy.  The main concern of Ottumwans was the rising Des Moines River and a possible flood in the city.  I can imagine the worried looks as the skies held everyone's attention. This is the same as today, as Mother Nature is not ever tamed and still does exactly as she pleases, just as she did in June 1935.  The afternoon before I was born my grandmother drove my mother to the hospital for my entrance into the great big wide world.  The grand event was accompanied by a big fanfare as my grandmother's car horn stuck and she didn't want to take time to stop and unstick it.  She drove from south Ottumwa, across the Jefferson Street Bridge to the Ottumwa Hospital on the north side with the horn blaring all the way.

Embarrassing of course, but even worse the fact that the citizens along the way thought that was a warning signal that the Des Moines River had gone over the bank.  It caused all sorts of panic and worry and curiosity about the river.  I can almost imagine that some kind man probably helped her as she parked in the hospital parking lot and got the horn unstuck.  It was one time in my life when I couldn't fix things -- not yet anyway.  I was totally at the mercy of my grandmother and my mother, and had to sit tight for awhile.

At 5:10 am I finally arrived amid all of the fanfare.  Of course, I can't vouch for any of this story, but this is what I have been told.  And as a famous genealogist said at a conference, family stories must be accurately and lovingly passed down or they are gone in three generations.

So dear friend, this was my grand entrance.  It was funny later, but I am sure not so much on that day. Have you heard any good stories about your grand entrance into the world?  If you have, share them with your family  -- or as I do, with the whole world.  If you haven't heard any stories about your grand entrance -- ask your mother, she will never forget that day.  Of course, most of us are not of the famous ilk, so these things are not important to the general public, but, oh so important to us and our families.  

I believe we are all important, and the day you arrived was a very special day, because you are very special.  Patj

Meet Hazel Belle Windle and Goldie Opal Van Buskirk ----- My Grandmothers

Hazel Belle Windle my maternal grandmother 1896-1968

She was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa on 29 November 1896. She was the oldest child of her parents, John Albert Windle and Lizzie Irene Casey.  She was followed by her brother Harry Windle, born in 1898, and Frances Elizabeth Windle, born in 1903. As a little girl, she was my hero and my solid anchor.  In my child's mind, she was the person that seemed like other regular people, and normal.  I later realized that no one is "normal" but the place she held in my mind was so very important in the rough days of my own childhood. 

Hazel married Ralph Orion Cary in May 1917.  She was a good wife, good mother, good daughter, good sister, and wonderful grandmother.  I loved her so very much.  Her life was filled with sad events, and happy events.  She survived all of this and led a very meaningful and good life.

This picture of her is in 1924 as she was leaving Ottumwa, Iowa on her way to Council Bluffs to attend her grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary.  Her grandparents were Abraham and Lydia McNeil Windle.  She was so pretty and I love her hat. She was age twenty-eight in this picture. She would be age one hundred and eighteen this year.  

I always estimate a generation is about twenty years, and our family seems to follow this pretty close.  That means there would be six generations of her descendants in 120 years.  That is correct for her descendants: (1) Hazel Windle; (2) Dorothy O. Cary; (3) Patricia A. Craig; (4) Cindy L. Meier and Laurel A. Meier; (5) Chad Lewis and Ryan Lewis; Logan A. Currie; (6)Oliver Lewis; Stella Lewis; Jack Lewis, Grant Lewis.  

Thank you Grandma Cary for giving all of us life.

Goldie Opal Van Buskirk my paternal Grandmother 1896-1962 

She was born 3 June 1896 in Davis County, Iowa. She was the 4th of the ten children of George Van Buskirk and Mary Ann Edinger.  Unfortunately, I was never close to Goldie.  I never called her grandma, or grandmother.  She was always Goldie to me and my two older cousins and my brother.  The younger grandchildren did call her Grandma, but she seemed more accepting of the name by then. She became a grandmother at such a young age, I guess it was hard for her to accept that title.  I have matured, and with that I realize she could only be herself.  It was hard to understand when I was younger but I do understand now.  

She married Claude Craig when she was just age fifteen.  This picture is shortly after having her first child, my aunt Claudine.  She was just a baby herself, and she is so very pretty.  Claude was ten years older than Goldie and their marriage was a tumultuous one.  It ended in divorce around 1925.  She had three children: Claudine born in 1912; my father, Gerald Vuhr Craig born in 1915; and Gwendolyn born in 1919. 

She married Fred Peck later, and that is the only husband I ever saw her with.  Although we were never close, I have come to recognize traits I have inherited from her.  More so than from my maternal grandmother, as much as I loved her. 

I know I am what I am due to the genes I inherited from all of my ancestors, and especially from my paternal grandmother, Goldie Opal VanBuskirk.  Thank you Goldie, for our life, for me and all of my descendants.  You are an important part of our heritage.  May you rest in peace.

Dorothy Olive Cary --- Age Thirteen

On January 29, 2014 this young lady would have been age ninety six. Here she is as a typical teenager in Ottumwa, Iowa.  I suspect she may have wanted to be somewhere else that day, perhaps with her girl friends or maybe a boy.

When she looked at that picture as an older woman she said, "I wasn't interested in family that was there that day, I was more interested in boys."  The family that was there that day was her immediate family of parents and younger brother and sister, her aunts and uncles, cousins, maternal grandmother, and maternal great grandparents.  How I wish I could have been there to hear the conversations and the noise that many children cause.

This was about 1931 and great grandparents, Jencene and Eugene Casey were on their last trip and were visiting all of their progeny.  Later, I learned that Eugene Casey had checked himself and his wife, Jencene, out of the Old Soldiers Home in Hot Springs, South Dakota.  The records show that he disgregarded the warning that they may not get back in -- and he did it anyway.  A strong minded man that wasn't easy to push around.  They were able to get back in at the end of the trip and both died at the Old Soldiers Home.  His wife looks perfectly at ease in the pictures of them, a wife that had all the confidence in the world in her husband.  The trip was very important to them. Their daughter, Lizzie Irene Casey Windle, lived in Ottumwa, Iowa and the family gathering was in her yard.  The younger folks were the families of Lizzie's children, Hazel Belle Windle Cary, Frances Windle McKelvey and her deceased son Harry Windle.  It was quite a group of people of all ages.

I am so thankful someone was a photo enthusiast.  There are pictures of the whole group, the young cousins, and individual families.  The picture on the right is my mom's immediate family.

The picture on the left is the entire group.  What a grand day that must have been.  It is a treasure to me and I suspect my grandmother, Hazel Windle Cary was the one that saw that the photos were taken, and preserved.  Thank you mom for giving me these pictures.  And thank you for giving me and David life, and therefore life for all that follow us.  I will love you forever.  Patj