OOOPS!

When I was a young girl of around 12 or 13 I found my Mom's genealogy laying around. I started looking at it to check out who my ancestors were. Being so smart I started checking dates against each other to see how things corresponded.

"Mom! Your grandma was pregnant when she got married!" I was a little shocked. Being young and naive I thought everyone waited till they got married.

"That is not so uncommon, it happens a lot," she explained to her first born with the embarrassing questions.

"She also married a guy 20 years older than her!" I was amazed that my great grandma was soooo cool. She had an Older Man!

"That wasn't such a good thing for the family. He died at the beginning of the Depression and Grandma had to support the family. It was really hard on her and my Dad ended up leaving the home as a teenager because there were too many mouths to feed and he felt like a burden on his mom." My Mom was so serious and trying to teach such important life lessons. I think that's when she started telling me to marry someone seven years younger since men die younger than women.

"Your Grandma married an older man!" I just had stars in my eyes and was in awe of my Great Grandma. She had an Older Man! She was so cool!

Now I admire her even more for completely different reasons. To survive and raise a family during the depression without a husband is something I admire and hope to never live through. (Knock on wood!)