The first and third photos here of my fathers mother, née Elsie Hilgen, so evoke the sense & feel of Northern German young womanhood -- this was a girl whod been polished, educated in the right way, brought to expect a gracious life -- not someone who would end up being a seamstress in sweatshop conditions, as it turned out she had to be after her husband died and she had two children to support -- one of whom is the little girl pictured here in the second pic (with her mother on the right; dont know who the woman on the left is), my fathers older (by-six-years) sister Elsie. Theyre onboard the ship which I believe was taking them to the USA to live. This was not long before my dads arrival -- Id had the idea that maybe my grandmother was pregnant with him when they made the trip, but since he was born in August 1913, hed likely have been conceived in December, and theyre in presumably balmy enough weather to allow them to sit out on the deck, unbundled-up. This aint winter. So maybe they came in 1912. 1912! The Titanic. (I think this was the S.S. Bremen. Or the S.S. Hamburg. Or the S.S. some-northern-German-city.) Oma had a gorgeous alto voice. Shed sing duets with my father, who had a gorgeous high baritone voice. Although they had very little money after my grandfather died, she somehow managed to obtain a player piano -- which probably felt less like luxury than necessity. Singing was a necessity - you needed accompaniment!
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 20:03:15 +0000
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