Thinking about my Mom today since it's the 93rd anniversary of her birth, and the first birthday that she isn't here to celebrate. In her memory I bought an 1881 first edition copy of 'Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.' This was one of her favorite books since she and her four sisters always referred to themselves as 'The Five Little Peppers.' Their lives were very similar to the family in the story since they also lost their father when they were very young -- ages 12, 9, 6, 3, and 4 months. Mom turned 4 just 3 1/2 weeks after his death.
I often think about what her life must have been like without her Dad. My Dad was such an integral part of my life that I cannot imagine what my life would have been without him, and who I would have been without his influence.
She didn't have many memories of her father. Her one clear memory was of lying down with him when he was sick with pneumonia in the days before he passed away -- so very poignant. She remembered his laugh, and his sense of fun. When my Mom was young and being silly (as kids can often be), her mother, who at times was rather harsh and no-nonsense, would tell her in a derogatory way 'you're just like your father!' But my Mom never took that as a criticism, and instead told me that she always thought of that as the ultimate compliment -- she longed to be exactly like her father.
In my grandmother's defense, I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been for her to be widowed at the age of 36, with five daughters 12 and under. This was in 1921, and they were living on farm land that they were buying and making payments on. Once Grandpa Hoodjer passed away, there was no way my grandmother could keep the farm since there were no boys in the household to help. So her harshness and no-nonsense attitude were probably a result of the circumstances in which she found herself. But this harshness was in her genetic code as well! We always had a running joke in our family when someone was harsh and impatient, 'Watch out, the Henrichs is coming out!' Grandma Hoodjer was a Henrichs, and her mother was apparently pretty much all business with NO sense of humor!
