Grandma Hilda

My dad's mother, Grandma Hilda, was one of a kind. She had stories about a life I could not

even imagine: World War I, outdoor movie theaters (not drive-ins), and silent movies. She

was born in 1900, and my dad, Russell, was born on her birthday, March 23, 1918. By Christmas at least six of her relatives had died from the influenza "the boys brought back." I believe a lot of her friends died too. Those relatives who died included her brother, Otto, and his wife; her sisters, Olivia and Helen; another brother also died, but I don't recall his name. Helen was my

Grandma's favorite sister and had been married only a few weeks.

Helen's husband went to Hilda's home every night after work for many years after her death.

Grandma said he just couldn't adjust to losing her. Finally, he married again but never

stopped visiting Helen's family occasionally.

I asked Grandma Hilda how their family could go on after all these relatives died. "We had

Russell to take care of and that kept us going," she said. Hilda recalled at that time, my Dad was still young enough to be in a high chair. Before her death, when it was time for Helen to come home from work, my Dad would strain to look for her until he saw her come in the

back door. She would feed him dinner and play little games with him. Grandma said for weeks after she died, my Dad still looked for Helen to come home about the same time every night while he was sitting in his high chair in the kitchen, having dinner. Sadly, as an adult, my Father did not remember Helen directly, but only from stories he heard from Grandma.

Another brother, Freddie, died at the age of about 8. He and some friends were exploring an alley after a severe storm. The boys were walking in a single line, pushing away branches and debris. In a tragic accident, one boy pushed away a limb and it caught a live wire and flung it back on Freddie's little body. When Grandma told me the story, she would always add, " that damn Union Electric. They think they can give you a little money and that makes up for my brother."

There are two coincidences about this story. One is the fact that Hilda's husband's name was

Ferd . The other one is my father worked for Union Electric for most of his life.