Tough Like Grandpa!
I have a photo of my grandfather wearing a dress. No, he wasn't a drag queen. The picture I treasure shows Grandpa Roy Hawes, around four years old, standing next to Oliver, his baby brother. Grandpa was born in 1900, and the custom was for little boys to wear dresses their first few years of life. Why did they do this? Most likely, many houses had outdoor bathrooms, so toilet training was more accessible this way.
I have heard people say they wished they lived a long time ago. Not me - I am glad to be a modern girl. The indoor bathroom is the deal breaker for me!
My Grandpa Hawes died in 1972 at the age of 72. At that time, this was the age expectancy for most people. From the reading I did, it looks like women usually outlive men. (Many women used to die young in childbirth.) These days, men's average life span is their late 70s and women's early 80s.
Whenever I feel like having a pity party for myself because I have blood cancer, I think about my grandparents' tough life.
20th century history
World War I: Roy was drafted but unable to serve because he had pneumonia. He was 18 when the war ended on November 11, 1918.
1918 Flu Epidemic: The Hawes family had a neighbor, Lela Philliber, die of the flu. Roy married Lela's sister-in-law, Mary, in 1921. The same year, Roy's brother, Oliver, died of diabetes; he was only 19. Insulin treatments were not yet readily available.
Great Depression: Roy was 29 when the stock market crashed. He was a farmer. Mary gave birth to all seven of their children at home!
World War II: Roy and Mary's oldest son, Walter, served. Mary died of tuberculosis in 1944 at the age of 42. Roy had to finish raising five of their children.
Korean War: This time, Roy's second son, Doyle, proudly served our country.
Vietnam War: Phyllis, Mary and Roy's youngest child, married an Army man. Her husband went to Vietnam in 1967 and safely returned in 1968.
Grandpa was an ordinary man who lived through some extraordinary times. How did he cope? He kept working. He was still working at the age of 70 as a town marshall for the people of Sheldon, Missouri.
21st century living
We live in a world that my grandparents couldn't imagine. I think they would like it that my cousins and I often communicate through Facebook. They wouldn't understand how I can show a group of people who live all around the country an old family photo in a matter of minutes.
One of the first people I hope to meet in Heaven is my grandmother, Mary. She died 12 years before I was born. I know she lived through some tough times, too. After all, she was the one who had seven babies, all born at home! Her children all lived to be adults; three are now in their nineties! The baby of the family is 85 years old!
Thank you for reading this and looking back at my family's history. Looking back helps me build the strength needed to cope with my future living with blood cancer. I have to be tough. It runs in the family.
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