My paternal grandmother was born in 1914 and lived to meet a fifth generation (not to mention my daughter in the fourth generation) before she died in 2009. She was a remarkable woman, in so many ways. She was raised by her Aunt Dora and Uncle Will in Vermont. I did not know her well while I was growing up, but as a young adult we reconnected and for more than twenty years had a lively correspondence. I would send her treats and tell her about the shows I was working on. For one of my earlier seasons at Michigan I was designing Horton Foote's play 1918, which is about the end of WWI and The Spanish Flu in one community. My grandmother wrote the note, above:
" The great war (to end war) as we called it ended Nov. 11 1918. The flu epidemic was already going strong, killing more people than were lost in the war. In December of 1919 Great Aunt Dora and I got the flu but it had lost its power and in late January 1920 I began school. Aunt Dora had never been to school so she just showed me where Converse School was and I went in by myself, found the classroom and started school. I felt well prepared for school. Aunt Dora had taught me to read while we had been in bed with the flu. Aunt Dora could read but she could not write (She taught herself to write in her sixties, using my old Palmer method books from the primary grades). It was the beginning of a wonderful relationship. I thank the stars that placed me with Aunt Dora and Uncle Will. When mother remarried she allowed me to make the choice to stay with Aunt Dora and Uncle Will. I was eight years old. Thank you Mother!"
On May 12, 2009, I got an email (!) from her shortly after the last time I saw her, before she died:
i surely enjoyed your visit; please come again did [your daughter] ask who i was the white haired woman who . was the only only one who did not have much to say. the visit was perfectly timed . the next time we see each other she will have many things to talk about. and will not stop for 93 years. more likely 113 years. if she inherits my longevity. maybe even more. you can not imagine the likely world.
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