My Baba was born on an "assigned" day of January 30th, 1911. Her parents couldn't remember her birth date or the birth dates of her two sisters, so her father chose January 29th, 30th and 31st of the years they were born. She always had a feeling that she was born in March. She had a self prophecy of making it to 100 years and would joke that she "couldn't guarantee anything past that". She died on March 30th 2011 so I'm thinking maybe Baba was right and my great-grandfather was off by a couple of months. ;)
With zillions of baby pictures adorning Facebook, high definition ultrasounds, and websites that tell you if you can polish your nails while pregnant, I find it fascinating that she was born in an era where women had their babies minus baby books or epidurals, on the farm, and couldn't even remember when. Minus diapers. Forget baby tracking apps for the iphone, there wasn't any electricity, plumbing, or giant supermarkets. It was all about survival. Anyways, being that she was born three years before World War I, I am still baffled by the magnitude of what this woman saw in her lifetime.
We found the one and ONLY picture we have of her as a child. She is all the way to the left of her brother and sisters, and we think she is about 12 years old here.
Here's to living 100 years on planet earth.
YAY! I am going to love reading these posts about Baba. I think that is so uncanny about the January/March birthday. First, so funny that a parent doesn't remember the birthday, but back in the day - maybe a lost birth certificate. Did they even have birth certificates?? I bet she was right about March and made it to 100. AMAZING.
ReplyDeleteEven though I only met her once, she made an impression on me that was so lasting. And those pierogis!!!
ReplyDeleteKeep these stories coming... I love it! AND YOU!!