Who Was She?

 

      In the cemetery by St. Anthony's Church in Cumberland, Wisconsin is a small granite stone. The stone says God Bless Our Baby May 22,1935- December 1, 1935. It is the grave of Mary Jane. her parents are my aunt Christy and her husband Jim.

    I found this stone when I was in junior high. I'm guessing I was paying my respects to Aunt Christy when I  stumbled upon this small stone. Until then I didn't know about Mary Jane. That isn't surprising since there is a 34 year gap between our births.

   I've wondered about her on and off through the years. What was she like? Was she a happy baby or one that was sick a lot? Did she have hair? Did she look like Aunt Christy? Did her older sisters and brother like her? Did she cry a lot? 

   I wondered what happened to her. She died when she was six months old. Did she get sick? Did she born with some sort of genetic thing that shortened her life? Was there a accident? I'll never know the answers to these questions. All the people that could have told me are gone now. Mary Jane was born many years before my mom, so she wouldn't know. 

   Sometimes I think about what she might have been like. She would have gone to school in Cumberland and most likely married a farmer. She would have lived near her family on highway G. Most likely she would have been a good cook like her mother and her sister Josephine. She might have even been one of the women who were cooks at the Italian restaurant in town. Maybe she would have had a good sense of humour like her sister Celia. 

   I'm guessing she would have been short and stout with long wavy brown hair and big brown eyes. Aunt Christy would have raised her to be kind and also firm. She would have been a strong woman like the rest of the women in the family. I would have looked up to her.

   All her immediate family is gone now. I'm not sure that there is anyone left that remembers her., but I will......