Family
I was in my Women's Lit class this morning discussing the first two chapters of "Women Warriors" when my mind made a mental connection between the Nameless Aunt and my Great Aunt Jane. I even mentioned her to the class, how she'd had a daughter illigitimately after she and her husband divorced, and nobody in the family but my Grandma--her little sister--and her two sons knew about it until Cousin Susan e-mailed my mom one day asking about information on my Great-Grandma. Mom had posted stuff about Grammie on an Artist Information website, and Cousin Susan must have found it by googling the name or something. Mom e-mailed her back and asked why she wanted to know, and Cousin Susan said Grammie was her biological grandmother and she was trying to find out about her birth family. That led to Mom asking Grandma about it, and like a month later Cousin Susan came out to California to meet the family. She and Mom are really close in age, which means that Aunt Jane must have been pretty darn old--childbearing wise--when Susan was born, because Grandma was the baby and Grammie was 40 when Grandma was born and Grandma was 40 when Mom was born.
Anyway, I said all of that because the class got me thinking about how that whole thing must have felt for Aunt Jane--she died when I was, like, nine or ten, I think--because she never saw her daughter again after she put her up for adoption. That put me in a writing mood, and I wrote out what I think would have happened when Aunt Jane went to Heaven and met God...
Aunt Jane’s Story
by
Rosy the Cat
“Father, forgive me.”
“What is there to forgive, Daughter?”
“My sons left the path I wished them to take.”
“Children do that, Daughter; they will find their own way again.”
“My husband left me.”
“That is his loss.”
“I had a daughter out of wedlock late in life.”
“I know.”
“...And?”
“What do you want me to say, Daughter?”
“I don’t know; that I did the wrong thing? That I was a coward for giving her up and never speaking of her, even though my sister and sons knew? That I denied my nieces and nephew a chance to know their cousin? That I’m a bad person and a horrible mother?”
“Daughter, am I a bad person?”
“No, Father.”
“Would I make a mistake?”
“...If you did, that would really mess up my concept of the world.”
“I have a reason for things, Daughter. And your third child, whom I gave into your care, is a good person, with a good family of her own making, who is known and loved by her family by birth.”
“Wait, how did that happen?”
“She sought information on your mother as her grandmother and found her cousin, who questioned her mother. It was a surprise, but a pleasant one.”
“...Oh.”
“Are you Happy now, Daughter?”
“I understand, looking back.”
“Are you At Peace?”
“...”
“Daughter?”
“I’m thinking about it!”
“And?”
“...Yes. I may have stumbled a bit on my path, but I did the best I could in the situation I had and so have they. Knowing that, I have no regrets.”
“Then come in and Rest, Daughter.”
A Child takes her Parent’s hand, and knows Joy.
Anyway, I said all of that because the class got me thinking about how that whole thing must have felt for Aunt Jane--she died when I was, like, nine or ten, I think--because she never saw her daughter again after she put her up for adoption. That put me in a writing mood, and I wrote out what I think would have happened when Aunt Jane went to Heaven and met God...
Aunt Jane’s Story
by
Rosy the Cat
“Father, forgive me.”
“What is there to forgive, Daughter?”
“My sons left the path I wished them to take.”
“Children do that, Daughter; they will find their own way again.”
“My husband left me.”
“That is his loss.”
“I had a daughter out of wedlock late in life.”
“I know.”
“...And?”
“What do you want me to say, Daughter?”
“I don’t know; that I did the wrong thing? That I was a coward for giving her up and never speaking of her, even though my sister and sons knew? That I denied my nieces and nephew a chance to know their cousin? That I’m a bad person and a horrible mother?”
“Daughter, am I a bad person?”
“No, Father.”
“Would I make a mistake?”
“...If you did, that would really mess up my concept of the world.”
“I have a reason for things, Daughter. And your third child, whom I gave into your care, is a good person, with a good family of her own making, who is known and loved by her family by birth.”
“Wait, how did that happen?”
“She sought information on your mother as her grandmother and found her cousin, who questioned her mother. It was a surprise, but a pleasant one.”
“...Oh.”
“Are you Happy now, Daughter?”
“I understand, looking back.”
“Are you At Peace?”
“...”
“Daughter?”
“I’m thinking about it!”
“And?”
“...Yes. I may have stumbled a bit on my path, but I did the best I could in the situation I had and so have they. Knowing that, I have no regrets.”
“Then come in and Rest, Daughter.”
A Child takes her Parent’s hand, and knows Joy.