LJ Idol Week 18 - The Glass Cliff

[dadi]

Just another bit of family lore.

Lena was my grandmother Katharina’s sister in law, widowed at a very young age when her spouse returned from WWI sick with tuberculosis and died just a few years later. As usual back then for spinsters and widows, she moved in with her brother, to help with their three children’s education.

Comments

[strange_complex]

Another incredible entry, dadi. I nearly cried when I got to the bit about her knocking out her handle on the bonnet of a car. What amazing women your family produce!

[desdemonaspace]

Absolutely fascinating!

My own family lore is much smaller, as my dad was in his mid-30s when war broke out, tried to enlist anyway, but a badly damaged heart from a childhood bout of rheumatic fever kept him out. I had two uncles in the Pacific, and one who was in artillery in Europe. He started out in North Africa and was in the second invasion of France, on the Riviera (or would that be the 3rd invasion, if you're including Dunkirk?) He lived in Germany for six years after the war, and was always told that he had "ein schön Deutsch namen" - Hartman.

My late husband suffered from "Kriegsneurose" too, from Viet Nam. Heat, humidity, the smell of burned pork, and firecrackers would trigger it. We never went to see fireworks on the Fourth of July.

War is truly Hell, but your Lena sounds as though she was more than its match. Absolutely riveting!

[ellinou]

[pondhopper]

This is simply beautiful and I have tears in my eyes.
Thank you.
♥

[dadi]

Thank you for reading <3

[roina_arwen]

I love this look at history from a more “commoner” perspective, if you know what I mean? It’s quite fascinating!

[dadi]

Thank you!