This is a tough one! I feel like this one needs more of an ancestor’s actual story than could be told by records alone. With that, one story came to mind. It’s more personal and more recent than others on my tree as well.
These are my grandparents. My beautiful grandmother worked hard to fit into that dress! I can’t remember what the waist size was exactly (10 inch waist? Was that even possible??) but she did some extreme dieting. I remember her telling me it was a coffee and cigarette diet, which she then followed with a very stern and serious – “Never do that.”
My grandmother claims is was this that caused her to fall seriously ill a few years after their wedding with Insipidus Diabetes. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, of course, but my grandmother firmly believed this was the cause.
What this meant was that she had to take a nasal spray everyday to keep everything in balance along with the fact that she always seemed to be very thirsty (or so I saw – she was always sucking on ice chips and had water close by). It also caused problems with her getting pregnant. This was the early 1950s and the doctors told her she would not be able to have children. However, as my grandmother once told me, she had always wanted to be a mother. She knew it was what she was supposed to do on this earth. With that mind set, I can imagine her look when the doctors told her she should not try. She, of course, did anyway. That stubbornness is definitely a family trait!
She had two miscarriages and her doctors urged her to stop trying as it was very hazardous to her health. She persisted, however, and in 1952, my aunt was born. Then my dad came along in 1954! The doctors proclaimed them both miracle babies!
My grandmother had her two children, a girl and a boy, and was quite happy! There was another pregnancy that happened, however, in 1965. That one ended in a very sad still birth. He’s buried with my grandparents and was named Glen A. (which is my grandpa’s dad’s name). My dad remembers that day very sadly as he had finally had a brother.
My dad and aunt were the miracle babies that my grandmother always wanted, but had been told she would never have. Without her persistence and risking her own health, my siblings and cousin (and the next generation) would not be here at all. To me, that makes us all very, very lucky.
