My Favorite Picture

This weeks suggestion for 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks was Favorite Picture. This was a real challenge as there are many pictures that easily fall into my "favorite" file. But the one I chose, is one that has always made me smile. Its a picture of my Mom and Dad dancing at their first granddaughters wedding. Mom had not been well prior to the wedding and she was lamenting at the reception that she couldn't dance. She was afraid of losing her balance. But with some encouragement, we finally convinced her she was perfectly capable of dancing...and that smile proved us correct!

 

My mother, Mary Charlotte Grady was born on 14 Jan 1924, in Penn Yan, Yates Co., New York. When she was only 8 mos. old, she and her mother traveled by train to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Apparently, her father had a drinking problem. Once in Milwaukee, Mary Charlotte and her mother, Marie Sauerborn Grady, moved in with Marie's brother, Nicholas Sauerborn. 

Once settled in, Marie left Mary Charlotte with her brother while she went to attend nursing school. After graduating, Marie met and married Joesph Grimm, M.D. who was and eye,ear, nose and throat doctor. Their life was filled with travel, especially to Europe. This meant that my Mom, was shipped off to boarding school. It wasn't until she was in high school that she actually lived with her mother and step-father. 

My Mom, was dramatic and enjoyed acting in local community theater and even did a few radio commercials. But she was plagued with bouts of depression that led to hypochondria. Many people have a bible or perhaps a prayer book next to their bed, but my Mom, in her later years, had three editions of the Merck Manuel of Diagnosis and Therapy.

 

Mary Charlotte Grady Schralla, died on 23 Jul 2000...she was an annoying, lovable piece of work!