Is it wonder that I grew up loving women?

I had so many fine examples of women, my mother ,aunts,cousins and great aunts that were women before their time. They were saviors in my life in more ways than one saving life and limb by protecting me from the “wild bunch” ,my brother and cousins. I was the only girl in my generation. Although on some level I always fit in probably not recognizing for a long time that in spite of my age and small size that they made room for me to fit in. Our families were close and we saw each other often.

My mother was a beautiful women. She was a women that loved the city. She fell in love with Chicago when she was taking her nurses training at Cook County hospital. And it was always her wish to remain in the city. As a high school girl living in Wisconsin she had dreamed of having a nursing career.

She set out with plenty of difficulty to do this. Her mother had died when her brother , Marlyn was born. Her father so grief stricken over his wife’s death went into a mental,emotional and drunken decline. He proceeded go through family money which was substantial and ended up marrying a women 25 years younger than him.

At age 12 she and her baby brother went to live with their grandmother and grandfather. These grand parents did well by the two children and my mother and uncle loved them dearly. Grandfather passed away fairly young. Grannie raised the two children Times were hard but they managed.

My mother never lost sight of her dream. To finish her nursing career and then to bring her brother to Chicago and enroll him in school. She would do these things but fate was about step in; It was a 4th of July week-end and she had girl friend that had parents that had a summer home at Lake Geneva,Wis. and they invited my mother to go to with them. She was eager to see the famous Lake Geneva! That week-end she met my father,a country boy and both of their lives changed forever.