My maternal grandparents, Sarah and Albert raised 10 kids. That is no small accomplishment in the early 1900s. The significance of this blended family is that they truly became family, with no distinctions between ‘my kids’ or ‘your kids’ or ‘our kids.’ All ten of the kids were loved and treated right; fed and clothes during some difficult financial times. This past weekend at cousin’s weekend I heard several comments that no distinction was made among the kids.
The family story is this: Sarah married her first husband at age 15 but he died before the first son was born. Sarah later met and married the local preacher (his wife had died) and they had 5 children together before he died. Albert was a widower with two children when he met Sarah. When they married, they immediately had her six children and his two to blend into a family. Later they had two children together. The youngest daughter was my mother.
As we cousins talked this past weekend, we all agreed that Sarah and Albert managed to raise their children to be a family in the best way. Family was important in their eyes and they passed that belief down the generations: hence, the cousin’s weekend.
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