who thought she was never pretty and actually winced when she saw this shot.
she's with her sister Helen (centre), and my great gramma grumpypants Martha, who just died recently at one hundred and four.
when they were young, gramma was very skinny and gangly legged, which wasn't in fashion, and had glassses, whereas Helen was a bit curvier and didn't.
everyone always raved about how pretty Helen was...
but not gramma.
it makes me so sad.
gramma was always at the top of her class in high school. she says her school principal yelled at her in front of everyone when she said she wasn't going to university.
she couldn't go to uni because her dad wanted her to get a job and give the family (him, Helen, grumpypants) TEN DOLLARS a week. they needed it.
her dad worked in the bleach factory for not enough pay and before that he'd been a miner. he proceeded to die too young and leave my gramma with only Helen and grumpypants for company. it's all a little bit Cinderella.
i think this is even gramma's wedding day (her first marriage, not to grampa, story for another day),
and she is standing off to one side and Helen is in the middle.
and gramma made her own dress while Helen's was bought for her by her parents.
such deliberate neglect.
also,
gramma made herself a violin when she was a teenager that her music teacher played and said had a lovely sound. it got burnt up in a house fire which started with faulty wiring in the corner where the violin sat.
i always wished i could have heard it sing.
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