Part 2 - My Mother

Patricia Childs
Born February 1927    Died  July 2017
( Pat, Patsy,)

My mother was born right before the
Great Depression.
The second baby girl, for my grandfather.
She has an older sister, by one year,
my Aunt Bobbie.

(click here
to read a little bit about this lovely lady.)

At the age of three my mom, known as Patsy then,
had to make a decision that was impossible for anyone to understand.
 Her mother made her decide to leave
 with her, or stay.
My mom had to choose to stay with her older sister and dad,
 never to see her mom again.
Or go with her mom, and never see her sister again.

Two little girls sitting in the back of a car,
 with my "grandmother" begging my mom to get out and go with her.

My mom said no.

My grandpa drove away, leaving my "grandmother", his wife, on the sidewalk.
He drove home to Seattle, trying to figure out how he was going to raise two little girls,
that just saw their mother for the last time.


Below is a picture of  the little girls, 
their mother (standing)
with their paternal grandmother and
 paternal, great grandmother.



My grandpa's mother,
 became a widow about that time and
she was very wealthy.
She told my grandpa, she'd take care of the girls,
while he tried to find work.
Which was hard, because of the depression.
He agreed.

When these two girls were school age,
their grandmother put them in a
fancy boarding school for girls,
Annie Wrights Seminary For Girls.
Bobbie and Pat were the youngest girls there.

After years living in the boarding school,
 their grandmother died and their lives
were disrupted again.

Below are pictures from Bobbie and Pat's 
boarding school days.
Bobbie on the left, Pat (my mom) on the right.

Bobbie and Pat moved in with their dad.
That's when they both started going to a public high school.

My mom told me this was a difficult time.
She was no longer sheltered in the boarding school.
It was her first interaction with boys, which was quite scary for her.
But she had her older sister.

                                                           to be continued...


My mom's younger life  reminds me of
a Shirley Temple movie.
Except, my mom had her sister,
Aunt Bobbie