Kristina, the jaunty hat is only a forerunner to Rachel’s 1950s “glamorous blonde” period!

Thanks for your kind comments, Mary! I think every family has stories like this, and they tend to get lost as generations move forward. I enjoyed sharing this one!

Shawn, as I get older I understand her more. As is always the case, I have so many questions I wish I could ask her now that the opportunity has passed.

Elizabeth, she could be downright formidable!

Maripat, the date switch is particularly baffling when you realize that Rachel’s next sibling actually WAS born in 1908. (The 1920 census lists that sister’s birth two years later, but the birth certificate says otherwise.) All I can think is that nobody had the time (or the language skills) to pay attention to exact birthdays and pulled up approximate dates when necessary. My father’s mother, born in Europe, had no idea when she was born. When my dad was a kid, he tried to narrow it down by talking to his grandmother and older aunts about the weather, crops, and current events surrounding her birth. He concluded that she had been born in late winter in maybe 1892, so he used that year and gave her the birthday of the sitting president, Franklin D. Roosevelt.