My grandparent's children

All four of the girls grew up in New York,

The eldest went to college, met the man she eventually married and led a relatively normal life, When her second child was about three years old a drunk driver crashed through the fence around their front yard and struck him and his playmate, my cousin died on impact, his friend was not so lucky. The child lived another six years before passing away, during those six years he was in a vegetative state, he couldn't move, think, live. I have always supported any and all drunk driving laws and their penalties because of that. The accident did a lot of damage to the family at large but particularly to my aunt, she was never the same after that and I have only the vaguest memories of her from before the tragedy. She has had her share of romances and marriages and I believe she has finally reached a point where she can be called content if not happy.

The second girl married a horribly abusive man the first time around, there was but one good thing that came of the marriage and that was my favored cousin. He passed away at thirty as a prisoner of war. Her second marriage was much better, he was a good and loving man, they had two children together but her eldest was treated as his own. He suffered a heart attack at work and died instantly, leaving her alone, in poor health and very miserable. She had a gambling addiction, had/has? I'm not really sure if you can ever use past tense when it comes to addictions. The gambling eventually caused her to lose her home, her nest egg, everything they had worked for. Last I spoke with that part of the family she was back on her feet and learning how to cope.

The third (my grandmothers first) was a bit rowdier as a child and only got worse as she aged. You will hear a good deal about her later as she is my mother, but that story should not be gotten to just yet.

The youngest could best be described as a wild child, while in college she sampled every illegal substance she could get her hands on, had more than a few "boyfriends" and a fairly decent number of troubles because of that. She eventually settled down, got married and put her energies into building her career. To my knowledge she has never had children and at this point in her life I can't imagine she would.

So now you know a little about my maternal side. I will have to tell you about my adoptive father's family as I have had no exposure to my biological sire or his family. That however can wait for a while, I feel the need to go ransack the kitchen cabinets right now