
“Tula’s first child’s casket,” was penciled on the back of the faded and well worn picture. Dirty brown smudges on the once white border, made me wonder how many others had held this picture and felt Tula's loss. Had they also wondered just as I did, just who was Tula’s first child?
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Photo Taken by Kurtis Shawcroft Used by permission |
According to an anonymous contributor on Findagrave, Ola died of spinal meningitis in Salida, Colorado on 23 November. Although living in Salida at the time, Tula took Ola “home” to be buried in Alamosa. By the age of 29, Tula had buried her mother, her father, her husband and her child and I can’t imagine the depth of her grief.
The picture of Ola's casket was among the scant few pictures in my grandmother's suitcase and so I realized that Tula must have sent this picture to her sister, my great grandmother, Sarah Faucett Ganus, who then lived many miles away in Oklahoma. Once again, Tula reached out to her sister and I wondered, did Sarah write her back? How I wish I had the letters those two may have exchanged.
And with this finding, yet another question surfaced. Why was Tula and Ola living in Salida rather than in Alamosa where they were living when Charles died? I will share more of their story in my next post.
Copyright © Michelle G. Taggart 2014
Oh! How sad! Poor Tula. She really did endure such tragic losses in her young life.
ReplyDeleteShe really did, didn't she? It is always amazing to me to see all that people endured "back then" and it really does help me to realize that hard things have always been a part of this life and will continue to be and that just as they kept going, so can I.
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