Not quite wordless...
Sometimes babies don't make it... and they die unexpectedly.
This is a photo of my grandmother's first child, Elizabeth, known as Betty, b. 1 Feb 1911, in New York. In this photo taken in April 1911, she looks quite healthy and very sweet.
But she died in November 1911 in New York. My grandmother described the autopsy as showing that she died of "massive intestinal complications from a severe milk allergy".
She went on to have 5 more children after Betty, of whom 2 definitely had milk allergies, plus me in the next generation, and 3 of my 4 children.
The back of the photo is in my grandmother's handwriting:
For Aunt Toto
from "Betty" and her mother.
Taken in Baby's nursery when she was just two months old.
What a beautiful baby and sweet photo. So sad though about her death!
ReplyDeleteI never heard about Betty - nor about my mother's milk allergy [she drank goat's milk] until after both my 2nd daughter was diagnosed in late 1980 and my next son in 1982. Sigh. So very sad. It is such a lovely photo.
DeleteJust to let you know this blog post was listed on today’s Fab Finds at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2012/08/follow-fridayfab-finds-for-august-24.html
DeleteThank you so much, Jana! I so appreciate you doing that... I'm a bit gobsmacked, as the Brits would say! Thanks again.
DeleteYou're so welcome Celia!
DeleteWhat a wonderful picture. Photos of babies that had such short lives are so valuable.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda - the moment of loving eye-contact was so sweet I couldn't resist. And, of course, I wonder who is holding the camera -? Betty's father? Other relatives?
DeleteWhat a precious photo and a treasure - thanks for sharing it with us.
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura - it is indeed very precious. My grandmother rarely talked about this lost baby.
DeleteWhat wonderful photo. The love between them is so evident. I get goosebumps looking at it so it must have broken your grandmothers heart to look at this photo.
ReplyDelete