Martha Esser

Martha was my first cousin; her mother and my mother were sisters. Martha often told me a story relating to my birth. In those days, teenage daughters would be sent to the home of an aunt to help at the time of a birth. She was 16 when she was sent to my mom and dad's home when I was born. The "helper" would do housework to give the new mother time to recover from childbirth. I am age 85 as I write this and feel by Martha living to age 101, I have been blessed to have had her alive these many years to tell me the story of my birth. I doubt if many people in their eighties had someone living to remember their birth! I last visited her the fall of 2015 and she greeted me as usual by reminiscing about my birth -- what a fond memory for me.