Generations: Grandmothers, Mothers, and Daughters

By Marilyn Claus 

“On the north side of Chicago, one cold, windy March day in 1872, Rose Curran and Peter Smith became the parents of a baby girl they named Catherine.”

That baby girl named Catherine, called Kit, was my great-grandmother and this book was written by my mother.  She continues to describe Catherine’s childhood growing up in a large family.  Kit played with dolls, read books, played jump rope, hide and seek, blind man’s bluff and tag, although she was encumbered by long dresses.  And when she grew up, Kit had children of her own, including my grandmother Martha.

Martha, the youngest of six, also spent time reading.  She especially liked Little Women and other Louisa May Alcott books.  Sometimes Martha would travel with her family by train into Chicago to see a silent film.  When Martha grew up, she had children of her own, including my mother, Marilyn.  

Marilyn was the second of six children – another big family.  She loved to go to the library.  Heide, A Child’s Garden of Verses, Under the Lilacs and Ivanhoe were favorites, along with the Bobbsey Twins series.  Marilyn enjoyed going to Fullersburg Forest Preserve, where her Grandpa worked, to play in the water and the woods.  Marilyn grew up to have children of her own – nine!  And the youngest of those was me!  

“Adrian is fortunate to be part of a new era when girls are able to dress more comfortably…no more long dresses for everyday!  Girls are able to be involved in sports if they want and to study to be doctors, lawyers or whatever they choose…many choices are open to girls that were not in past years.  But, with all those changes, little girls have not really changed a great deal—they still play with dolls, giggle with friends, cry when sad, enjoy reading some of the same books of 100 years ago and still grow up to have little girls of their own!”

Over 100 years after their great-great-grandmother was born, my little girls played with dolls, jumped rope, played hide and seek and tag, read books, saw movies with their family, and even enjoyed going to Fullersburg Forest Preserve where their great-grandfather worked and their grandmother Marilyn spent many happy days.  

The girls at Fullersburg

I wonder what Kit would say if she could see her great-great granddaughters growing up and playing just down the road from where she herself played.  I think she would be shocked and amazed (and sometimes appalled) by the fashion and technology of their world.  But I think that she would also see that deep down, those little girls are very much like her and even have some of the same books on their shelves.