Mrs. R Life Events: Childhood Analysis

Introduction Mrs. R is a sixty six year old woman, born and raised in Indiana and transplanted to Ohio as an adult. She considers her life a very typical one, she grew up, got married, had a family, got a job, and retired. But as we know, every life has a story beyond the typical outline. I spent a sunny Sunday afternoon with Mrs. R at my home, on a patio overlooking a pond. The conversation included some talk of geese, ducks, and turtles, but mostly during the course of our four hours together, I was able to learn what made unique the life of Mrs. R.
Life Events - Childhood Mrs. R was born in the hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1949, although the same can not be said for her parents. Her father was born in the house in which he lived …show more content…
Mr. and Mrs. R served as foster parents for several children early in their marriage. In 1975, they adopted their first son. Together, they would have two more children, each boys. Mrs. R spent most of her first 13 years of motherhood as a housewife, although she would work some afternoons in the lunchroom of the elementary school her children attended. It was there she met two of the friends with whom she would spend a great deal of time with in her early adulthood. Due to a change in Mr. R’s employment, just days after her 40th birthday, Mrs. R and her family moved to Ohio. Once her youngest child entered junior high school, Mrs. R entered the workforce full time. She recalled the decision to go back to work as one she was immensely glad she made. Once again, the workplace became the source of some of her closest friendships, friends with whom she spends time with to this …show more content…
R considers herself lucky that she was able to spend time with her parents who lived long, full, rich lives. Each of her parents passed away in their eighties. However, Mrs. R did not know any of her grandparents. Three, her father’s mother and father and her mother’s mother, passed away even before she was born. The fourth, her mother’s father, passed when Mrs. R was just two years old. Whether a consequence of this or not, Mrs. R did not know a lot about her ancestors from previous generations. Using some ancestry websites we were able to determine the origin of her paternal grandparents’ last name. The name is German, and is derived from the name of a geographical German region. We also determined her father’s father was a first generation immigrant and her father’s mother was a second generation American. Little was found concerning her mother’s heritage, except it is more likely than not that they were of German descent as well. As mentioned, heritage was rarely if ever discussed in the household. Mrs. R does not have a strong feeling of connection to her German roots. Mrs. R presumes her parents considered themselves American, as she