The roses covering this arbor are Peggy Martin Roses, also called the Katrina Rose, because this rose was the only one of hundreds owned by Peggy Martin and her husband before the flooding and destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. Surviving after being submerged under 20 feet of salt water, this plant endured. It reminds me of the quality of endurance I consider my legacy exhibited in my great grandmother's story.
I have included stories about my great grandmother, Ernestine Curley, in past blog posts, but recently wrote this poem. I believe her legacy of deep faith, strength, perserverance, and fortitude showed in both my grandmother and mother. I am thankful for them all.
Legacy of Endurance
Clara and Bienvenue Paschal Augier boarded a ship in the
south of France
Sailed with their children to the port of New Orleans,
Charles, Josephine
Antoinette and little Ernestine Matilde
who began to speak English when she was three
Her mama never learned
Her papa was a saddle maker
trapped in a burning building
he jumped to his death
then the family moved -
Old Finn Castle,
Henderson County in Texas
Ernestine went to school
with a handsome boy named Matthew
October 30, 1872 they were married.
Six children were born
William, Charles, Ozark and Osro who were twins
Othinet Josephine they called Jessie,
Matthew Ann
this youngest a baby girl with a boy's name
December 1979, Matthew, shot
while on a hunting trip by his best friend,
never saw his youngest.
His dying request was that the baby
Ernestine carried be given his name,
and, if born a girl, to be given to
his sister Victoria.
Young, widowed, with
6 little children
Ernestine married again
a man rumored to have been
a fugitive from justice
Three more babies conceived
When James Curley died
six years later, once more
Ernestine again buried her husband
while preparing to
birth another child.
Two husbands, neither of whom lived
to see their last child born.
She moved the the
five living children from her first marriage
and three children of second, pregnant again,
to her sister's home.
She knew about endurance.
While these battles happened in her life,
she witnessed traumas of
her adopted country:
the Civil War,
Reconstruction
the Spanish American War
World War I
Hitler's invasion of Europe
Ernestine's strength and goodness shone
One son said she was the best woman
he ever knew
With so many children, there were
many grandchildren.
She was present at the birth of every one.
Bringing hand stitched caps and blankets.
When Ernestine could no longer live alone,
she moved in with her youngest daughter, Clyde
She knelt at her prie dieu everyday
Treasured a tiny holy water font
She patched and mended pants, shirts, and socks
turning collars and darning heels
Her tiny stitches could hardly be seen.
She taught her granddaughter Opal to say
Yes Ma'am and No Sir
She rocked her great granddaughter Mary Ann.
