For my friends

I will be back. Right now I am deep into research which enables me to do these blogs.

Threads of Life

Threads of Life

 13 July, 2013 submission of "8" for wewriwa.com

Back to the time when the four children arrived in Edmonton to be met by their Uncle Friedrich. All parents had died and grandmother brought them to her sons for care. (I am busy helping a fourteen year old grandson connect with his cousins this week. More will be written next week.)

"From that time on, some of the children lived with one uncle, Friedrich, and some with the other uncle, Carl. Odd jobs were found for them......the girls did housekeeping, Gustav helped with farm labor. Reports from Minna said her brother sometimes slept in farm out buildings with snow and cold blowing between the boards of the structure. He died at age 19, I suspect of lingering TB and pneumonia from his living conditions. He was the closest in age to Minna and she mourned his death the rest of her life. Minna progressed to working in a hotel,  I think in the laundry. While there she, a German immigrant, met Fred Paulson, an immigrant from Sweden, who worked in the furniture store and they grew fond of each other. They were married in Canada. Twins were born and died, then a daughter, Anna Augusta, who survived and was her mother's helper all of her life.

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Threads of Life

7 July 2013, submission of "8" for wewriwa

I have spent all day weeding in my raspberry patch. As I weeded, I formulated my “8” in my mind. I am yet writing of my Grandmother Minna’s, life.

“One of the garden weeds produced a vine, which attached itself to the ground every couple of inches as well as seeded itself from flowers.  Do we have such a tenacious hold on life? My grandmother, Minna, had seven children, one of which, Edna, died at age two. My aunt, Esther, two years older than Edna, remembered that  she had asked her mother if she could have the bouquet of violets that were on top of Edna’s coffin after Edna was buried, "because Edna did not need them any more". Her mother, Minna, refused to let Esther have them. After the death of Aunt Esther, last of the living children, I found a small box,  among my grandmother’s possessions, with an artificial bouquet of violets in it, saved all of her life. Seven children, one death, but all were precious to a mother and none forgotten. I knew at once the source of this nosegay of violets.”

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Threads of Life


30 June 2013 Wewriwa submission, 8 sentences for review

I am writing much of this from memory so I may need to tweak it after I find my notes in a box from moving. I am going to write about the children's uncle, who will receive them in Canada.

"Friedrich Freimann was the first of the family, that I know of, to immigrate to Canada. He was sponsored by the Selkirk Settlement Group (5th Earl of Selkirk), who had been granted blocks of land by the Hudson Bay Company. Thus, Friedrich came to Canada in 1895 and his brother, Carl closer to 1890. Friedrich brought his oxen along with him as well as some farm implements. The first winter, he lived with another settler from the same area in Volhynia as he had come from. When spring came, he built a log cabin for his family.  Friedrich was very clever in putting together the tools that he needed for farming. I would guess that he was the source of payment for his mother, and his sister's children to come to Canada."


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Threads of Life

A posting for wewriwa.com
June 15, 2013

I continue with the story of the children, traveling with their grandmother from Poland or Russia to Canada after their last parent had died. They hope to find a home in Alberta, Canada with two uncles who had come there with their families previously. Minna, My grandmother, speaks although I fear a few of my words may be unknown by some 9 year olds.

“My cold did not go away the whole time on that despicable ship, nor did Gustav’s. From the cold wind of the ocean on deck, to the sweaty, stinking steerage section where they have packed too many of us in, to having no food, it was not a pleasant trip.  When we left the ship, I was afraid that Grandma would never find the train that we were to go on with so few people speaking German. She had a name written on a paper, but when she showed it to people they would often shake their heads. We lugged our heavy bags and finally found the right train. On it, we found a couple of seats. I fell asleep right away with my head on Grandma’s shoulder. We stopped at a relative on the way to Alberta where we had food at last and our clothes were washed, but I am afraid that I do not remember who they were or where they lived.. Boarding the train again, we finally came to Edmonton, Alberta and Uncle Friedrich was there to meet us.”

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Threads of LifeThreads of Life

June 1, 2013
Weekend Writing Warrior entry of 8 sentences

This week will be a very calm, boring entry. I don't know if German people sang Happy Birthday at that time. I'm guessing that poor, shy people did not want to draw attention to themselves.

"Minna had her 9th birthday on the ship October 30th but there was nothing with which to celebrate. The four children, Emma, Ida, Gustav and Minna, together with their grandmother, Caroline Weinert Freimann reached Quebec 7 November 1902. Somehow they found the train to take them across Canada to Edmonton. Minna remembered stopping somewhere along the way to visit relatives, but she did not remember where this had been or who they had visited. Here they had their first real meal since leaving their previous home. They may have stayed a few days and had several meals to help build them up for the rest of their trip.  Embarking the train once again, they traveled to Edmonton, Alberta. Here uncle and son, Friedrich Freimann met them with  a wagon and horses."

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 Threads of Life
Another entry for Wewriwa
May 25, 2013

I continue to write about the four children crossing the Atlantic Ocean on their way to uncles in Canada, being taken their by their grandmother, Caroline Freimann, after the last parent, their mother, had died.  This week I will write Ida's thoughts (second from the eldest.) She is 12 years old but listed as 8 on the ship manifest.

"Minna is still coughing and so sick. Gustav also is sick. They sound so much like Mama and I am afraid that they will die also before we reach our uncles' homes. Emma helps Grandma to take care of them just like she helped Mama so much when she was sick. We had some apples that we stuffed in our pockets before we left our home but mostly we have only dried bread and water. A couple of times someone has given us a sausage but most are just as poor as we are and guard their food supplies. The trip on the ship seems to take so long and sometimes the ship rolls so much on the waves that I am afraid. We all sleep together on one mat, lying close to each other."

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