At the close of a day filled with last-minute holiday preparations, I would like to take a moment to wish a happy birthday to my great-grandmother Islea Graham Riggs, who was born 140 years ago today in the town of Aledo, Illinois.
 |
| Islea Graham Riggs, 1874-1942 |
Who else, I wondered, was born in 1874? I looked it up and discovered that my great-grandmother’s
contemporaries included British archaeologist Howard Carter, who
excavated the tomb of King Tut; British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill; U.S. poet Robert Frost; U.S. President Herbert Hoover;
magician Harry Houdini, Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, who wrote
Anne of Green Gables; U.S. financier and philanthropist Robert D. Rockefeller Jr.; and British explorer Ernest Shackleton.
They are all in accomplished company, to be born in the same year as my great-grandmother, a talented pianist and kindhearted piano teacher.
I don’t know how Islea felt about having a birthday so close to Christmas. But I hope that her family made her feel loved and appreciated, even in the midst of their last-minute holiday preparations.
No comments:
Post a Comment