{"id":137,"date":"2014-01-20T15:14:56","date_gmt":"2014-01-20T15:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/centralvirginiagenealogicalassociation.wordpress.com\/?p=137"},"modified":"2014-01-20T15:14:56","modified_gmt":"2014-01-20T15:14:56","slug":"a-letter-to-grandmother-an-excerpt-from-central-virginia-heritage-winter-2013-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvga.avenue.org\/?p=137","title":{"rendered":"A Letter to Grandmother; an excerpt from Central Virginia Heritage, Winter 2013 issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Letter to Grandmother
\n<\/strong>by Jenny Greenwood<\/p>\n

This spring I was surprised to receive a letter written to my Grandmother on December 4 1913. This letter had been found in some of my deceased cousin\u2019s papers. It was written by a woman who attended my Aunt Ollie Goss. Ollie had died after 3 days at what was probably a small hospital in Palisades, Colorado. She had been brought there by her husband. They lived on a ranch in Loma, Colorado which is about 25-30 miles away.\u00a0 How did they travel?\u00a0 Probably by wagon since I doubt if my aunt was in any condition to ride horseback.<\/p>\n

Ollie Parilee McLeod Goss was born Jan 2 1892 in Sharp County AR.\u00a0 She had moved with her parents, William Franklin and Fanny Belle Young McLeod to Mesa County, Colorado between 1902 and 1905. Her grandmother, several aunts, uncles and cousins were already living there.\u00a0 Ollie married Jack Goss at age 16.<\/p>\n

In 1912 her parents had moved to Oklahoma to homestead, settling in Hughes County, Oklahoma and were not aware of her illness and were broken hearted upon word of\u00a0 her death.<\/p>\n

This letter was a surprise that I will treasure forever.<\/p>\n

Jenny Greenwood<\/p>\n

The Letter\u2026<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Palisades, Colo
\nDec 4 1913<\/p>\n

Mrs. McLeod,<\/p>\n

Dear Friend, I am very glad to write to you, if I can write anything that will make your grief easier to bear.\u00a0 Your daughter suffered intensely but she was so brave and had so much vitality.\u00a0 We thought she would soon be better, until she grew worse Saturday night.\u00a0 She came here Thursday afternoon and I was with her constantly until her death.\u00a0 On Friday she spoke of you and wanted to write but I asked her to let me write instead for I feared it would make her worse.\u00a0 She was too ill to talk a great deal but thought of you and told me some things about her babies.\u00a0 Friday night I kept hot clothes on her all night and Sat. she seemed to rest easier.\u00a0 Her temperature was good and I was much encouraged that afternoon. Suddenly she grew worse and two Doctors came in.\u00a0 Her senses were keen and she realized they were talking about an operation, in the hall.\u00a0 She asked me if they were going to operate.\u00a0 I told her they were talking it over and would see Mr. Goss.\u00a0 Just at first she resented the idea, said she wouldn\u2019t live thru it but all most at once was willing if the Dr\u2019s thought best.\u00a0 When told it was only chance she said \u201cLet\u2019s have it then.\u201d But alas she could not be saved.\u00a0 She came from under the anesthetic very quickly and knew everything, before I gave her morphine to deaden her pain.\u00a0 I told her she was very sick and could not live.\u00a0 She said and you think I can\u2019t live?\u00a0 And I told her no.\u00a0 She tried to comfort her husband and told him to be a good man and good father.\u00a0 She said \u201cO my poor old mother, tell her goodbye for me and that I am ready to die.\u201d Thru it all she was calm, she said \u201cI have no time for tears in this world\u201d.\u00a0 She said she wasn\u2019t afraid, she thought she would go to heaven.<\/p>\n

She spoke of many people, calling them by name to bid goodbye.\u00a0 Strangers they were to me and I cannot recall their names.\u00a0 Mr. Goss will know.\u00a0\u00a0 Once she said \u201cI have been praying for sleep, I did not know it would be the last sleep.\u201d\u00a0 Her mind was clear and from time to time she delivered a message for some friend or loved one.\u00a0 Her husband and children were in her thoughts foremost, and next came you, her mother, knowing her death would cause you pain.\u00a0 And I am sure, could she speak to you she would say \u201cDon\u2019t cry.\u201d Her suffering is past.\u00a0 She sleeps.\u00a0 So you should try to be brave like she was and thankful that your darling was not afraid to die.\u00a0 Once as I bent over her asking if I could do anything for her she answered \u201cHelp my husband to be a good man and help my children\u201d.\u00a0 How gladly I would help them if I could but I may never see them again.\u00a0 You can help them in your trial, for their sake, help to train those little feet in the right way.\u00a0 Teaching them that Jesus loves them and will care for them, The Bible tells us, \u201cAll things work together for good to those who love the Lord\u201d. We can\u2019t always see or understand, but a merciful, kind Heavenly Father does all things well.\u00a0 Trust Him. Serve Him.<\/p>\n

I do not know you, but if you are a Christian, I know you will find sweet relief in this trial by saying \u201cThy will be done\u201d.\u00a0 If you are not a Christian, I beseech you to remember the One who said \u201ccome unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden\u201d. And then the blessed promise, \u201cYe shall find rest\u201d.<\/p>\n

(The next line was on a fold and illegible)<\/p>\n

Blessings upon you, I am,<\/p>\n

Your friend,
\nMrs. H. F. Meeker<\/p>\n

Ollie Parilee McLeod Goss
\nJan. 2 1892 to Nov. 30 1912<\/p>\n

She died of a burst appendix.\u00a0 Although her husband got her to the doctor three days before her death, they were not able to save her life. She had been married 5 years.\u00a0 Had three children, a set of twins, one of whom died at birth.\u00a0 When she died she left behind 5 year old daughter, Blanche Maxine, 2 year old son, Charles William, and husband, Jake Goss.<\/p>\n

(Reprinted with permission from Central Virginia Heritage<\/em>, Winter 2013.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Letter to Grandmother by Jenny Greenwood This spring I was surprised to receive a letter written to my Grandmother on December 4 1913. This letter had been found in some of my deceased cousin\u2019s papers. It was written by … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvga.avenue.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvga.avenue.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvga.avenue.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvga.avenue.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvga.avenue.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cvga.avenue.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvga.avenue.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvga.avenue.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvga.avenue.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}