Mary Elisabeth

Elisabeth Mary

August 30, 1922. Hot, the air heavy with moisture and the threat of storms. Mary is born, purportedly weighing in at over ten pounds, after a screamingly difficult labor. If not ten pounds, the infant is still much too large to push through the narrow canal of the mother. Clementina is torn up and will require extended bedrest.

Eighteen months later, on March 4, 1924, Elisabeth arrives, equally large. This time the bedrest doesn’t completely heal her and she struggles to take care of her two babies, her husband and herself.