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Maria
Concepcion wrote a letter to her oldest sister (Chacha)
shortly after the death of her baby, Angelina. The English
translation follows.
March
27, 1917
Dear
Sister,
Yesterday,
I received your letter with the note from Don Andres.
I always want to write to you but the time that I have
is so scarce, that I don't even write to Mama.
You
know about the death of my daughter. This is very terrible
for me. She is better off than I, but I can't forget
that where seven of us eat, there could have been eight.
My pain is very great and I have no one to share it
with because no one would understand. And with Ramon?
neither of us can say a word to each other. Him? you
can imagine how he would be. It seems that he loved
her more than all the rest. Every time he came home,
he brought his daughter flowers. He used to say they
were her candies. We always made her up so beautifully.
It seemed to me that I was looking at the Virgin of
Passing.
I
have suffered greatly, alone with my daughter in my
arms, and at night, while the others were sleeping,
her father would hold her while I did the chores. Then
again, I would pick up my little burden and sit by the
fire while we both slept. This went on for 27 days.
How could you understand that I would have the strength
for all that. I myself closed her little casket. The
day my daughter died, Ramon had gone to Washington to
teach his classes (you can imagine his condition when
he left). I was alone with my little girl and Luis unit
11 o'clock at night when he returned home.
How
I remembered all of you, especially you. how alone I
found myself as i looked around and could see two of
my children -- one dead and the other sleeping, exhausted
from crying. The neighbors came to visit. The lady next
door did not let me dress her. It was too much for me.
I hope that God gives me no more children, it would
be too sad. I will stop this now because, for me, it
is like the story of "the Good Pipe," one
that never ends. I believe now that I have passed through
all sufferings. now, I am like Rita, nothing surprises
me. I am like a dummy without a will to do anything
or see anything, or be seen by anyone.
The
rest are very well. Connie and Rosario are getting ready
for their First Communion. They would not do it last
year due to Rosario's illness. It will be the last Sunday
in May.. this is the American custom. These people are
very Catholic. They never miss going to church on Sunday
from 10 o'clock to 12. And little Ramon is also told
by his female teacher not to eat meat on Fridays, and
she tells him many stories from the Bible. He very happy.
i must tell you that the children pray in English and
even I have to learn to do it. Then, on Fridays, when
I forget and set meat on the table, it's like "a
gift from the devil," nobody eats. Then they get
eggs and cook their dinner telling me that we are in
America and not Spain, and that the Sister would scold
them.
Believe
me, I am very happy that they are this way, and I am
very careful that nothing interferes with them on Sundays
that would prevent them from going to Sunday School.
these schools, and all the religion classes are directed
by the priest, and the religion classes are taught by
a number of ladies from the parish. This is very convenient
for the mothers and a "break" for the children.
I
shall write more another day, this is enough for now.
Hug mother for me, and you know how much your sister
loves you.
Concha
Give
my thanks to Joaqina, and God forbid that she goes through
this kind of pain which is the greatest.
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Reflections
of Peggy Coughlan - 3rd Generation (descendant of Connie)
Peggy
is from the 3rd generation. She is the daughter of Louise
McKnew who is daughter of Connie Granados McKnew - (1st
generation). Connie, Peggy's grandmother and Aunt Rose
(Rosario), shared the following information with Peggy.
Rev.
A.M. Marks baptized Angelina at the house. Her sister
Connie said that when she died her father called a cab
to their house. They dressed the baby in white and took
her to the Catholic Cemetery on Bladensburg Road and
Florida Avenue. Her mother Maria was too heart broken
to go. After Angelina died, there was not much of a
relationship between Ramon and his wife. He worked a
lot after this incident, and some say, this is the reason
he died from a brain hemorrhage at his office.
Rosario remembered in much detail about the death of
her sister. She was responsible for washing Angelina's
diapers that were full of blood. It was a terrible job
for a child that was only 9 years old. Aunt Rose said
that whoever cut the umbilical cord, cut it too close
to the baby's body, and it could not be tied off properly.
Angelina literally bled to death. (Please note that
cemetery records record the death as cholecystitis,
which is an inflammation of the gall bladder.) Aunt
Rose said that the baby was skin and bones when she
finally died. She also said that her father was inconsolable
with grief. She said it was the first time she had ever
seen him cry and he couldn't seem to stop.
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