52 Ancestors: A Woman of Strength - Hazel Bristol Wiedrich

52 Ancestors: A Woman of Strength – Hazel Bristol Wiedrich

My grandmother was the strongest woman I ever knew. Hazel Bristol Wiedrich faced adversity her entire life. Her father was a man who came from a family who thought of themselves as cut above the rest. Her mother, Mattie was the proverbial woman from the other side of the tracks. When she was three her father died of cancerous tumors that necessitated amputating his arm at the elbow. Her father’s sister wanted to raise Hazel, but her mother declined. This was a little bit confusing since Mattie was somewhat mean spirited to her and inserted herself in all of Hazel’s friendships. Her mother did wash and had boarders and would eventually marry one of them, John Isaac. As a small child Hazel injured her shin which never would heal. She would under go more than a dozen operations before a surgery where her incision would be left open for a “fresh air treatment”. This caused the bone to disintegrate to the point that amputation was necessary. The doctors could not convince her mother that what her daughter had was different than her husband. The leg only needed to be amputated below the knee, but Mattie insisted on the amputation at the top of the thigh. This was before WWI and medicine was not as it is today. Many people didn’t survive amputation and so they complied. They also required her beautiful auburn waist length hair be shorn. Some believed long hair sapped your strength and so off went her hair. She survived the amputation but in photos taken at that time her appearance shows the toll it took. Her mother told her she needed to have a trade since no man would ever marry her. She learned haberdashery. Then one day my grandfather, Edward Wiedrich delivered ice to their home and a romance began. She married at the age of 25 and her mother continued to insert herself by going on the honeymoon with the couple. The next year found Hazel pregnant with her first child. Mattie went to the police station to insist her son-in-law be arrested for getting her daughter pregnant. Her daughter’s brother-in-law was a police officer present at this event and said all in the station had a good laugh. Eventually Hazel had four daughters. Money was always tight. They lost a home and later a farm. When they moved to New Jersey things were no better. They lived in a truck. My poor one-legged grandmother had to climb up into her home where there was no running water or electric. They lived like this for 5 years. But like always she not only made do but never complained and saw only the brighter side of life. This was during WWII when life was difficult for everyone and my grandfather only made it worse. He left for a year to be a merchant sailor. He sent no money home for the family and when he returned brought no money back. Fortunately, the oldest daughter worked as did my 12-yr-old mother to help support them during those difficult years. Then my grandfather decided that life was better in Florida and moved my grandmother and two of the daughters to Tampa. There they still had the truck to live in until they moved into a small cabin in DeSoto Park. A few years later they finally had a house. All the while Hazel always looked on the bright side, never complaining. She also lived with several physical problems. She had cataracts, became deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other, and developed diabetes all in her twenties. She used crutches until her later years when she was forced to go in a wheel chair. She was the strongest woman I know and the most outstanding person who saw the positive side of life whatever the circumstances.

#Hazel Wiedrich, #52 Ancestors Strength, #51 Ancestors 2018