Hazel Wiedrich and Funny One-Legged Stories

 

Yesterday I was thinking of my grandmother and when she had her gall bladder removed. I only know the story from her telling. In the 1950’s or so she went to the hospital and had an emergency gall bladder operation. Since it was so long ago and as it was an emergency, she had the large incision that wrapped around the lower chest. Also, in those days it wasn’t unusual to have a week’s stay in the hospital. The doctor, Dr. Azmidia, came to check on her every day and at last he told her she could go home the next day. She said, “Doctor, can I us crutches?” He said, “I operated on your stomach. Why would you need crutches?” To this she said, “If I don’t it would be the first time in almost 40 years. I only have one leg.” Dr. Azmidia threw back the sheets and said, “Oh my God, you only have one leg.” This story has given my family quite a few laughs besides a lesson that the doctor only looks at what his job is.

Another funny story about my grandmother’s one-leggedness happened in the 1960’s while the family was traveling the alligator highway in south Florida. My grandfather was driving the old family station wagon. Also in the car were my grandmother, my cousin Pat and her daughter Cindy, my Aunt Yvonne and an old family friend, Mrs. Thorpe. There were no speed limits then or at least not ones that were enforced, so my grandfather was driving like an Indie driver. He strayed to the edge of the road, lost control and crashed. Pat broke her back; Mrs. Thorpe broke her hip and was partially scalped. My grandmother was partially scalped and was thrown from the front seat to the back and was wedged between the seat and the back of the front seat. Having a scalp wound she was covered in blood. People stopped to help. When they pulled my grandmother out they gasped and said she lost her leg, and that people should look for it. Although she was in shock she still knew what they were saying and was laughing because she had that leg amputated almost fifty years before.

My grandmother had such a good attitude and never considered herself handicapped. It rarely stopped her from doing anything and I’m glad she could have a good laugh about those situations.

#Hazel Wiedrich, #Amputation

Far Away

I was lucky enough to have some aunts, uncles and cousins within two hours of where we lived when I was growing up. We got together regularly. Aunt Margaretta and Uncle Roy lived in the Belle Meade area in North Jersey, about two hours away. Aunt Helen and Uncle John lived in Egg Harbor, New Jersey, about 40 minutes away. At least once a month we would visit, usually going up on Saturday and coming home on Sunday. The family interactions were great.

But I truly missed having a grandparent close by. My dad’s parents were dead. My mom’s parents, Hazel and Edward Wiedrich lived in Tampa Florida. We would only see them once every one or two years. There were some phone calls but that was the days of long-distance telephone charges. Letters would be sent. I wish they were saved to cherish later. When you did get together everyone was on their best behavior. I remember my mom telling me she asked my grandmother not to yell at the antics of my cousins and us as she didn’t want us to remember her as grouchy. Of course, she wasn’t grouchy, just with so many of us all together in one house it could be unnerving. You see, my grandparents lived in an eighteenth-century Florida house. Downstairs were my grandparents and Aunt Yvonne. Upstairs were my Aunt Connie and Uncle George with their children – three when we were young and three more later. Add to that other visitors were not unusual, sometimes adding up to a dozen or more people all under one roof.

I thought my dream came true when I went to live with my grandmother after high school in order to go to college in Tampa. We did many things together and those times were special, but some many other things interfered. First of course I was homesick. Also, my Aunt Yvonne had a drinking problem, which made living there difficult. She would wake me up in the middle of the night to tell me the astronauts were causing bad weather (I was studying astronautical engineering) and doing embarrassing things when someone came to visit. Eventually it was too much and my mom wouldn’t let me take out a loan to live on campus, so I came home. The worse part was the day I left my grandmother said, “What will I tell my friends? My granddaughter doesn’t love me.” I know she still loved me, but I disappointed her. The pain of that statement has never left me. Perhaps being far away would have been less hurtful.

#52 Ancestors, #52 Ancestors 2020, #Hazel Wiedrich, #First time away from home

My Ancestors Jobs

Earl left officer

My dad, Earl Moore was a policeman. After WWII he worked in a wood working job for a short time before joining the Gloucester City, NJ police department. In those days 2 officers rode in a car. His first partner was Bud Lane. He was a good guy and a good partner. One day they drove into the alley at the department and he went inside. Bud stayed in the car. When my dad came back out Bud had suffered a heart attack and died.
A few years later he became a sergeant. His partner was Steve Farrell. Our families would do things together like going to an amusement park. Then he became Chief of Police about 1961. My dad had a good heart and I think he was respected.

Midge on far rt.

My mom, Millicent "Midge" (Wiedrich) Moore worked many years in grocery stores including ACME markets and Thriftway. Once she was held up with a gun held to her head. Later she worked for Oakwood Uniform in their office. But before all this she worked as a waitress in a diner. She started work at 12 years old after school. The diner was Security on Crescent Blvd. (Rt. 130) in West Collingswood Heights, NJ.

Ed on ice wagon

My grandfather, Edward Wiedrich was many things. He was a merchant sailor in WWI and in WWII. He was an iceman when he met my grandmother. Then he worked in the Wierd Plow factory. After work he cleaned up at the bean factory, bringing home the sweepings for his kids to pick out the stray beans. (It was the depression.) After moving to Florida he worked in a boat yard building boats.

Hazel's Doll Hospital

My grandmother, Hazel (Bristol) Wiedrich learned the trade of men's tailoring and haberdashery. After she married and had children she had a doll hospital. There were boxes with various color eyes, things to restring dolls, paints to restore china dolls, different color hair. She would even give dolls hair from the person.

Charles' crew

My paternal grandfather, Charles S. Moore was a waterman. He built wharfs, piers and bridges over water. Much of his
work was done in Camden, NJ but he did work other places. Later he was the foreman. One of the bridges he built was a train bridge either to or from Westville, NJ.




My paternal great grandfather, Charles S. Moore was a cooper and a carpenter. My maternal 2nd great grandfather had a public house (saloon) in Grafton, Dakota Territory in the 1880s and then went to Great Falls, Montana and had a hotel. Most everyone else on my mom's side were farmers.

#Earl Moore, #Policeman, #Millicent Moore, #Millicent Wiedrich, #Waitress, #Edward Weidrich, #Sailor, #Iceman, #Hazel Wiedrich, #Hazel Bristol, #Haberdashery, #Dolls, #Charles S. Moore, #Waterman, #Carpenter, #Cooper

Weirdly Comical

Weirdly Comical

There were two incidents in my grandmother, Hazel Bristol Wiedrich’s life that relate to the fact she only had one leg. Her leg was amputated when she was a teen after about 19 operations stemming from a bone issue that wouldn’t heal.

Once when on a family outing she was in a car crash. My grandfather was driving a station wagon along a highway in Florida. This was about 1963. In the car besides my grandfather and grandmother were my aunt Yvonne, cousin Patsy and her daughter Cindy and Mrs. Thorp, a family friend from NJ. There were no speed limits or at least they weren’t enforced at that time. My grandfather was going at a high rate of speed when he went off the side of the highway. The car was thrown. My grandmother was thrown from the front passenger seat into the back seat. Everyone had some injuries, some minor and some serious. My grandmother was almost scalped. Of course, head wounds bleed a lot and my grandmother was covered in blood. People stopped to help and when they pulled my grandmother out of the car they all got very upset shouting “She’s lost her leg. Look for it.” My grandmother was somewhat in shock, but she said in her mind she was laughing that people were running around looking for a leg she had lost 40 years before.

Another incident that involved here missing leg was when she had her Gaul bladder out. It was an emergency surgery and the doctor visited her each day following the surgery. They kept you in the hospital for quite a few days at that time. The day before she was to be released she asked the doctor if she could use her crutches. The doctor replied, “I operated on you stomach. Why would you need crutches?” She replied, “If I don’t it’s the first time in almost 40 years. I only have one leg.” The doctor through back the sheets and said, “Oh, my God, you only have one leg.” It took a long time for him to live that one down. It goes to show he only looked at what he was supposed to although this was the same hospital that years later amputated someone’s wrong leg not once but twice.

Thankfully there are sometimes a funny moment during difficult times to help us keep our sanity.

#Hazel Wiedrich, #Wiedrrich, Hazel, #52 Ancestors, #52 Ancestors Comedy, #Amputees

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

Be My Valentine

Valentine’s Day has such a myriad of memories. My childhood ones are of making cards in school. Construction paper, paper doilies and crayons. Other times it was the packages of funny cards bought at the store. Then on Valentine’s Day everyone in the class had a paper bag that we decorated and had our name. We put our cards in everyone’s bags, shared candy and looked the cards we received.

At home I remember the special Valentine my dad would give my mom. It would be a large decorated heart candy box. Often on the top was a fancy doll. I would get a candy box too.

My maternal grandmother, Hazel Wiedrich was born on Valentine’s Day. One year I made a red ceramic double heart candy dish for her. After she died it was given back to me. Two years after she passed I was pregnant with my son Travis and my due date was February 14^th. He was going to be delivered by C-section and I was excited he would be born on my grandmother’s birthday. But it was not to be. Valentine’s Day fell on Saturday that year and the doctor wouldn’t operate on a Saturday. Now I celebrate the day with my grandchildren.

#52 Ancestors 2018, #Valentine's Day, #Hazel Wiedrich, #Moore family

#52 Ancestors Challenge Week 2 Favorite Photo

Picking a favorite photo was a difficult choice to make. There are so many photos that I like. This photo was my mom’s favorite so since she has passed away feel a connection. That’s me on the left, my mom, Millicent (Wiedrich) Moore with the shovel and my grandmother, Hazel (Bristol) Wiedrich with the crutches. They spent all day burying car batteries upside down to make a walkway to their home. Environmentalists are gasping today but this was about 1953 in DeSoto Park Trailer Park in Tampa, Florida. Hazel lost her leg as a teenager, but she never thought of herself as handicapped and could do just about everything.

This picture is my favorite. It’s my mom and me on the front steps of our house in Gloucester City, NJ.  The picture below is my grandfather, Edward Wiedrich, my mom and her sisters about 1931 in Genesee County, NY. They were so poor it reminds me to be thankful for the many blessing I have.