I've written a few comments here at DKos about my Great Aunt Catherine. When I was fairly young I learned that she nearly died in her early twenties, during the Great Depression. She got married when she was 18, in 1929. Her husband told her that if she got pregnant, he would divorce her and leave her destitute. I'm sure you see where this is going. There was no legal birth control at that time, and her husband certainly wasn't going to use condoms, so she was left with a choice - a drastic one. She could either eliminate the pregnancy or end up a young divorced woman with little education and no one to help her.
Abortion was not legal. She didn't believe she had anyone who she could turn to, so she got out the coat hanger and did it herself. She got lead poisoning and nearly hemmoraged to death. Her sister, who was a nurse, saved her life and nursed her back to health. Her husband divorced her. She was never able to have children and she never remarried.
I was about 10 years old when I first overheard this story - my Grandma talking about it with my mom. I went to my mom and asked her why Aunt Catherine couldn't have gone to the doctor to get rid of the pregnancy and my mom, horrified that I knew about it, explained.
This is when I knew I was pro-choice. This is when I knew abortion should be legal and birth control should be widely available. I never talked to my Great Aunt about her experiences. I knew she was sad that she had never been able to have children. I knew she was lonely.
In 1997, after my Grandma died, my mom's sister came to Chicago and took my Great Aunt Catherine to New York - without telling anyone. It's a long and complicated story that I honestly don't want to get into this evening because I have a LOT of anger about it.
To make a longer story short, I learned today that my Great Aunt Catherine died on January 29th. I learned this because there was an attempt to deliver a package at my sister's house - addressed to me and to her. We don't have that package yet because the post office is cutting hours because of the economy, but I suspected that it was a notification that she had died. Sure enough, I found an obituary fairly quickly.
My Aunt Catherine died on Jan. 29th. She was alone in a NY hospital, a ward of the state. Thousands of miles away from the city she called her home, from the family who loved her, and my mom's sister did not notify us. She was 98 years old when she died. She had lived a long and hard life, her mom died giving birth to her and she never had a family of her own. She was taken from all her lifelong friends in 1997 and I can only hope she made new friends and connections and that those who knew her in her final years were kind to her - that they loved her.
Thankfully, she was buried in Chicago. I can only assume that her wishes were made clear in her will and that her lawyer carried them out for her. She deserved so much more.
And now, tonight's top comments:
From noweasels:
beabea writes so beautifully about animal companions in this heartbreaking diary about the loss of a lovely cat friend by frsbdg.
leeroy addresses Jed Lewison's EVIL April Fools' post on Norm Coleman's concession.
From phonegery:
flyonawall has a funny comment.
From BeninSC:
Even if your comment-reading time is limited tonight, please try to visit this comment by Strange New World on the depth of the challenges facing us. It is a special one
.
From Elise:
snarcalita with an awesome response to Souter saying that "juries are smarter than judges".
I'm with Hlinko on this one. DemfromCT rocks for waking up early enough (or staying up late enough) to post the daily op-eds. I'll add additional thanks to Barb for her hard work as well!
Latex Solar Beef (what a name!) has the scoop on Merkel's commentary from this morning.
chumley has a comment on American exceptionalism.
From tfls TheFatLadySings:
Chico David RN has a comment on change in the health care system.
Eddie C tells the story of a girl known as Nikki, who died because of a poor health care system.
Top Mojo is brought to you by the letter s - which stands for "sardonyx" - tip him, please!
Top Mojo (cskendrick/sardonyx-style) excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, and Cheers and Jeers:
1) This is not a circular firing squad. by FishOutofWater — 221
2) Let's help correct the Royal Touch nontroversy by grannyhelen — 174
3) yeah I read the same thing by Herticalt — 164
4) Not new for AN American President by MikeTheLiberal — 151
5) New Michelle story on the horizon... by grannyhelen — 145
6) First, the Chicago Southside by Tenn Wisc Dem — 133
7) You're right, its called.... by billybam — 132
8) no breach says Palace by Kitty — 130
9) But ... but... he's not ready! by DanK Is Back — 130
10) The Queen to Michelle: by elliott — 129
11) Exactly! As Jonathan Turley pointed out, by Lisa Lockwood — 107
12) agreed by Seeds — 104
13) Oh my God! He's talking? by jazzmaniac — 103
14) And, After All, Cheney's Already Confessed To by leonard145b — 101
15) RECD. Community Organizing.... by DeminWisconsin — 100
16) I hope you're right but by Snud — 95
17) Andrea Mitchell just did a segment on this by kat68 — 85
18) Books will be written . . . by oscarsmom — 85
19) Thank God the cowboy "diplomacy" by Libby Shaw — 85
20) Obama has lifted global stock markets by FishOutofWater — 81
21) That's OUR First Lady!!! by deaniac83 — 79
22) This Isn't Even Remotely New by Gooserock — 78
23) Yes, that great engine of reconciliation.... by Pennsylvanian — 77
24) Watch his approval rating jump next week n/t by karpaty lviv — 74
25) merkel by Latex Solar Beef — 74
26) A few years after by frsbdg — 72
27) "Global Christianity?" That woman is certifiable. by AuroraDawn — 71
28) What They Really Fear is the SEMI-Circular F. Sqd by Gooserock — 70
29) I never expected single-payer from Obama by RFK Lives — 70
30) Dear DCCC, by lightfoot — 69
31) Always wondered what the JFK years were like... by That Anonymous Guy — 69
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Don't let them take your vote for granted! by ppl can fly — 374
2) Tip jar by The Termite — 372
3) Tips by ProgressiveTokyo — 365
4) Thanks for your suport ! by Troutfishing — 353
5) Tips for justice? by Lisa Lockwood — 346
6) Tip jar for the Upstate NY patriots! by WineRev — 248
7) Quite a difference by b satz — 241
8) Tips by Ellinorianne — 224
9) This should be fun. by KingOneEye — 222
10) This is not a circular firing squad. by FishOutofWater — 221
11) That's just mean n/t by beauchapeau — 209
12) in all seriousness by clammyc — 196
13) Let's help correct the Royal Touch nontroversy by grannyhelen — 174
14) yeah I read the same thing by Herticalt — 164
15) Not new for AN American President by MikeTheLiberal — 151
16) Thanks-wish he could go to congress without by appledown — 147
17) New Michelle story on the horizon... by grannyhelen — 145
18) First, the Chicago Southside by Tenn Wisc Dem — 133
19) You're right, its called.... by billybam — 132
20) But ... but... he's not ready! by DanK Is Back — 130
21) no breach says Palace by Kitty — 130
22) The Queen to Michelle: by elliott — 129
23) Tips for recognizing distinctions. :) by NCrissieB — 108
24) Tip Jar by Muzikal203 — 108
25) Exactly! As Jonathan Turley pointed out, by Lisa Lockwood — 107
26) agreed by Seeds — 104
27) Oh my God! He's talking? by jazzmaniac — 103
28) And, After All, Cheney's Already Confessed To by leonard145b — 101
29) RECD. Community Organizing.... by DeminWisconsin — 100
30) I hope you're right but by Snud — 95