When his wife left him in the summer of 1887, Great-Great-Grandpa William Randall found himself alone with three small children raise —ages 3, 6, and 8. With no choice but to sell his farm, he moved his young family into this house on his younger brother George's property in the tiny village of Mesick, Wexford County, Michigan. (See previous blog entry for the intriguing story of his failed marriage.)
I'd love to know if anyone has ever been to Mesick. I haven't, but it’s on my bucket list. With a current population of under 500, I imagine it’s one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of towns!
Despite growing up in severe financial hardship, my great-grandfather, Claude Walter Randall, refused to let his circumstances define his future. Through sheer determination and perseverance, he put himself through college, eventually earning a Master’s degree in philosophy from Stanford University. He went on to become a professor and prominent school administrator in Southern California, breaking the cycle of poverty that had long burdened our family.
More than sixty years after my grandfather and his sister were sent from the comforts of their upper-middle-class Southern California home to visit their grandparents for a summer in the late 1920s, they still vividly recalled—long after most other childhood memories had faded away—the shock of having to sleep on mattresses stuffed with cornhusks. It was a stark reminder of how far the family had come in just one generation.
Every time I look at this photo, I feel a deep sense of gratitude and admiration for the resilience of those who came before me.
Not sure yet who the others are.
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