Thursday, January 15, 2004
UNCLE SOPHUS
When uncle Sophus came into the family he had 3 older brothers. He was born November 23, 1898. He would be the last one of the children to be born in the 1800’s. Sophus was left with the ‘boys’ a lot when Grandma had to help Grandpa with outside work. One of them dropped him when he was still a baby and at the time no one thought too much about it. As the days went by he was slow developing and slow minded. In the Andersen family no one went to the doctor; it was too far away and would cost money. Therefore any medical need was ignored so far as a doctor was concerned. They did have home remedies they used but recuperation time was kept to a minimum. Everyone was needed to do the chores.
In this day and age anyone mentally or physically handicapped was an embarrassment to the family. They were kept at home and out-of-sight when neighbors came to call. For this reason, Sophus never went to school. Regardless of his inadequacies he was a hard worker and never seemed to know he was different. He had a quick and easy laugh, at times laughing so hard he would shake all over. As I mentioned in a previous post we children all loved to be around him. He was more like us and when we came to the farm we spent a lot of time with him and his cows. I have a picture of him with a pet calf he raised. He is smiling and holding the rope around the calf’s neck. When my mother and father married, he gave them the (by now a cow) for a wedding present. Knowing how he loved his animals it was a sacrificial gift…..but given with great pride.
Uncle Sophus lived at the farm with Grandma and Grandpa until they moved into town years later. When my mother and dad married they came to the farm to take care of it, make a home for Sophus and a younger brother, Robert. It was quite an undertaking for my mother….dad too I would imagine. That will all have to wait until I write about them.
When the days at the farm came to an end Sophus and Robert both went to live with grandma and grandpa in Omaha (NE). There wasn’t much for any of them to do and they were never prepared for inactivity. Life was harder for them all then than it had been on the farm. Work was all they knew and old age was not a welcome guest.
After the death of grandpa and Robert (youngest brother) uncle Emil took Sophus to live with them and we took grandma to live with us Later, we changed, bringing Sophus to live with us and Grandma to live with uncle Emil and aunt Mardelle.
Sophus came with our family when we moved to Missouri and was happy to again be on a farm with animals. We were on the farm from the Spring of 1945 until Christmas 1948. My parents then moved to town and brought Sophus along. He was with our family until my parents were no longer able to care for him. He lived in a home for the aged and was 62-years old when he died of a ruptured appendix and peritonitis July 28, 1961. He is buried in our town cemetery close by the graves of my family.
Uncle Sophus missed a lot in life because of his mental and physical condition so far as normal thinking goes. But he took each day as it came, did what he was able to do and never held any grudges. In reality, he was probably spared the anxieties and frustrations the rest of the family dealt with to pursue their dream. I know he was one good man who died without an enemy.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
In this day and age anyone mentally or physically handicapped was an embarrassment to the family. They were kept at home and out-of-sight when neighbors came to call. For this reason, Sophus never went to school. Regardless of his inadequacies he was a hard worker and never seemed to know he was different. He had a quick and easy laugh, at times laughing so hard he would shake all over. As I mentioned in a previous post we children all loved to be around him. He was more like us and when we came to the farm we spent a lot of time with him and his cows. I have a picture of him with a pet calf he raised. He is smiling and holding the rope around the calf’s neck. When my mother and father married, he gave them the (by now a cow) for a wedding present. Knowing how he loved his animals it was a sacrificial gift…..but given with great pride.
Uncle Sophus lived at the farm with Grandma and Grandpa until they moved into town years later. When my mother and dad married they came to the farm to take care of it, make a home for Sophus and a younger brother, Robert. It was quite an undertaking for my mother….dad too I would imagine. That will all have to wait until I write about them.
When the days at the farm came to an end Sophus and Robert both went to live with grandma and grandpa in Omaha (NE). There wasn’t much for any of them to do and they were never prepared for inactivity. Life was harder for them all then than it had been on the farm. Work was all they knew and old age was not a welcome guest.
After the death of grandpa and Robert (youngest brother) uncle Emil took Sophus to live with them and we took grandma to live with us Later, we changed, bringing Sophus to live with us and Grandma to live with uncle Emil and aunt Mardelle.
Sophus came with our family when we moved to Missouri and was happy to again be on a farm with animals. We were on the farm from the Spring of 1945 until Christmas 1948. My parents then moved to town and brought Sophus along. He was with our family until my parents were no longer able to care for him. He lived in a home for the aged and was 62-years old when he died of a ruptured appendix and peritonitis July 28, 1961. He is buried in our town cemetery close by the graves of my family.
Uncle Sophus missed a lot in life because of his mental and physical condition so far as normal thinking goes. But he took each day as it came, did what he was able to do and never held any grudges. In reality, he was probably spared the anxieties and frustrations the rest of the family dealt with to pursue their dream. I know he was one good man who died without an enemy.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
