Aunt Sadie's Mildred

I enjoyed talking again with Mildred Glover Everett, the daughter of George Dixon's sister Sadie Rae Dixon Glover. Mildred just turned 80 and was born just a few months ahead of my dad Jerry Dixon.

I met Mildred in Albion in July, and she had shared some pictures with me, but I didn't really get to talk with her too much. Mildred may be naturally shy compared to some of our other Dixon and Fisher relatives!

Mildred's mother Sadie died hours after giving birth to Mildred's little brother, Royal Harry "Bud" Glover. Mildred was just seven years old. Her dad, also Harry Glover, remarried very soon thereafter... too soon in the minds of some. Mildred didn't get along all that well with her stepmother... sounds a lot like some other stepmother stories from those pre-WWII days. She made up her mind that she didn't want to be a stepmother, but if she ever became one... she would know what not to do! And of course, she herself became a stepmother later in life. She has a great relationship with her two stepsons and her natural son.

Mildred has an older sister, Virginia, who has always been mentally disabled and unable to live on her own. However, Mildred reports that Virginia still comes to stay with her on some weekends and has a better memory for family names and dates than she does. Virginia lived with Mildred and her husband for 16 years and has lived in a supportive facility for about that long since then.

Mildred was born in Harlingen, Texas... she's not sure why her parents were there. They moved back to Albion, where her dad taught for awhile (remember he was Lucy Dixon's teacher) and then worked for the post office. He was transferred to Detroit while Mildred was still a little girl. While in Detroit, nobody could get Virgina to stop crying in kindergarten, so they allowed Mildred, who was several years younger, to attend kindergarten with her... and it worked! Trust me, that wouldn't happen today! I was also pleased that the schools in Detroit allowed a mentally challenged child attend school at all.... it wasn't a common occurence back in those days.

When they moved back to Albion, Mildred missed kindergarten since there was no kindergarten (like Indiana until recently). Her dad transferred with the post office and eventually retired after 39 years of service.

Mildred didn't think that she knew much about her family, but in talking she shared a list of names and important dates with me. She also remembered an interesting story shared by her mom before she died.

When Virginia was born, Sadie was unable to breastfeed her for some reason, and Sadie told Mildred that her Aunt Della... my grandmother and Sadie's sister-in-law, did double duty and breast fed both my Aunt Wilma and her niece Virginia. I asked Curt to check with his mom to see if she had heard this story and it turns out she had just recalled it recently. Aunt Wilma said that Sadie would do housework for my grandmother so that she could rest and produce more milk to have enough for both babies.

What a testament to the humanity of my grandmother Della Fisher Dixon!