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| Kathy Walker (2019) |
Yet every day I see her get up and try. "Trying" is definitely her motto. Years ago when my parents bought a burial plot at Resurrection Cemetery in Cumberland, RI my father also purchased their gravestone and had their names and birth dates inscribed. Dad also had inscribed next to my mothers name "She Tried".
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| Resurrection Cemetery, Cumberland, RI |
And she does try.... to move every day, to eat right, to get out and be with other people. She bowls, golfs, plays mahjong, volunteers at the food pantry, walks the dog, plays 'words with friends', works on puzzles and is always helping someone. Looking at mom it would be easy to assume her life had always been easy. Far from being easy, life has been difficult and at times very sad. Yet, I believe the adversities she has faced has made her into the strong women she is today! This is her story.
Kathleen May Bradley was born February 7, 1935 in Providence, RI while "The Great Depression" raged on here in the US. She was the 10th child of Allen Bradley and Mary Stratton. Growing up mom said that everyone was poor but even the poor families pitied the "very poor" Bradley's. She remembers walking to the store and counting out pennies for a loaf of bread. In-spite of this poverty she does not remember her family life ever being unhappy.
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| Kathleen Bradley c. 1939 |
Mom was definitely the black sheep in the family but not because she got into trouble but because she was so quiet and reserved . The rest of her siblings liked to dance and drink and play cards but mom was just painfully shy. They would tease "Kat" ( her nick-name) telling her that they adopted her after she was found behind a garbage dumpster! Pretty funny considering the family was just barely able to feed all the kids they did have!
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| Kat wearing her prized Pea Coat |
Kat was smart enough to get into Classical High School but transferred to Mount Pleasant when she realized she would not be going to college. She was the first and only one in her family to graduate from high school. She said doesn't remember all that much about high school except she didn't talk to anyone because she was so shy!
She did make friends outside of school with a group of kids who went to the Lutheran Church. She is still friends with them to this day. They would often go roller skating and this is how she met her first husband Johnny Barrette.
Kat and Johnny planned to marry in the spring of 1954. Unfortunately, Allen Bradley( Kat's father) died in February. They postponed the wedding until summer. The marriage took place at Assumption Church in Providence, RI. Kat was 19 years old and Johnny was 20.
Johnny had enlisted in the Navy in 1952. He was stationed in Charleston , South Carolina. So after their marriage this is where the young couple moved to.
While in Charleston they lived with another couple. It was lonely at time for Kathy. This was her first time away from home and Johnny was frequently away at sea. But what she remembers most about this time in her life was, "Cockroaches".
She said, "You would turn the lights on and the cockroaches would scuttle away". This was horrifying to this young girl who was and is an avid cleaner to this day! "The house was clean but there was no way to get rid of those bugs!"
In January of 1956 their first child was born prematurely. The naval hospital doctor did not hold out much hope that John Joseph Barrette, Jr (Jay) would survive. But he did survive and after two months in the hospital Jay came home. In May of this year Johnny left the Navy and the young family moved back to Potters Avenue , Providence, Rhode Island.
Kathleen said she would not of survived this time in her life if it were not for her sister Mary. Jay was a very colicky infant probably from being born so premature. He never stopped crying. Having a colicky infant is exhausting but is even more exhausting when you are pregnant with baby number two. Kat and Johnny were about to experience the joys of having "Irish Twins" (two babies born within the same year). Mary would often come to
Kat's rescue when she was at her wits end with her screaming baby. Lucky for them when Sandra Mary arrived in December of 1956 she was a very easy baby who rarely cried and slept well.
Less than a year later tragedy struck. John Joseph Barrette, Sr. died while he was sleeping. He was 23 years old. His death certificate said his cause of death was rheumatic fever which he had as a child. The death of her husband sent Kathleen spiraling into depression. She was so depressed that her family would not let her go to the bathroom by herself. It is times like this that family is everything.
Kathleen moved in with her mother-in-law Elmira Barrette. Of her she said; "She was the most wonderful person. She could not of been kinder to me." Jay and Sandy were cared for by Ollie and Addie B Barrette (Johnny's Brother and sister-in-law). Jay was just 20 months old and Sandy just 9 months old when their father passed away.
Mom recalls, "We had not a cent to our name. The month before Johnny died we let our life insurance policy lapse to save money . We did not ever think we would need it".
Kathleen slowly recovered and eventually moved with the children to live with her mother on Grand Avenue in the Edgewood section of Cranston.
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Kathleen Roller skating at Winter Gardens with Arthur (1952) - before she met Johnny- |
Kat and Johnny planned to marry in the spring of 1954. Unfortunately, Allen Bradley( Kat's father) died in February. They postponed the wedding until summer. The marriage took place at Assumption Church in Providence, RI. Kat was 19 years old and Johnny was 20.
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| Johnny Barrette, Mary Bradley and Kathleen Bradley Wedding Day 28 August 1954 |
Johnny had enlisted in the Navy in 1952. He was stationed in Charleston , South Carolina. So after their marriage this is where the young couple moved to.
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| John Joseph Barrette |
She said, "You would turn the lights on and the cockroaches would scuttle away". This was horrifying to this young girl who was and is an avid cleaner to this day! "The house was clean but there was no way to get rid of those bugs!"
In January of 1956 their first child was born prematurely. The naval hospital doctor did not hold out much hope that John Joseph Barrette, Jr (Jay) would survive. But he did survive and after two months in the hospital Jay came home. In May of this year Johnny left the Navy and the young family moved back to Potters Avenue , Providence, Rhode Island.
Kathleen said she would not of survived this time in her life if it were not for her sister Mary. Jay was a very colicky infant probably from being born so premature. He never stopped crying. Having a colicky infant is exhausting but is even more exhausting when you are pregnant with baby number two. Kat and Johnny were about to experience the joys of having "Irish Twins" (two babies born within the same year). Mary would often come to
Kat's rescue when she was at her wits end with her screaming baby. Lucky for them when Sandra Mary arrived in December of 1956 she was a very easy baby who rarely cried and slept well.
Less than a year later tragedy struck. John Joseph Barrette, Sr. died while he was sleeping. He was 23 years old. His death certificate said his cause of death was rheumatic fever which he had as a child. The death of her husband sent Kathleen spiraling into depression. She was so depressed that her family would not let her go to the bathroom by herself. It is times like this that family is everything.
Kathleen moved in with her mother-in-law Elmira Barrette. Of her she said; "She was the most wonderful person. She could not of been kinder to me." Jay and Sandy were cared for by Ollie and Addie B Barrette (Johnny's Brother and sister-in-law). Jay was just 20 months old and Sandy just 9 months old when their father passed away.
Mom recalls, "We had not a cent to our name. The month before Johnny died we let our life insurance policy lapse to save money . We did not ever think we would need it".
Kathleen slowly recovered and eventually moved with the children to live with her mother on Grand Avenue in the Edgewood section of Cranston.
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