Below is the only photo I’ve ever found of my grandparents together. It was taken when my grandmother returned to the little town of “Sage Prairie” in early September 1928 after spending several weeks with her family in Wisconsin. The back of the photo had a revealing message written in my grandmother’s hand, “My happy family?” The question mark after the quip suggests she and my grandfather had just had an argument. I suspect she’d just told him she was pregnant with their second child creating more grist for the gossip mill. Seven months later, my aunt was born. It’s interesting to note, at that time, my nine-month-old mother was being cared for at the Crittenton Home in Helena.
A Writer's Trek 
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Grandma and Grandpa in one place in one time.
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Yes! The one photo where they are together. Naturally, Grandma let that one slip through because we couldn’t see her face.
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David, did you know that Gram wrote “My happy? family” on the back of that photo. It was taken in early September of 1928 when grandma had just returned from visiting her family for about 3 weeks in Wisconsin. She was about 2 months pregnant with Ernestine. Gram’s life long friend, Etta, wrote a letter to Ernestine after Gram died saying that when the photo had been taken, Gram had just told our grandfather she was pregnant and that he was upset and angry. Etta assumed Gram had gotten pregnant when she’d spent time with Joachim Roland while she was away in Wisconsin. In the letter, Etta said she believed Joachim Roland had really existed.
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