My Grandmothers Story
I have hesitated to share this story, but with the ending of Roe in the US, I think I must.
She had been raised Catholic, but she became shunned by the Catholic church because she had married a Mormon - my grandfather.
So for a while, she sent her children to the Mormon church, but then they had to move to northern Alberta, an area where the Catholic church was very powerful.
So powerful that the local priest convinced her that her children had to go to the Catholic church, or risk going to hell. So she had all of her children baptised as Catholics.
But that was only the beginning.
After she had a number of kids, she was told by her doctor to not have any more, or she would risking her life.
But the priests told her to get her tubes tied or take any form of birth control would result in her losing her place in heaven.
She was also told abstaining from sex would also send her to hell.
So she felt like she had no choice but to take the risk.
She had twins, and though it was really close, she managed to survive.
After that, she moved out of town, and as far as I know, never went to church again.
And by the time her children were old enough to choose, they too mostly turned their backs on church.
To the best of my knowledge, despite giving up on church, my grandmother remained devoted to God.
I often wonder how she would have reacted to my transition, especially because of her history.
I would like to think she would have welcomed her granddaughter with all the love she showed to me when I was her grandson.
End
Comments
An amazing story
Thanks for sharing this with us. I find stories of how our lineage conspired to make us the people we are fascinating. Your grandma must have been one tough woman to make it through all that.
Your friend
Crash
she was tough
but a more loving person you will not meet.
thanks for commenting, Crash, huggles!
No doubt
No doubt, had your grandmother died giving birth to the twins, the odious priest would have offered a pater noster for the repose of her soul, and suffered not a moment of doubt, much less shame. Churches are far more human, and truer to the Gospel, when they have no power.
Thank you for sharing the story, Dot. I am glad that you had such a stubborn, loving woman in your life.
Emma
she made a big impression on me
she was a storyteller too, so I am following in her footsteps!
thanks for the comment, Emma. Huggles!
I think what is demonstrated here…….
Can be described as two major points.
First, that there is no way that a man who is not allowed to marry, prohibited from having sex, and will never know what it is like to be in a loving, caring relationship either with a spouse or with children, should not be allowed to give advice or direction regarding marriage, parenting, sex, or healthcare. This is just another example of what is wrong in this country - a group of old mostly white men are being allowed to decide health care issues for the entire population. They are being allowed to dictate to women about what and how they decide to care for their bodies. And they are being allowed to decide for every child in the country what gender they are supposed to be.
Second, this illustrates very well the difference between organized religion, or church, and actual religion, or belief. Nearly every organized religion in existence was created by men, and they are still controlled by men. One of the major purposes behind nearly every religion is to create a second class of people - namely women, and they are all designed to control women and keep them in their place; that place is basically subservient to men.
As has already been mentioned, that priest nearly killed your grandmother and her children - and if he had, he would have not felt the least bit of guilt over his actions.
D. Eden
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
and yet somehow, she retained her faith
just as I have done.
thanks for commenting, hon. huggles!
Oh my word..
What a powerful and worrying story. Thank you Dot, for sharing this. It must have been hard to tell the story, as I find it emotional, so you must do so a thousandfold.
Your Gran obviously was a huge inspiration to you, and, I am sure, helped make you the wonderfully loving person you are today . I am sure she would be proud of her granddaughter.
Lucy xx
"Lately it occurs to me..
what a long strange trip its been."
I really hope she would be proud of me
I loved her very much, and I still miss her.
thanks for the comment, Lucy, Huggles!
Power trip
That priest was definitely on a power trip. My wife was raised Catholic. I married into a Catholic family in a Catholic ceremony. So I'm aware of the struggles that go on. Being a bit of a nerd and a biblical scholar I went head to head with a number of her family members as to what it took to get into heaven. I had a good rapport with the priest that married us. This even though I refused to sign the agreement that said I would have my children raised solely in the Catholic Church. We came to an understanding and modified the agreement to delete the word "solely".
What the priest told your grandmother wasn't even sound Catholic doctrine. Before our wedding my wife went to confession and confessed to premarital sex. She did her penance and all was good. After we had the two children we wanted I had a vasectomy. Then after hearing horror stories about vasectomies that didn't work, my wife decided to have a tubal ligation. Mind you when this was done she wasn't attending church, but some years later, she went back to church and confessed to that and again the priest gave her penance and all was good.
I know for as long as I can remember that abstinence in the form of the rhythm system has been an approved method of birth control in the Catholic Church. My in-laws must have done something because my wife only has one sibling and they were stanch Catholics.
On a lighter note:
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann