Workman, a handsome, portly, red-faced good-humored man whom I pestered to
bring me small toys from his grocery store. For reasons to me unknown, Dell and
Jeanette not only never married but before Jeanette’s early death they broke up.
How Jeanette found the wherewithal to manage the household can only be
surmised. Grandpap had undoubtedly mortgaged the home. Mother worked and
certainly contributed to the pot; my father, too, during the years he was present.
George certainly gave his share when he and his family lived there. But it could not
have been easy to make ends meet. I
cannot remember ever being hungry,
but neither do I hold any memories of
sumptuous meals.
Jeanette and her mother’s last
apartment was on Glenn Street, just a
block from Fulton Street where
Jeanette grew up, where she was
married; and a block in the other
direction from the Baltimore Avenue
home, scene of her modest but proud
reign. The place consisted of one
l a
rge bedroom-sitting room plus
kitchen and bath. They were
completely comfortable, yet the
come-down must have hurt.
One of my frequent visits to
Ma and Jeanette developed into an
embarrassment for them. Walking up
Glenn Street on my way to their
apartment, I was surprised to find
that a high-school classmate, Arietta
Wyand, lived only a few doors away.
She was on the porch with her father,
to whom she introduced me.
Catching my name, he said he was related to the Rohrers of Keedysville, Maryland.
I said that I was, too, and, so tickled by the coincidence, added that my grandmother
Rohrer and her daughter lived just up the street. He said that he would certainly like
to call upon them. Naively, I suggested that he come with me, and just as
unthinkingly he did! To receive an unexpected visitor, especially a remote kinsman,
in their reduced circumstances must have shocked poor Ma and Jeannette exceedingly.
They were friendly and gracious, although the conversation was brief and strained.
When Reverend Wyand had left, Jeanette could only say, “Heavenly Father, Billy!"
15
Jeanette Rohrer, CWR’s aunt, ca. 1938
