My Uncle Waldo was the fifth child of my grandparents and the first born in the United States. I have only seen one photograph of Waldo as a child.
Waldo is the little guy on the bottom left. Sisi is the little gal on the bottom right.
I don't know much about Waldo other than these few things: he and his sister, Sylvia, were born in the same year, 1904. Waldo died at twenty-four years old when my mother, his sister, was only seven. He died on the ranch from a gunshot wound.
When Waldo died, the local newspaper wrote a story with a HUGE headline that read, SUICIDE. It was a Sunday morning and he had gone to the bunk house alone. The other children and my grandfather were on the ranch in the house and outside when they heard the gunshot. Uncle Swiss was the one that found Waldo, deceased.
Several times, through the years, I asked my mother what she thought happened and it was always the same story. Waldo was cleaning his gun and accidentally killed himself. As I got a bit older and braver, I asked a few of my aunts who also said it was an accident, with my Aunt Sisi letting me know she didn't appreciate the lies that had been printed about her brother's death being from suicide.
My cousins and I have discussed Waldo through the years and there are so many unanswered questions. I suppose the facts are as such, nobody really knows except Waldo and anyone else that may have been there when it happened and it really doesn't matter anymore. The sad thing is, so many of our family members missed out on time with our uncle. I like knowing he is reunited with all his siblings and parents once more.
The sixth child, also born in the US, was my Aunt Sylvia or Sisi as we called her. I've written quite a bit about her already throughout this blog, so tonight, I'll share just a few more things that keep her close to my heart.
My mother loved all her siblings deeply but she never kept it a secret that Aunt Sisi was really the one that raised her after their mother died. Sisi always felt like a grandmother to me and I looked at her as one in many ways. It had to have been difficult for her to lose her mother so young and then take on the responsibility of so many children when she was only eighteen years old. Her nickname in the family was Captain and she definitely lived up to it. She was a tough broad but no one in the family would ever doubt her love for all of us. Her family was the most important thing in her life.
Aunt Sisi and Uncle Joe married in 1924 when Sisi was not quite twenty years old. They had an interesting relationship, to say the least, but it seemed to work for them, and really, that's all that matters in the end. They never had children of their own however their house was always full of children because of all the nieces and nephews. I can honestly say Aunt Sisi and Uncle Joe loved kids. Sisi could be harsh and rigid at times whereas Uncle Joe was pretty relaxed. I almost think he stayed in that relaxed state of being just to annoy Sisi. It worked. Even so, they moved through life together for sixty-two years.
During WWII, Aunt Sisi worked at Camp San Luis. She was very proud of her support and effort during the war and would often tell stories of helping Uncle Joe walk the streets of Cayucos in the evenings to make sure all houses were using blackout curtains. One of the other things Aunt Sisi was proud of was her membership in the Druids or as Uncle Joe called them, the Fallen Arches. I think just about every lady in Cayucos belonged to the Druids back then. They were always hosting a dinner or a show or other fundraiser at the Vets Hall at the bottom of the pier. I loved attending those dinners where the whole town showed up and half of them were related to us one way or another.
Aunt Sisi's dresser is just as it's always been, with a bottle of fancy hairpins sitting next to the hand mirror and hairbrush William Randolph Hearst gave her as a gift one year. She was one of Mr. Hearst's cooks when he lived at the castle. My granddaughters love sleeping in this room and playing with all the gloves, purses and jewelry in Sisi's dresser. We were never allowed to do this as kids but I believe Sisi would be pretty pleased to see her great-great nieces playing dress up with her things now.
These are a few of Aunt Sisi's necklaces she wore. The two on the right, she actually made. Aunt Sisi was always making something. She loved to crochet and knit as well and taught many of us how to do the same. I love to crochet to this very day because of her.
If I could have one wish with my aunt, it would be to tell her how important she was to me. I would tell her how much she shaped my life for the better and what a difference she made to the town of Cayucos.
I don't wait anymore. I don't waste time being embarrassed. I own my feelings and tell people how much I love them and what they mean to me. I have to because the older I get the clearer it becomes how very short this life is and how quickly it's over.
Some of you reading this have been on the receiving end of my love gushes. Not even sorry. If I love you, appreciate you, think you're wonderful, I'm going to tell you. You're welcome. 💓
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