My dad’s mother Hilda Roesner Seiler was a complicated woman. She was argumentative, creative, ambitious and artistic with a sharp tongue and a fiery temperament. In many ways I am like her. She and my grandfather had a stormy relationship, complicated by her infidelity and his alcoholism. Even though we saw her frequently when I was growing up she remained a mystery to me. My mother’s relationship with her was complex and discordant. Hilda adored her eldest son but was very critical of his wife. I admired her spunk and her creativity. She taught me how to knit, crochet, embroider and cross stitch. She once owned a greenhouse and gift shop and I spent many happy hours helping her tend her plants and rearranging her knick knacks. She and her youngest son my Uncle Steve survived a tornado that destroyed the gift shop and the greenhouse along with their house. I vividly remember driving up to her house and the only thing left standing was the toilet and two walls surrounding it.

Grandma Seiler died years ago but her mystery lingers on in my mind.

Recently while helping my parents pack up their house, my mother handed me this worn ragged scrapbook saying “This was your grandmother Seiler’s you should have this.” I was intrigued and couldn’t wait to leaf through it. The notebook was dated 1930 it was full of poetry published in newspapers and magazines. The poetry was carefully clipped and placed on each page. Lots of poetry by Edgar A. Guest with illustrations. One magazine clipping entitled “Making Marriage Work” advised readers that divorced women couldn’t reliably depend on their former husbands to live up to their financial support agreement. There was a wonderfully wise column with the headline “Mind Rules Happiness” that provided ten “rules of happiness” that were as prescient today as they were in the 1930’s.

A highlight of the trove was a small newspaper article dated January 10, 1926 from a society column that read in part, “A number of friends of Miss Hilda Roesener, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Roesener of Elmhurst Gardens enjoyed a pretty party given recently in honor of Miss Roesener’s birthday. The evening was spent in playing progressive games, for which prizes were awarded. At a late hour a delicious luncheon was served to the guests. The color scheme in the dining room was carried out in pink and white. A large birthday cake with lighted candles formed the centerpiece of the table.” The guests included her future husband Carl Seiler. What a vivid picture that paints. I can see them all sitting there. I have a photo of my grandmother in a flapper hat from the mid 1920’s so I know exactly what she looks like and she looks like me.

In so many ways this notebook is a tiny window into her life. All my life I’ve loved poetry, it called to me. I filled notebooks with lousy whiny poetry in my teens, then set it aside for many years returning to my passion by joining a poetry group in my 50’s. I felt like I was home. Picking up grandma’s book felt familiar. There’s a poetic genetic connection.