My grandparents married Feb 2, 1937, she was 20, he was 28. I was told they probably met a bar as my grandmother enjoyed drinking. (Yes she was pregnant) My grandmother was a housewife, my grandfather a farmer. They went on and had 7 children together. My grandfather according to my dad was a very angry man when he was drinking. He routinely physically beat my grandmother, she was a very dainty lady. My father witnessed this on a regular basis. My dad was youngest, the older siblings were always out and about. He was very young and couldn’t do anything about it. He told me when I was young that he vowed never to hit women. He lived up to his word. My grandmother endured this for years.

She had no help or support. Women being abused are scared or feel it’s their fault when in reality, they have done nothing wrong. This was common place in lots of homes, tolerated and accepted violent acts. Turned the other cheek as they say.

If you or someone you know is in abusive relationship please seek help. Your local crisis center or call the Domestic Violence Hotline Nationwide in the US Hours: 24/7. Languages: English, Spanish and 200+ through interpretation service https://www.thehotline.org/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=domestic_violence Learn more 800-799-723

My grandfather was not a good man in my eyes. On a drunken night, this is well before my father was born he attempted to rape my eldest aunt. He was subsequently arrested. My grandmother tried to protect my aunt from this drunken asshole, she had no problem attempting to protecting her children. (In spite of her constant abuse.) He brought great disgrace to his family.

Honestly when I look as his photo, he has murderous eyes, he just makes me very uncomfortable. Maybe it’s the stories. I don’t know.

I only met my grandma twice, only 1 time I can remember, as we lived in California, and she lived in South Dakota. My first memory of her, which is really weird, was walking into my bathroom, and she was poking herself in the leg with a syringe. I had no idea what she was doing, it scared me. I’d never seen that before, mind you I’m about 7 years old when this took place. Turns out she had type one diabetes and was giving herself insulin. My second and last memory was walking into to my maternal grandparents house my parents were dropping my siblings off, We were going somewhere special and they did not want to bring the toddlers with them. The I got called spoiled because they took me “everywhere”. Other than that I really didn’t have a relationship or know her very well. That was unfortunate because she had a lot of cooking and gardening skills I could have learned from her.

Most people enduring abuse are changed. That change is not only mental but physical. Abuse can change the ways in which genes are expressed, leading to alterations throughout the genome.-Yale article. My grandfather was sent to prison in Jan 1948 for attempted rape and sentenced to 8 years in penitentiary. My grandmother the complainant, loved her children more than herself. My grandmother was 3 months pregnant with her 6th child when the verdict came down. .

May 1948, she had her 6th child, husband in prison, trying to run a farm and 6 children by herself. How did this affect her, her psyche, her physical well being? What molecular changes happened, that possibly changed the person I am, as my dad had not been born yet. I am not proud of this man, but the story does need to be shared. It’s beyond disgusting!