Tattie at the Beach

At Bonnett Shores, RI, collection of the author

Happy Birthday, Tattie

If alive today, my grandmother's sister, Dorothy Palmer Barber Bliven, would have celebrated her 119th birthday, today, 7 April 2014.

A nearly life long resident of Westerly, RI, my great aunt was born in New London, Connecticut and lived most of her live near the border where the two states come together.

Divorced from her husband, she was a smart and capable woman and I thought our family was better off having her in our lives. As she lived in "South County", she came frequently to visit us at my grandparents beach house.

Her spring birthday often coincided with Easter Sunday and I remember her most of all in the Spring. Some of her life is still a mystery. Photos were destroyed. A genealogist contacted me about her but then never responded to me again.