Ann, though, lived only five years. When she died my father was 2 and my Aunt was 6. Ann got sick with respiratory diphtheria a then common bacterial infection, prior to the DPT immunization against it. In 1925 there was no such shot. Diphtheria usually passed from person to person by coughing and sneezing. In olden days it had even been called the "strangling angel of children."
Approximately a year or two after Ann's death, my Great Aunt Jane was playing with a sparkler on the streets of Belfast. It caught her outfit on fire and severely burned her underarm and breast. Jane said then and always that Ann stood beside her and "told me to lay down and roll over", which is exactly what Jane did. The fire ceased, but Jane was ultimately scarred from the sparkler. Jane was forever thankful to sweet Ann, a child who had appeared to Jane as an angel to save her.
Sparklers were not allowed in my childhood.
For Ashley: Ann's parents with Dana and Hazel Southworth. After Ann died, they moved to Boston from Belfast. Hazel became a violinist with the Boston Pops Orchestra.
"...family is the link to our
past, bridge to our future."
Alex Haley
