Sammie Ives

Sammie Ives was my mom. She died at age 56, when I was about 24. She taught elementary school for many years in Delmar, New York and was later a student teacher supervisor at the State University of New York at Plattsbugh. In between she was a creativity resource teacher in the Colonie School District.

I was born when my mom was about 32 years old (in 1947). While I was born, in the vernaclar of the times, as an illegitimate child, my mother did her best to keep that a secret. I knew my father, a local doctor, but he never played the role of father in my life.

In 2004 the daughter of one of my cousins found a letter my mother had written to her mother (Sister-in-Law) describing the circumstances of my "adoption" by my own mother. It's quite interesting and provides a perspective on small town America in the 1950's that is a bit different than one might gather from watching American Grafitti.

I have reproduced it here. Note that it is formatted, as was the original, on legal, rather than letter size paper, and thus doesn't print out very well. I tried to reproduce it as accurately as possible, though I should scan it as well.

Note also that there are two versions in the Word document. The first is the original. The second includes footnotes in which I try to provide some context.