Here is another excerpt from the first draft of Kitty’s People: Legend of an Irish Family in the American Heartland. The scene opens in the
Kitty and Tom Get Married
Today, November 22, is the 108th anniversary of my grandparents’ marriage. What I know is that they got engaged on Palm Sunday because Tom Barrett
Postponing Marriage, Living with Your Parents
Where did I get the impression that in the “olden days” of America, people married young? For months now, I’ve been entangled in the twigs
Two Barrett Cousins
When I first saw this photo of our cousin Francis Pedrotti (left), I thought he was my uncle Bob Barrett (right)–cleft chin, very Barrett. They
Bob Barrett’s fiery crash
On Friday morning, May 1, 1942, Ewald Curran picked up the phone and was barraged with questions about the death of his step-son Bob Barrett.
Leclaire: Illinois Utopia
My grandmother Kitty Flanagan suffered many disruptions in her youth, but she remembered the time in Leclaire, Illinois, as the golden years, full of music,
