My Wise Old Grandmother - Mary Agnes Kirk, page 3

More about my wise old
grandmother’s family

My father, John Ancel Kirk, Jr., was born on
May 13, 1930, in San Antonio, and died at the
age of 31 in January 1961. I believe he was found
dead on January 15, and the coroner estimated
that he had been dead for about two days. He is
buried in the cemetery in Kingsville. My mother,
Dawna Melaine Brinley, was born on September
30, 1931. She had lived in Slidell, Louisiana for
about 35 years before evacuating to Ogden, Utah,
before Hurricane Katrina hit the New Orleans
area in August 2005. She remains in Ogden since
she has family in northern Utah and southern
Idaho.

I’m the middle of five children: two older brothers,
one of whom died in 1953, five weeks after birth;
one younger brother, who died at birth in 1957;
and one young sister. I’m estranged from my
brother and sister, so I won’t disclose where they
currently live; I’ll let them have their peace. I also
have four other siblings who came to me when my
mother remarried after my dad’s death: an older
sister, a sister my age, a younger sister, and a
younger brother. Although I’ve lost track of them,
to the best of my knowledge, my older sister lives
in Utah, my same-age sister lives in Brooklyn, my
younger sister lives in New Orleans, and my
younger brother lives in Connecticut.

My maternal grandmother, Lillie Holm, was born
January 14, 1915, in Ammon, Idaho, and died
at the age of 60 on March 11, 1975, in Ogden,
Utah. My maternal grandfather, Eldon Denzil
Brinley, was born on December 29, 1909, in
Midvale, Utah, and died at the age of 94 on
December 6, 2003, in Salt Lake City. He married
Lillie Holm on June 19, 1933, in Salt Lake City.
I didn’t have much opportunity to get to know my
maternal grandparents.

What I’ve always found interesting are the dates:

January: My father’s body was found on January
15, and the coroner determined that he had died
on January 13. My maternal grand- mother was
born on January 14; and my wise old grandmother
was born on January 26.

March: I was born on March 11 and my maternal
grandmother died on my twentieth birthday.

September: Along with my wise old grandmother
having been adopted, and her adopting me, Jim
and I adopted our cat, Zoey, on September 21,
after our previous cat, Sophie, a feral cat, was
killed by a car on September 19. I changed my
name on September 23, and my mother was born
on September 30.

December: Both of my grandfathers were born
in 1909, one on December 29 and the other on
December 31. One died on December 1, and the
other died on December 6, although in different
years. I graduated from Texas A&M University
on December 8, my god-daughter was born on
December 11, and my closest cousin was born on
December 20.

I wonder if the stars are aligned, or misaligned.