On this day in 1917, Katherine “Kate” Arstingstall was born in Kentucky. She was the oldest and only girl with several younger brothers. She lost her father very young and helped her mother raise her brothers. She married the love of her life, Bill Bowman, in 1937 and had seven children, my mother being one of them. During her life, in addition to raising her children, she worked as a secretary and a waitress.
During WWII, she was a working woman on the Home Front with three young children while Grandpa was away at war. She had to juggle work, children, food rations, and help with the war effort. And we think we have it rough now. She was one of the Greatest Generation and I am excited to be able to say she was my grandma.
She left this world when I was twelve, but I have fond memories of her. I remember how beautiful she was and how she knew all her 26 grandchildren’s birth dates. While she was alive, I received a birthday card from her every year in the mail with $2 and I still have the pink (my favorite color) yarn octopus she made for me for Christmas one year. I also remember her playing Euchre at family gatherings and drinking rum and coke. Who else remembers Grandma?
