Memoir, Poetry, and Life Musings
By the early Spring of 1945, Kippy was almost three years old, and could walk on her own. Behind schedule, maybe, but she got there. Her mental limitations had been diagnosed. Mother resolved to teach her everything she could learn, and enlisted the help of her siblings. Read her story in The Girl Who Talked Too Much, available soon on Amazon.
This was as good a restoration as I could make, I’m afraid. Grandpa in his uniform, ready to deploy to Puerto Rico, where he served as a medic in the Spanish American War. He hadn’t finished his medical degree yet, but volunteered to serve. It was a short war, only about a year long.
1944: We were visiting grandparents near Taunton, Massachusetts. I think this was Uncle Aldie’s car, but I don’t remember what kind it was. I got to “drive,” Linda was stuck in the back with Kippy, and two cousins were along for the “ride.”
1898: I restored this photo of a crowd of students on their way to a football game. My grandfather is on top, 7th from left, in profile looking left. At the time, he was an undergraduate at Reed Medical College, I believe. Notice the RMC on the banner, seen from the back. Actually, I should have flipped the photo, but my PhotoShop quit working before I could! If I can get it to work properly, I’ll repost!
1901: My grandfather, Dr. B.V. Caffee, was called to treat Patty Brady’s cut knee at her home in New York City, by the policeman who stands behind her. Dr Caffee was an intern at Brooklyn Hospital at the time. He was able to stitch the wound on site, I learned from the Ambulance slip that he kept. He was an amateur photographer and had set up his camera on a tripod to catch the scene.
I inherited many of his negatives and prints, and was able to restore the scene using PhotoShop. This one was in an album. His story is included in my new book, The Girl Who Talked Too Much.
Ann and Linda, dressed as nurses, hold Kippy and newborn Lee. Kippy grew up to become The Girl Who Talked Too Much, main character in my upcoming book.
1942: This newborn grew up to be The Girl Who Talked Too Much, who had a fascinating life despite her disabilities, IDD and Tourette’s Syndrome. Our mother put gardenias in our braids, and posed Linda and me with Kippy, only a few days old.
My little sister Kippy, seen here in my lap with big sister Linda holding newborn Lee, grew up to be The Girl Who Talked Too Much, title character in my soon-to-be-released book, much of which is told in her own words. I was fascinated that she learned the abstract word ‘coincidence’ using the same technique I’d learned about in a graduate Language Acquisition class…..just in months, not in days. She had Intellectual/Developmental Disability, and Tourette’s Syndrome made her talk all the time, opening a view into a fascinating mind.
I had no way to know that there were people who urged my mother to institutionalize her, or that there were others in the world who would have put her to death. I called her Kippy, and she’s the subject of my upcoming book, The Girl Who Talked Too Much. My mother was an activist who helped get state and local group homes and education for intellectually handicapped people like Kippy.
There were still no local schools for people like her, and no assistance for families. She had recently been sent (at the urging of her doctor) to the Gainesville Sunland Training Center, almost 120 miles away from her home. Years later such state institutions were closed for lack of training, harsh treatment of clients, and lack of recreational opportunities. Only then did smaller local group homes become available. She’s the title character of my new book, The Girl Who Talked Too Much.
Ann Dickinson Sargent 