Somewhere between being really sick and being
on the way to recovery, I received a spirit-lifting package in the mail. My
cousin Robert had been clearing out his late mother’s accumulation of
memorabilia and he generously shared photos and newspaper clippings with his
cousins.
As I sat
with the pictures and clippings spread out around me, I was transported back
through the years, to a time before my birth. One clipping in particular was
extra special. The article, from the Atlanta Journal on March 25, 1944, was all
about my paternal grandmother, Mary Dorothy Shattles. The headline read: “Atlanta Service Mother Woman-of-All Work”.
The article began:
“Superwoman, War Mother of the Year or Woman Who Lived in the Shoe – pick your
title and Mrs. James Thomas Shattles of 393 Park Avenue will fit it. Mrs.
Shattles has five sons in the service, each in a different branch of the armed
forces, and she has two sons-in-law who are servicemen. With five of her boys
gone, Mrs. Shattles still runs a busy household of 12, for in addition to
herself and her husband, there are three single daughters and a son, two children and two of her sons’ wives, one
of whom has a year-and-a half-old son, who make their home with her.
It continues:
“Mrs. Shattles is a war worker who puts in a full week at the Atlanta Paper
Company, making eyeshields that protect our soldiers from cutting sandstorms or
burning gas. And she’s the cheering section for Mr. Shattles, a Civilian
Defense block warden when he is trying to put over a current drive.”
The article
goes on to mention each of her sons and their branch of the service, including
my dad, Sergeant David Shattles, “a turret gunner and flight engineer on a
bomber, who has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal
with three Oak Leaf clusters.”
The article
ended with: “It keeps a woman busy, keeping up with a family like that. But
Mrs. Shattles has some leisure on Sunday, so she teaches a Sunday school class
and catches up with her duties a president of the Woman’s Society of Christian
Service.”
My sister, my cousins
and I have been blessed with a family legacy of Christian values and of service
to country. What a cherished memento to have a sample of this legacy preserved
in a newspaper article from the past.
