Gertrude Henrietta “Gert” Mosblech (1911-1993)

Larunbatean, Uztaila 15, 1911, Eduard eta Magdalena Mosblech bere hirugarren seme-alaba etorri, Gertrude Henrietta Mosblech, mundura. “Izeba Gert” St jaio zen. Louis, Missouri, Hirugarren hamalau seme-alaba zaharrena. “Izeba Gert” Mosblech familia historian leku berezi bat, bere berotasuna dauka, joy and affection for her many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.

We called her our great-aunt but the genealogy term is grand-aunt. Aunt Gert was grand. She lived in the same four family flat that we did in the 1970s, so we saw her every day. Even though she was in her sixties, she always had time for us kids. She never tried to brush us off and enjoyed when we come over and watch television with her.

Aunt Gert did not have the easiest time in life. When she was younger, she did not learn as quickly as her siblings. While her siblings went to work after they graduated eighth grade, Aunt Gert stayed home and helped Great Grandma take care of the house. When Great Grandma died in 1945, Izeba Gertek etxea zaintzen jarraitu zuen.

Great Grandpa was going to take care of Aunt Gert in his will. Hala ere, Eduard remarried in 1946 and all his money went to his new wife upon his death in 1956.

Aunt Gert worked cleaning houses until she fell down some steps, when she was in her 50s. She could not work any longer and went on Social Security Disability. The disability payments were not enough to cover her expenses, so most of her brothers and sisters chipped in each month to take care of her living expenses.

Aunt Gert lived on the second floor of our flat for a long time until the lady downstairs moved out. We were able to move her downstairs. While she lived on the second floor, my mom always worried about her falling down the steps, so she used to take stuff downstairs for her. Mom would walk down the stairs with Aunt Gert, whenever she saw her coming downstairs.

Aunt Gert had lots of reasons to be bitter but I don’t ever remember her complaining. She always seemed so happy whenever we would go see her. I think she did get lonely at times but I never saw bitterness in her. I used to think Aunt Gert was Mom’s godmother but it was actually Aunt Dolores. Mom said that when she was growing up, Aunt Gert was always the cousin’s favorite aunt. They told her they were going to call her “Aunt Trudy” eta izeba Gertek jaso zuen ostikorik handiena.

Aunt Gert loved to talk and could not keep a secret. Nire amona, who was Aunt Gert’s younger sister, used to say Aunt Gert was the biggest gossip in the family, which is covering a lot of ground. When I inadvertently shared this information with Aunt Gert, she asked Grandma if she said it. My grandmother did not lie and stated, “Bai, Gertrude. You are the biggest gossip in the family.” They talked it out though and Aunt Gert wasn’t mad. Grandma was always protective of Aunt Gert. Grandma would not speak to one of her brothers, who did not help with Aunt Gert’s care.

Urtean 1980, my parents divorced. Aunt Gert ended up being our babysitter every once in a while. Right before Christmas 1980, Dad let us know that he was getting remarried. Nire ahizpa txikiak eta biok benetan borrokan ari ginen aldaketekin eta Gabonak iristen ari ziren. Aunt Gert was going to watch us while Mom went shopping. She kept talking about how we were going to watch a Christmas movie that night.

A Christmas movie was the last thing on my mind. To be honest, I didn’t really put too much stock in her endorsement. When we went over that night, she had fixed us popcorn. The movie on TV that she had hyped so much was White Christmas (1954). Berak esandako guztia zen. For those two hours, we forgot about my dad’s upcoming wedding and felt the Christmas spirit again.

The movie was just the right medicine. To this day, it is still my favorite Christmas movie. Despite the passage of 30 urte, I still vividly remember watching that movie with her that night, krispetak jaten, eta bere poza pelikulan zenbat sartu garen.

Urtean 1981, nire ama berriro ezkondu zen. Herritik zehar joan ginen Villa etorbideko aitaren etxe zaharrera. In the late 1980s, Aunt Gert could no longer live on her own. Even though she lived in a care facility, one of her siblings would pick her up and bring her to the family reunions. Oraindik denak gogoan zituen eta oso pozik egon ginen bera ikusteaz. She just had difficulty getting around and eventually was wheel chair bound.

Astelehenean, Otsaila 1, 1993, Gertrude Henrietta Mosblech passed away at 81 urte. She outlived a number of her young siblings including my grandmother. She was laid to rest in St. Peter’s and Paul’s Cemetery on February 3, 1993.

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