Beloved sister of Mae (Mary) C. Cullen Napoleon, Jas. Edwd. and Frank Jos. Cullen Jr., John J. and Eugene L. McElroy and Joan Corrigan Walker.
It’s often said of people who have lived into their late fifties, early and mid-sixties that “at least they had a full life”. While Anna’s visit here on earth was around a dozen years, returning to heaven in less than 13 years, she did have a full life during those years.
Anna’s sister Mae was about 8 years older. What a joy this must have been, a baby sister when your 8, a walking 2 year old sister when you’re 10, a 3 year old sister scooting around talking with you, a 6 year old young girl looking up at her big 14 year old sister, a 16 year old sister to chit-chat when you’re 8, and when you’re 10, a glamorous 18 year-old young adult sister explaining things to you and that you see as everything in your eyes and she, in turn, sees you as everything in her eyes.
On top of all of that she had big brothers who she could look up to and they providing a certain comforting, reassuring look and a sense of protection to her. One can only imagine how she saw her oldest brother Sonny who was always close with Mae, each about a year apart. Her next oldest brother Frankie, almost exactly half way in age difference between her and Mae and Sonny. If that wasn’t a special world for her, she had her brother Johnny, just older by about 2 years, and her brother Eugene, just younger by 2 years, making her “the pickle in the middle”. And, for the last few years of her tender life, she had a baby sister Joan, she being older by about the same amount of years as her oldest sister Mae was to her, something she experienced both ways in her short, but full life.
The writer of this memorial knows firsthand that when Anna came up a few times in conversation, it had always saddened his Uncle Eugene. The writer’s father would make mention of her several times but never went into detail. Perhaps sibling feelings for and with Anna is best conveyed with what our oldest first paternal cousin Matthew Napoleon passed on about how his mom, our aunt Mae, would recount to him how her and Anna always sung the song My Buddy.
Let’s go back to the time of Anna’s arrival in the early 1920s. After the ending of World War I (WW I) in November of 1918 and the ending of the decade in 1919, the world entered the 1920s. Overall, a time captured in visual arts and architecture with Art Deco that permeated every fabric of life – fashion, buildings (like NY’s Chrysler Building), appliances, et cetera, that still can be seen. There was the use of electric replacing gas lighting continuing at a rapid pace. It was also a time of post bellum memories of those loved and lost during the decade just past and, at the same time, a look to the future with general optimism and exuberance hoped to be experienced during the new decade of the 1920s. It’s analogous to going through a tunnel, a decade long, of the darkness of war and exiting it into a bright, new modern period full of sunshine promises.
It was a time of women’s rights with the suffrage movement attaining the right to vote and more social openness for women as epitomized by the flappers, dancing the Charleston, snappy jazz, emergence of big bands; a general time of prosperity and hope after the dark war years and grieving the dear lives lost within the previous decade. It was a new social frontier. In large part it carried on in secreted night clubs, behind the walls of prohibition, which began at the decade’s start and continued three years beyond. It was the decade of daredevils going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, escape feats and death of Harry Houdini (born Erik Weisz), female aeronautic daredevils, great circus shows, vaudeville was in its last full decade, being displaced with movies theaters, both co-existing for the decade, it was a time of a new frontier. New York continued being a melting pot, pulling in millions with the magnetic aspirational attraction of pursuing prosperity and happiness. What a decade to be alive!
In their own right, songs are narrative oral history, audio depictions of their times arranged to music. Comparable to the way oral histories have been passed down through the centuries of every culture. While there were many great songs and tunes throughout the 1920s that would come and go, like rising tides that ebb, there is one song that stood out for the most part throughout the 1920s that conveyed the genuine heart-felt sentiment behind all of the gaiety of the times. That song is My Buddy - - a tune that was popular throughout nearly every year of the 1920s. The lyrics were written by Gus Kahn in 1922 with the original music score by Walter Donaldson. The sheet music had a picture of Al Jolson on its cover and an introduction by him, but I don’t believe that he ever recorded the song. It was, however, recorded by various major radio broadcast voices of the time with its popularity continuing into the mid-1920s. The tune expressed a sentiment felt through experience, as well as, an understanding of the expressed sentiment, if not experienced. It was a song of a heart’s feeling for another, when hearts are close. A song about close buddies, kindred spirits, loved ones, that have now parted.
The feelings expressed by the song were brought to life with the August 12, 1927 release of the silent movie Wings, a twist of fate romantic, yet full of authentic action, World War I story that stared the Queen of Movies at the time Clara Bow as the “girl next door”, with 1920s-1930s “America’s Boyfriend”, Charles Edward “Buddy” Rogers and Richard Arlen, where both compete for the pretty girl (Jobyna Ralston), train as aviators, go off to war and through their trials and tribulations transition from competitors to close brothers, they are parted by the tragic, ironic, passing of the other Buddy (I don’t want to reveal the full account here, in case someone is motivated to see it.) The script was written by John Monk Saunders, a WW I aviator, specifically for Clara Bow. Gary Cooper, at the early start of his movie career was also featured in a short appearance that does add to setting of the movies’ direction.
Although being made for decades, the movie industry was still taking off, with ever new technological innovations leading the way and a growing population with a strong increasing demand. This was the peak of silent, black & white movies. It was the time of when mastering facial expressions was a true talent and art form, of which there were none better than Clara Bow and her tom-boy like charisma. I’m of the opinion that many a flapper copied the makeup of her facial looks. In 1927, on May 11, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was founded. In 1929, at the first AMPAS Award Ceremony, Wings was the first movie to be awarded Best Motion Picture for 1927 (awards were also made for 1928) and the only silent movie to have done so. There were a number of firsts accredited to the movie and it’s worth checking into. So, the movie Wings perpetuated the song My Buddy, into the latter half of the decade.
Here are some of the song’s lyrics – a more complete ordering of the lyrics – different from the original ordering is included among the “Photos” category of this memorial.
I put the chorus first – the same melody and lyrics that repeat, which when read with thought, conveys the sentiments expressed:
Nights are long since you went away,
I think about you all through the day,
My buddy, my buddy,
No buddy quite so true.
Miss your voice, the touch of your hand,
Just long to know that you understand,
My buddy, my buddy,
Your buddy misses you
And then after the above chorus, the lyrics
Life is a book that we study,
Some of its leaves bring a sigh,
There it was written, my buddy,
That we must part, you and I.
Then a repeat of the 8 lines of chorus above followed by
Buddies through all the gay days,
Buddies when something went wrong;
I wait alone through the gray days,
Missing your smile and your song.
Then another repeat of the chorus
In his version of the song, Bing Crosby ended with
Yes, I do
Doris Day did a nice version that consisted of just the chorus lyrics.
As related by our cousin Matthew, his mom, our aunt Mae, along with Anna, would sing this song together, as it captured, in part, that special bond they had between each other. He told me each and every time she would tear up. Dwell on that feeling for a moment. It’s more than fair to say that all of Anna’s brothers, and her baby sister Joan, all felt the same depth of feeling.
Yes, while Anna passed on before her teen years, she did have a full life – a life of sincere, heartfelt love – to a degree that many will never experience through a much longer life. And now, whenever you read those lyrics and know that very special heart felt loving sentiment, those moments will then live on through you. If that in itself gives you a momentary, special, unique feeling - - then that’s the Spirit of Anna.
ABOUT ANNA’S AILMENTS
Before reaching her teen years Anna passed on from chronic rheumatic heart disease. Specifically, she passed away from valvulitis, which is an inflammation and scaring of the heart’s mitral, aortic and tricuspid valves. This all occurs (sequelae) from a streptococcus bacterium infection.
Apparently, Anna had an inflamed throat (pharyngitis), which is common in the colder months of the year. As it turned out she had a bacterial rather than a viral infection. She was actually infected by the bacterium A Streptococcus (group A streptococci – “GAS”); hence “strep throat”. Similar to colds and flus, this bacterium generally presents during the cooler, damp weather of the winter and spring months most frequently in northern states. It may have appeared that Anna was overcoming it, as do about ≈99.7% of cases.
However, it’s likely that Anna had a weakened immune system as it became rheumatic fever that, in turn, lead to rheumatic heart disease. Rheumatic fever can run the gamut from mild to severe, for Anna the latter was to be the case.
Rheumatic fever’s onset occurs rather suddenly. In addition to the more commonly known red rash, the body’s immune system can tend to start attacking itself (autoimmune condition). This is because the bacteria’s structure resembles that of the body’s tissue (refer to “bacterium cell wall” below). Thus, antibodies flowing through the blood’s plasma begin to recognize its’ own tissue as the invading antigen and attacks it. The bone marrow keeps pumping out increasing numbers of lymphocytes (antibodies), some of which free specific antibodies into the plasma.
Among various attack sites, these antibodies go to the joints (arms, fingers, wrists, knees, etc.), which leads to pain and inflammation accompanied with jerky movements. To this condition, I recall hearing several times as a young child the term “St. Vitas’ dance”, although I don’t readily have a relational link in my mind’s memory bank. I do recall that we would mimic it – maybe I was around 8 or 9 years of age. I now wonder if it was in parlance at that place in time because Anna may well have suffered from it during her health battles and it was about 25 years after her passing. These jerky motions causal to rheumatic fever is now known as chorea.
Some of these B lymphocyte antibodies have a protein on their membrane surface that attack the invading microorganism, bringing and presenting them to T Helper cells, who then signal for the production and deployment of more antibody troops. These cell surface receptor proteins, known as Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLAs), which are programmed (encoded) for their dedicated sole roles, are classed as a Type II MHC (major histocompatibility complex). Sometimes the HLAs are inside the cell; these are MHC Type I. Type II MHCs are broken down into certain types: DP, DM, DOA, DOB, DQ, and DR. I mention this just not because of the role they played in Anna’s sufferings but also because you need a match of HLA-DRs for any transplant to be successful. We get various combinations from each of our parents and they can be the same and or vary among siblings. So, beware of the beast of the night.
The bacteria also do their sinister work at the heart, leading to rheumatic heart disease. The way I understand it, in short, is that fibroblasts of Anna’s immune system, in response to fending infection with the beta-hemolytic bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes (S pyogenes), deposit layers of a protein known as collagen, which form scars. In Anna’s case her immune system over produces the collagen matrix proteins causing fibrosis. This in turn leads to narrowing of the valves passage ways, i.e., stenosis, a.k.a. insufficiency. It occurs twice as often in females than males, with the highest incidence between the ages of 5 and 15; incidence is a rarity under age 5 and over age 25.
As indicated, S. pyogenes has a very sinister mode of operation. It is referred to as a beta-hemolytic bacterium. A beta-hemolytic causes a complete lysis (cell destruction by the antibody lysin). These bacteria cells secrete a toxin within the area (micro environment) in which they grow; that is, an “exotoxin”. Their exotoxin is called streptolysin. Streptolysin is what causes the red rash in scarlet fever. This toxic enzymatic protein binds to red cells causing complete lysis of the cells. Bear in mind that it’s our red cells that carry oxygen, via hemoglobin, from which we breathe.
As to the bacterium’s cell wall, its’ outer membrane has a chemical structure that mimics host connective tissue (epithelial cells). In other words, chemically, it bears a structural resemblance to that of your body’s cell walls. This cellular covering is known as epithelial tissue. Because of this mimicry it is not attacked as an invader by the immune system soldiers, such as macrophages and neutrophils. Thus, it escapes being eaten up (phagocytosis) by these Pac Men (phagocytes) like defenders of the immune system that would engulf and digest them. However, B lymphocytes and released antibodies, carried in the blood’s plasma, can and do attack it, as briefly described foregoing.
Since it’s able to invade our epithelial cell wall tissue it escapes being killed off by penicillin, which does not effectively enter epithelial cell walls. As far as I know, penicillin may be used preventively, but not at this stage. As an historical matter of fact, penicillin wasn’t readily available at the time of Anna’s suffering. Unfortunately, Anna’s bacterial infection and suffering from S. pyogenes was literally at the end of the pre-antibiotic tract in the medical timeline – most untimely. As a side note, the better fitting term would be antibacterials, rather than the broader term antibiotics.
It was by happenstance that in 1928, Alexander Fleming, a Scottish scientist at London’s St. Mary’s hospital, observed mold that took to growing on a Petri dish was consuming the Staphylococcus aureus (S aureus) bacteria the dish was holding. It was Penicillium mold; thus, the origin of the name penicillin. His finding underwent refinement over the next score of years. Even during that time, it was realized that it could fight various infections, as well as pneumonia, when it was used in 1941, during World War II.
It became widely available during the late 1940s, once drug companies commercialized it. Thank God for capitalism. This was essentially the impetus for large drug companies’ research for other antimicrobials. Then expansion of microbiology leading to monoclonal antibodies, kinase inhibitors, nanomolecules and other like advances, without which I would not be here writing this memorial. For his finding and refinements, Fleming was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.
ANNA’S FINAL DAYS OF HER VISIT & RETURN TO HEAVEN
So, with that broad understanding in place, let’s get back to Anna – unfortunately the final days of her short life. Anna was admitted to Bellevue Hospital, at 26th Street and 1st Avenue, in Manhattan on Thursday the 24th of May, 1934. This is where her mom’s brother-in-law, Thomas Cullen, was rushed to, nearly 50 years earlier (11/25/1884), for a fatal head injury from a fall. As noted within his memorial (no. 129443478), Bellevue had established a pathology and bacteriology lab during the year of his death. So, this was certainly the place to go for her deadly malady. It is still the premier infectious disease center for the greater Manhattan metropolitan area.
You can imagine her frail body, breaking down from within, with each breath less than the other. Her helplessness. She was just 12 years old. Sweetness. Their little girl and sister. The hopelessness for a full remedy. Suffering and Despair.
For the next few and a half weeks, Anna was under the care of Dr. William A. Brick, who was in residence, up until the time of her death at 10:30 P.M. on Sunday the 17th of June 1934. Oh, the helpless severe suffering she must have experienced. She was now at eternal blissful rest. Anna was interred at Calvary Cemetery on Wednesday of that week, June 20th, 1934. The undertaking services were provided by Edward D. Lynch, at this time his funeral parlor was located at 46-09 48th Avenue, Woodside. Our father was friends with his son, Edward II and our brothers Jimmy and Larry and myself knew Eddie (III) from St. Teresa’s, our church and elementary school, when we were kids, before the passing of our parents.
She was laid to eternal rest with Frank J. Cullen, her mom’ first husband and brother of the aforementioned Thomas. Frank J. had passed on some 36 years before causal to an infectious disease (Spanish flu leading to a fatal lobar pneumonia), more than three times her young age of 12.
As mentioned earlier, I recall our Uncle Eugene making mention of Anna from time to time – he turned 12 that July 13th after her death. I’ve seen death through the eyes of a 12-year-old also, as I write this, I clearly recall memories. Also, that July 17th, one month after Anna’s passing, our Uncle Johnny turned 14. Our father and his sister, our aunt Mae, were just becoming young adults, our aunt Joan was still a toddler with her third birthday coming up in 17 days.
Our cousin Matthew recounts that when Tom Corrigan passed on from a fatal heart attack, the small, white coffin holding Anna’s remains, had to first be lifted, in order to place Tom’s casket and then Anna’s coffin. It’s best to spare words and let this incident speak for itself. To make use of a Latin term used in law, Res Ipsa Loquitor.
Requiescat in pace.
N.B.: There is a tie-in with the human leukocyte antigen DR cell surface receptor (HLA-DR), encoded by the petite arm of chromosome 6 at 21.31, with rheumatic fever and a familial risk with rheumatic heart disease.
It’s often said of people who have lived into their late fifties, early and mid-sixties that “at least they had a full life”. While Anna’s visit here on earth was around a dozen years, returning to heaven in less than 13 years, she did have a full life during those years.
Anna’s sister Mae was about 8 years older. What a joy this must have been, a baby sister when your 8, a walking 2 year old sister when you’re 10, a 3 year old sister scooting around talking with you, a 6 year old young girl looking up at her big 14 year old sister, a 16 year old sister to chit-chat when you’re 8, and when you’re 10, a glamorous 18 year-old young adult sister explaining things to you and that you see as everything in your eyes and she, in turn, sees you as everything in her eyes.
On top of all of that she had big brothers who she could look up to and they providing a certain comforting, reassuring look and a sense of protection to her. One can only imagine how she saw her oldest brother Sonny who was always close with Mae, each about a year apart. Her next oldest brother Frankie, almost exactly half way in age difference between her and Mae and Sonny. If that wasn’t a special world for her, she had her brother Johnny, just older by about 2 years, and her brother Eugene, just younger by 2 years, making her “the pickle in the middle”. And, for the last few years of her tender life, she had a baby sister Joan, she being older by about the same amount of years as her oldest sister Mae was to her, something she experienced both ways in her short, but full life.
The writer of this memorial knows firsthand that when Anna came up a few times in conversation, it had always saddened his Uncle Eugene. The writer’s father would make mention of her several times but never went into detail. Perhaps sibling feelings for and with Anna is best conveyed with what our oldest first paternal cousin Matthew Napoleon passed on about how his mom, our aunt Mae, would recount to him how her and Anna always sung the song My Buddy.
Let’s go back to the time of Anna’s arrival in the early 1920s. After the ending of World War I (WW I) in November of 1918 and the ending of the decade in 1919, the world entered the 1920s. Overall, a time captured in visual arts and architecture with Art Deco that permeated every fabric of life – fashion, buildings (like NY’s Chrysler Building), appliances, et cetera, that still can be seen. There was the use of electric replacing gas lighting continuing at a rapid pace. It was also a time of post bellum memories of those loved and lost during the decade just past and, at the same time, a look to the future with general optimism and exuberance hoped to be experienced during the new decade of the 1920s. It’s analogous to going through a tunnel, a decade long, of the darkness of war and exiting it into a bright, new modern period full of sunshine promises.
It was a time of women’s rights with the suffrage movement attaining the right to vote and more social openness for women as epitomized by the flappers, dancing the Charleston, snappy jazz, emergence of big bands; a general time of prosperity and hope after the dark war years and grieving the dear lives lost within the previous decade. It was a new social frontier. In large part it carried on in secreted night clubs, behind the walls of prohibition, which began at the decade’s start and continued three years beyond. It was the decade of daredevils going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, escape feats and death of Harry Houdini (born Erik Weisz), female aeronautic daredevils, great circus shows, vaudeville was in its last full decade, being displaced with movies theaters, both co-existing for the decade, it was a time of a new frontier. New York continued being a melting pot, pulling in millions with the magnetic aspirational attraction of pursuing prosperity and happiness. What a decade to be alive!
In their own right, songs are narrative oral history, audio depictions of their times arranged to music. Comparable to the way oral histories have been passed down through the centuries of every culture. While there were many great songs and tunes throughout the 1920s that would come and go, like rising tides that ebb, there is one song that stood out for the most part throughout the 1920s that conveyed the genuine heart-felt sentiment behind all of the gaiety of the times. That song is My Buddy - - a tune that was popular throughout nearly every year of the 1920s. The lyrics were written by Gus Kahn in 1922 with the original music score by Walter Donaldson. The sheet music had a picture of Al Jolson on its cover and an introduction by him, but I don’t believe that he ever recorded the song. It was, however, recorded by various major radio broadcast voices of the time with its popularity continuing into the mid-1920s. The tune expressed a sentiment felt through experience, as well as, an understanding of the expressed sentiment, if not experienced. It was a song of a heart’s feeling for another, when hearts are close. A song about close buddies, kindred spirits, loved ones, that have now parted.
The feelings expressed by the song were brought to life with the August 12, 1927 release of the silent movie Wings, a twist of fate romantic, yet full of authentic action, World War I story that stared the Queen of Movies at the time Clara Bow as the “girl next door”, with 1920s-1930s “America’s Boyfriend”, Charles Edward “Buddy” Rogers and Richard Arlen, where both compete for the pretty girl (Jobyna Ralston), train as aviators, go off to war and through their trials and tribulations transition from competitors to close brothers, they are parted by the tragic, ironic, passing of the other Buddy (I don’t want to reveal the full account here, in case someone is motivated to see it.) The script was written by John Monk Saunders, a WW I aviator, specifically for Clara Bow. Gary Cooper, at the early start of his movie career was also featured in a short appearance that does add to setting of the movies’ direction.
Although being made for decades, the movie industry was still taking off, with ever new technological innovations leading the way and a growing population with a strong increasing demand. This was the peak of silent, black & white movies. It was the time of when mastering facial expressions was a true talent and art form, of which there were none better than Clara Bow and her tom-boy like charisma. I’m of the opinion that many a flapper copied the makeup of her facial looks. In 1927, on May 11, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was founded. In 1929, at the first AMPAS Award Ceremony, Wings was the first movie to be awarded Best Motion Picture for 1927 (awards were also made for 1928) and the only silent movie to have done so. There were a number of firsts accredited to the movie and it’s worth checking into. So, the movie Wings perpetuated the song My Buddy, into the latter half of the decade.
Here are some of the song’s lyrics – a more complete ordering of the lyrics – different from the original ordering is included among the “Photos” category of this memorial.
I put the chorus first – the same melody and lyrics that repeat, which when read with thought, conveys the sentiments expressed:
Nights are long since you went away,
I think about you all through the day,
My buddy, my buddy,
No buddy quite so true.
Miss your voice, the touch of your hand,
Just long to know that you understand,
My buddy, my buddy,
Your buddy misses you
And then after the above chorus, the lyrics
Life is a book that we study,
Some of its leaves bring a sigh,
There it was written, my buddy,
That we must part, you and I.
Then a repeat of the 8 lines of chorus above followed by
Buddies through all the gay days,
Buddies when something went wrong;
I wait alone through the gray days,
Missing your smile and your song.
Then another repeat of the chorus
In his version of the song, Bing Crosby ended with
Yes, I do
Doris Day did a nice version that consisted of just the chorus lyrics.
As related by our cousin Matthew, his mom, our aunt Mae, along with Anna, would sing this song together, as it captured, in part, that special bond they had between each other. He told me each and every time she would tear up. Dwell on that feeling for a moment. It’s more than fair to say that all of Anna’s brothers, and her baby sister Joan, all felt the same depth of feeling.
Yes, while Anna passed on before her teen years, she did have a full life – a life of sincere, heartfelt love – to a degree that many will never experience through a much longer life. And now, whenever you read those lyrics and know that very special heart felt loving sentiment, those moments will then live on through you. If that in itself gives you a momentary, special, unique feeling - - then that’s the Spirit of Anna.
ABOUT ANNA’S AILMENTS
Before reaching her teen years Anna passed on from chronic rheumatic heart disease. Specifically, she passed away from valvulitis, which is an inflammation and scaring of the heart’s mitral, aortic and tricuspid valves. This all occurs (sequelae) from a streptococcus bacterium infection.
Apparently, Anna had an inflamed throat (pharyngitis), which is common in the colder months of the year. As it turned out she had a bacterial rather than a viral infection. She was actually infected by the bacterium A Streptococcus (group A streptococci – “GAS”); hence “strep throat”. Similar to colds and flus, this bacterium generally presents during the cooler, damp weather of the winter and spring months most frequently in northern states. It may have appeared that Anna was overcoming it, as do about ≈99.7% of cases.
However, it’s likely that Anna had a weakened immune system as it became rheumatic fever that, in turn, lead to rheumatic heart disease. Rheumatic fever can run the gamut from mild to severe, for Anna the latter was to be the case.
Rheumatic fever’s onset occurs rather suddenly. In addition to the more commonly known red rash, the body’s immune system can tend to start attacking itself (autoimmune condition). This is because the bacteria’s structure resembles that of the body’s tissue (refer to “bacterium cell wall” below). Thus, antibodies flowing through the blood’s plasma begin to recognize its’ own tissue as the invading antigen and attacks it. The bone marrow keeps pumping out increasing numbers of lymphocytes (antibodies), some of which free specific antibodies into the plasma.
Among various attack sites, these antibodies go to the joints (arms, fingers, wrists, knees, etc.), which leads to pain and inflammation accompanied with jerky movements. To this condition, I recall hearing several times as a young child the term “St. Vitas’ dance”, although I don’t readily have a relational link in my mind’s memory bank. I do recall that we would mimic it – maybe I was around 8 or 9 years of age. I now wonder if it was in parlance at that place in time because Anna may well have suffered from it during her health battles and it was about 25 years after her passing. These jerky motions causal to rheumatic fever is now known as chorea.
Some of these B lymphocyte antibodies have a protein on their membrane surface that attack the invading microorganism, bringing and presenting them to T Helper cells, who then signal for the production and deployment of more antibody troops. These cell surface receptor proteins, known as Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLAs), which are programmed (encoded) for their dedicated sole roles, are classed as a Type II MHC (major histocompatibility complex). Sometimes the HLAs are inside the cell; these are MHC Type I. Type II MHCs are broken down into certain types: DP, DM, DOA, DOB, DQ, and DR. I mention this just not because of the role they played in Anna’s sufferings but also because you need a match of HLA-DRs for any transplant to be successful. We get various combinations from each of our parents and they can be the same and or vary among siblings. So, beware of the beast of the night.
The bacteria also do their sinister work at the heart, leading to rheumatic heart disease. The way I understand it, in short, is that fibroblasts of Anna’s immune system, in response to fending infection with the beta-hemolytic bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes (S pyogenes), deposit layers of a protein known as collagen, which form scars. In Anna’s case her immune system over produces the collagen matrix proteins causing fibrosis. This in turn leads to narrowing of the valves passage ways, i.e., stenosis, a.k.a. insufficiency. It occurs twice as often in females than males, with the highest incidence between the ages of 5 and 15; incidence is a rarity under age 5 and over age 25.
As indicated, S. pyogenes has a very sinister mode of operation. It is referred to as a beta-hemolytic bacterium. A beta-hemolytic causes a complete lysis (cell destruction by the antibody lysin). These bacteria cells secrete a toxin within the area (micro environment) in which they grow; that is, an “exotoxin”. Their exotoxin is called streptolysin. Streptolysin is what causes the red rash in scarlet fever. This toxic enzymatic protein binds to red cells causing complete lysis of the cells. Bear in mind that it’s our red cells that carry oxygen, via hemoglobin, from which we breathe.
As to the bacterium’s cell wall, its’ outer membrane has a chemical structure that mimics host connective tissue (epithelial cells). In other words, chemically, it bears a structural resemblance to that of your body’s cell walls. This cellular covering is known as epithelial tissue. Because of this mimicry it is not attacked as an invader by the immune system soldiers, such as macrophages and neutrophils. Thus, it escapes being eaten up (phagocytosis) by these Pac Men (phagocytes) like defenders of the immune system that would engulf and digest them. However, B lymphocytes and released antibodies, carried in the blood’s plasma, can and do attack it, as briefly described foregoing.
Since it’s able to invade our epithelial cell wall tissue it escapes being killed off by penicillin, which does not effectively enter epithelial cell walls. As far as I know, penicillin may be used preventively, but not at this stage. As an historical matter of fact, penicillin wasn’t readily available at the time of Anna’s suffering. Unfortunately, Anna’s bacterial infection and suffering from S. pyogenes was literally at the end of the pre-antibiotic tract in the medical timeline – most untimely. As a side note, the better fitting term would be antibacterials, rather than the broader term antibiotics.
It was by happenstance that in 1928, Alexander Fleming, a Scottish scientist at London’s St. Mary’s hospital, observed mold that took to growing on a Petri dish was consuming the Staphylococcus aureus (S aureus) bacteria the dish was holding. It was Penicillium mold; thus, the origin of the name penicillin. His finding underwent refinement over the next score of years. Even during that time, it was realized that it could fight various infections, as well as pneumonia, when it was used in 1941, during World War II.
It became widely available during the late 1940s, once drug companies commercialized it. Thank God for capitalism. This was essentially the impetus for large drug companies’ research for other antimicrobials. Then expansion of microbiology leading to monoclonal antibodies, kinase inhibitors, nanomolecules and other like advances, without which I would not be here writing this memorial. For his finding and refinements, Fleming was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.
ANNA’S FINAL DAYS OF HER VISIT & RETURN TO HEAVEN
So, with that broad understanding in place, let’s get back to Anna – unfortunately the final days of her short life. Anna was admitted to Bellevue Hospital, at 26th Street and 1st Avenue, in Manhattan on Thursday the 24th of May, 1934. This is where her mom’s brother-in-law, Thomas Cullen, was rushed to, nearly 50 years earlier (11/25/1884), for a fatal head injury from a fall. As noted within his memorial (no. 129443478), Bellevue had established a pathology and bacteriology lab during the year of his death. So, this was certainly the place to go for her deadly malady. It is still the premier infectious disease center for the greater Manhattan metropolitan area.
You can imagine her frail body, breaking down from within, with each breath less than the other. Her helplessness. She was just 12 years old. Sweetness. Their little girl and sister. The hopelessness for a full remedy. Suffering and Despair.
For the next few and a half weeks, Anna was under the care of Dr. William A. Brick, who was in residence, up until the time of her death at 10:30 P.M. on Sunday the 17th of June 1934. Oh, the helpless severe suffering she must have experienced. She was now at eternal blissful rest. Anna was interred at Calvary Cemetery on Wednesday of that week, June 20th, 1934. The undertaking services were provided by Edward D. Lynch, at this time his funeral parlor was located at 46-09 48th Avenue, Woodside. Our father was friends with his son, Edward II and our brothers Jimmy and Larry and myself knew Eddie (III) from St. Teresa’s, our church and elementary school, when we were kids, before the passing of our parents.
She was laid to eternal rest with Frank J. Cullen, her mom’ first husband and brother of the aforementioned Thomas. Frank J. had passed on some 36 years before causal to an infectious disease (Spanish flu leading to a fatal lobar pneumonia), more than three times her young age of 12.
As mentioned earlier, I recall our Uncle Eugene making mention of Anna from time to time – he turned 12 that July 13th after her death. I’ve seen death through the eyes of a 12-year-old also, as I write this, I clearly recall memories. Also, that July 17th, one month after Anna’s passing, our Uncle Johnny turned 14. Our father and his sister, our aunt Mae, were just becoming young adults, our aunt Joan was still a toddler with her third birthday coming up in 17 days.
Our cousin Matthew recounts that when Tom Corrigan passed on from a fatal heart attack, the small, white coffin holding Anna’s remains, had to first be lifted, in order to place Tom’s casket and then Anna’s coffin. It’s best to spare words and let this incident speak for itself. To make use of a Latin term used in law, Res Ipsa Loquitor.
Requiescat in pace.
N.B.: There is a tie-in with the human leukocyte antigen DR cell surface receptor (HLA-DR), encoded by the petite arm of chromosome 6 at 21.31, with rheumatic fever and a familial risk with rheumatic heart disease.
Beloved sister of Mae (Mary) C. Cullen Napoleon, Jas. Edwd. and Frank Jos. Cullen Jr., John J. and Eugene L. McElroy and Joan Corrigan Walker.
It’s often said of people who have lived into their late fifties, early and mid-sixties that “at least they had a full life”. While Anna’s visit here on earth was around a dozen years, returning to heaven in less than 13 years, she did have a full life during those years.
Anna’s sister Mae was about 8 years older. What a joy this must have been, a baby sister when your 8, a walking 2 year old sister when you’re 10, a 3 year old sister scooting around talking with you, a 6 year old young girl looking up at her big 14 year old sister, a 16 year old sister to chit-chat when you’re 8, and when you’re 10, a glamorous 18 year-old young adult sister explaining things to you and that you see as everything in your eyes and she, in turn, sees you as everything in her eyes.
On top of all of that she had big brothers who she could look up to and they providing a certain comforting, reassuring look and a sense of protection to her. One can only imagine how she saw her oldest brother Sonny who was always close with Mae, each about a year apart. Her next oldest brother Frankie, almost exactly half way in age difference between her and Mae and Sonny. If that wasn’t a special world for her, she had her brother Johnny, just older by about 2 years, and her brother Eugene, just younger by 2 years, making her “the pickle in the middle”. And, for the last few years of her tender life, she had a baby sister Joan, she being older by about the same amount of years as her oldest sister Mae was to her, something she experienced both ways in her short, but full life.
The writer of this memorial knows firsthand that when Anna came up a few times in conversation, it had always saddened his Uncle Eugene. The writer’s father would make mention of her several times but never went into detail. Perhaps sibling feelings for and with Anna is best conveyed with what our oldest first paternal cousin Matthew Napoleon passed on about how his mom, our aunt Mae, would recount to him how her and Anna always sung the song My Buddy.
Let’s go back to the time of Anna’s arrival in the early 1920s. After the ending of World War I (WW I) in November of 1918 and the ending of the decade in 1919, the world entered the 1920s. Overall, a time captured in visual arts and architecture with Art Deco that permeated every fabric of life – fashion, buildings (like NY’s Chrysler Building), appliances, et cetera, that still can be seen. There was the use of electric replacing gas lighting continuing at a rapid pace. It was also a time of post bellum memories of those loved and lost during the decade just past and, at the same time, a look to the future with general optimism and exuberance hoped to be experienced during the new decade of the 1920s. It’s analogous to going through a tunnel, a decade long, of the darkness of war and exiting it into a bright, new modern period full of sunshine promises.
It was a time of women’s rights with the suffrage movement attaining the right to vote and more social openness for women as epitomized by the flappers, dancing the Charleston, snappy jazz, emergence of big bands; a general time of prosperity and hope after the dark war years and grieving the dear lives lost within the previous decade. It was a new social frontier. In large part it carried on in secreted night clubs, behind the walls of prohibition, which began at the decade’s start and continued three years beyond. It was the decade of daredevils going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, escape feats and death of Harry Houdini (born Erik Weisz), female aeronautic daredevils, great circus shows, vaudeville was in its last full decade, being displaced with movies theaters, both co-existing for the decade, it was a time of a new frontier. New York continued being a melting pot, pulling in millions with the magnetic aspirational attraction of pursuing prosperity and happiness. What a decade to be alive!
In their own right, songs are narrative oral history, audio depictions of their times arranged to music. Comparable to the way oral histories have been passed down through the centuries of every culture. While there were many great songs and tunes throughout the 1920s that would come and go, like rising tides that ebb, there is one song that stood out for the most part throughout the 1920s that conveyed the genuine heart-felt sentiment behind all of the gaiety of the times. That song is My Buddy - - a tune that was popular throughout nearly every year of the 1920s. The lyrics were written by Gus Kahn in 1922 with the original music score by Walter Donaldson. The sheet music had a picture of Al Jolson on its cover and an introduction by him, but I don’t believe that he ever recorded the song. It was, however, recorded by various major radio broadcast voices of the time with its popularity continuing into the mid-1920s. The tune expressed a sentiment felt through experience, as well as, an understanding of the expressed sentiment, if not experienced. It was a song of a heart’s feeling for another, when hearts are close. A song about close buddies, kindred spirits, loved ones, that have now parted.
The feelings expressed by the song were brought to life with the August 12, 1927 release of the silent movie Wings, a twist of fate romantic, yet full of authentic action, World War I story that stared the Queen of Movies at the time Clara Bow as the “girl next door”, with 1920s-1930s “America’s Boyfriend”, Charles Edward “Buddy” Rogers and Richard Arlen, where both compete for the pretty girl (Jobyna Ralston), train as aviators, go off to war and through their trials and tribulations transition from competitors to close brothers, they are parted by the tragic, ironic, passing of the other Buddy (I don’t want to reveal the full account here, in case someone is motivated to see it.) The script was written by John Monk Saunders, a WW I aviator, specifically for Clara Bow. Gary Cooper, at the early start of his movie career was also featured in a short appearance that does add to setting of the movies’ direction.
Although being made for decades, the movie industry was still taking off, with ever new technological innovations leading the way and a growing population with a strong increasing demand. This was the peak of silent, black & white movies. It was the time of when mastering facial expressions was a true talent and art form, of which there were none better than Clara Bow and her tom-boy like charisma. I’m of the opinion that many a flapper copied the makeup of her facial looks. In 1927, on May 11, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was founded. In 1929, at the first AMPAS Award Ceremony, Wings was the first movie to be awarded Best Motion Picture for 1927 (awards were also made for 1928) and the only silent movie to have done so. There were a number of firsts accredited to the movie and it’s worth checking into. So, the movie Wings perpetuated the song My Buddy, into the latter half of the decade.
Here are some of the song’s lyrics – a more complete ordering of the lyrics – different from the original ordering is included among the “Photos” category of this memorial.
I put the chorus first – the same melody and lyrics that repeat, which when read with thought, conveys the sentiments expressed:
Nights are long since you went away,
I think about you all through the day,
My buddy, my buddy,
No buddy quite so true.
Miss your voice, the touch of your hand,
Just long to know that you understand,
My buddy, my buddy,
Your buddy misses you
And then after the above chorus, the lyrics
Life is a book that we study,
Some of its leaves bring a sigh,
There it was written, my buddy,
That we must part, you and I.
Then a repeat of the 8 lines of chorus above followed by
Buddies through all the gay days,
Buddies when something went wrong;
I wait alone through the gray days,
Missing your smile and your song.
Then another repeat of the chorus
In his version of the song, Bing Crosby ended with
Yes, I do
Doris Day did a nice version that consisted of just the chorus lyrics.
As related by our cousin Matthew, his mom, our aunt Mae, along with Anna, would sing this song together, as it captured, in part, that special bond they had between each other. He told me each and every time she would tear up. Dwell on that feeling for a moment. It’s more than fair to say that all of Anna’s brothers, and her baby sister Joan, all felt the same depth of feeling.
Yes, while Anna passed on before her teen years, she did have a full life – a life of sincere, heartfelt love – to a degree that many will never experience through a much longer life. And now, whenever you read those lyrics and know that very special heart felt loving sentiment, those moments will then live on through you. If that in itself gives you a momentary, special, unique feeling - - then that’s the Spirit of Anna.
ABOUT ANNA’S AILMENTS
Before reaching her teen years Anna passed on from chronic rheumatic heart disease. Specifically, she passed away from valvulitis, which is an inflammation and scaring of the heart’s mitral, aortic and tricuspid valves. This all occurs (sequelae) from a streptococcus bacterium infection.
Apparently, Anna had an inflamed throat (pharyngitis), which is common in the colder months of the year. As it turned out she had a bacterial rather than a viral infection. She was actually infected by the bacterium A Streptococcus (group A streptococci – “GAS”); hence “strep throat”. Similar to colds and flus, this bacterium generally presents during the cooler, damp weather of the winter and spring months most frequently in northern states. It may have appeared that Anna was overcoming it, as do about ≈99.7% of cases.
However, it’s likely that Anna had a weakened immune system as it became rheumatic fever that, in turn, lead to rheumatic heart disease. Rheumatic fever can run the gamut from mild to severe, for Anna the latter was to be the case.
Rheumatic fever’s onset occurs rather suddenly. In addition to the more commonly known red rash, the body’s immune system can tend to start attacking itself (autoimmune condition). This is because the bacteria’s structure resembles that of the body’s tissue (refer to “bacterium cell wall” below). Thus, antibodies flowing through the blood’s plasma begin to recognize its’ own tissue as the invading antigen and attacks it. The bone marrow keeps pumping out increasing numbers of lymphocytes (antibodies), some of which free specific antibodies into the plasma.
Among various attack sites, these antibodies go to the joints (arms, fingers, wrists, knees, etc.), which leads to pain and inflammation accompanied with jerky movements. To this condition, I recall hearing several times as a young child the term “St. Vitas’ dance”, although I don’t readily have a relational link in my mind’s memory bank. I do recall that we would mimic it – maybe I was around 8 or 9 years of age. I now wonder if it was in parlance at that place in time because Anna may well have suffered from it during her health battles and it was about 25 years after her passing. These jerky motions causal to rheumatic fever is now known as chorea.
Some of these B lymphocyte antibodies have a protein on their membrane surface that attack the invading microorganism, bringing and presenting them to T Helper cells, who then signal for the production and deployment of more antibody troops. These cell surface receptor proteins, known as Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLAs), which are programmed (encoded) for their dedicated sole roles, are classed as a Type II MHC (major histocompatibility complex). Sometimes the HLAs are inside the cell; these are MHC Type I. Type II MHCs are broken down into certain types: DP, DM, DOA, DOB, DQ, and DR. I mention this just not because of the role they played in Anna’s sufferings but also because you need a match of HLA-DRs for any transplant to be successful. We get various combinations from each of our parents and they can be the same and or vary among siblings. So, beware of the beast of the night.
The bacteria also do their sinister work at the heart, leading to rheumatic heart disease. The way I understand it, in short, is that fibroblasts of Anna’s immune system, in response to fending infection with the beta-hemolytic bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes (S pyogenes), deposit layers of a protein known as collagen, which form scars. In Anna’s case her immune system over produces the collagen matrix proteins causing fibrosis. This in turn leads to narrowing of the valves passage ways, i.e., stenosis, a.k.a. insufficiency. It occurs twice as often in females than males, with the highest incidence between the ages of 5 and 15; incidence is a rarity under age 5 and over age 25.
As indicated, S. pyogenes has a very sinister mode of operation. It is referred to as a beta-hemolytic bacterium. A beta-hemolytic causes a complete lysis (cell destruction by the antibody lysin). These bacteria cells secrete a toxin within the area (micro environment) in which they grow; that is, an “exotoxin”. Their exotoxin is called streptolysin. Streptolysin is what causes the red rash in scarlet fever. This toxic enzymatic protein binds to red cells causing complete lysis of the cells. Bear in mind that it’s our red cells that carry oxygen, via hemoglobin, from which we breathe.
As to the bacterium’s cell wall, its’ outer membrane has a chemical structure that mimics host connective tissue (epithelial cells). In other words, chemically, it bears a structural resemblance to that of your body’s cell walls. This cellular covering is known as epithelial tissue. Because of this mimicry it is not attacked as an invader by the immune system soldiers, such as macrophages and neutrophils. Thus, it escapes being eaten up (phagocytosis) by these Pac Men (phagocytes) like defenders of the immune system that would engulf and digest them. However, B lymphocytes and released antibodies, carried in the blood’s plasma, can and do attack it, as briefly described foregoing.
Since it’s able to invade our epithelial cell wall tissue it escapes being killed off by penicillin, which does not effectively enter epithelial cell walls. As far as I know, penicillin may be used preventively, but not at this stage. As an historical matter of fact, penicillin wasn’t readily available at the time of Anna’s suffering. Unfortunately, Anna’s bacterial infection and suffering from S. pyogenes was literally at the end of the pre-antibiotic tract in the medical timeline – most untimely. As a side note, the better fitting term would be antibacterials, rather than the broader term antibiotics.
It was by happenstance that in 1928, Alexander Fleming, a Scottish scientist at London’s St. Mary’s hospital, observed mold that took to growing on a Petri dish was consuming the Staphylococcus aureus (S aureus) bacteria the dish was holding. It was Penicillium mold; thus, the origin of the name penicillin. His finding underwent refinement over the next score of years. Even during that time, it was realized that it could fight various infections, as well as pneumonia, when it was used in 1941, during World War II.
It became widely available during the late 1940s, once drug companies commercialized it. Thank God for capitalism. This was essentially the impetus for large drug companies’ research for other antimicrobials. Then expansion of microbiology leading to monoclonal antibodies, kinase inhibitors, nanomolecules and other like advances, without which I would not be here writing this memorial. For his finding and refinements, Fleming was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.
ANNA’S FINAL DAYS OF HER VISIT & RETURN TO HEAVEN
So, with that broad understanding in place, let’s get back to Anna – unfortunately the final days of her short life. Anna was admitted to Bellevue Hospital, at 26th Street and 1st Avenue, in Manhattan on Thursday the 24th of May, 1934. This is where her mom’s brother-in-law, Thomas Cullen, was rushed to, nearly 50 years earlier (11/25/1884), for a fatal head injury from a fall. As noted within his memorial (no. 129443478), Bellevue had established a pathology and bacteriology lab during the year of his death. So, this was certainly the place to go for her deadly malady. It is still the premier infectious disease center for the greater Manhattan metropolitan area.
You can imagine her frail body, breaking down from within, with each breath less than the other. Her helplessness. She was just 12 years old. Sweetness. Their little girl and sister. The hopelessness for a full remedy. Suffering and Despair.
For the next few and a half weeks, Anna was under the care of Dr. William A. Brick, who was in residence, up until the time of her death at 10:30 P.M. on Sunday the 17th of June 1934. Oh, the helpless severe suffering she must have experienced. She was now at eternal blissful rest. Anna was interred at Calvary Cemetery on Wednesday of that week, June 20th, 1934. The undertaking services were provided by Edward D. Lynch, at this time his funeral parlor was located at 46-09 48th Avenue, Woodside. Our father was friends with his son, Edward II and our brothers Jimmy and Larry and myself knew Eddie (III) from St. Teresa’s, our church and elementary school, when we were kids, before the passing of our parents.
She was laid to eternal rest with Frank J. Cullen, her mom’ first husband and brother of the aforementioned Thomas. Frank J. had passed on some 36 years before causal to an infectious disease (Spanish flu leading to a fatal lobar pneumonia), more than three times her young age of 12.
As mentioned earlier, I recall our Uncle Eugene making mention of Anna from time to time – he turned 12 that July 13th after her death. I’ve seen death through the eyes of a 12-year-old also, as I write this, I clearly recall memories. Also, that July 17th, one month after Anna’s passing, our Uncle Johnny turned 14. Our father and his sister, our aunt Mae, were just becoming young adults, our aunt Joan was still a toddler with her third birthday coming up in 17 days.
Our cousin Matthew recounts that when Tom Corrigan passed on from a fatal heart attack, the small, white coffin holding Anna’s remains, had to first be lifted, in order to place Tom’s casket and then Anna’s coffin. It’s best to spare words and let this incident speak for itself. To make use of a Latin term used in law, Res Ipsa Loquitor.
Requiescat in pace.
N.B.: There is a tie-in with the human leukocyte antigen DR cell surface receptor (HLA-DR), encoded by the petite arm of chromosome 6 at 21.31, with rheumatic fever and a familial risk with rheumatic heart disease.
It’s often said of people who have lived into their late fifties, early and mid-sixties that “at least they had a full life”. While Anna’s visit here on earth was around a dozen years, returning to heaven in less than 13 years, she did have a full life during those years.
Anna’s sister Mae was about 8 years older. What a joy this must have been, a baby sister when your 8, a walking 2 year old sister when you’re 10, a 3 year old sister scooting around talking with you, a 6 year old young girl looking up at her big 14 year old sister, a 16 year old sister to chit-chat when you’re 8, and when you’re 10, a glamorous 18 year-old young adult sister explaining things to you and that you see as everything in your eyes and she, in turn, sees you as everything in her eyes.
On top of all of that she had big brothers who she could look up to and they providing a certain comforting, reassuring look and a sense of protection to her. One can only imagine how she saw her oldest brother Sonny who was always close with Mae, each about a year apart. Her next oldest brother Frankie, almost exactly half way in age difference between her and Mae and Sonny. If that wasn’t a special world for her, she had her brother Johnny, just older by about 2 years, and her brother Eugene, just younger by 2 years, making her “the pickle in the middle”. And, for the last few years of her tender life, she had a baby sister Joan, she being older by about the same amount of years as her oldest sister Mae was to her, something she experienced both ways in her short, but full life.
The writer of this memorial knows firsthand that when Anna came up a few times in conversation, it had always saddened his Uncle Eugene. The writer’s father would make mention of her several times but never went into detail. Perhaps sibling feelings for and with Anna is best conveyed with what our oldest first paternal cousin Matthew Napoleon passed on about how his mom, our aunt Mae, would recount to him how her and Anna always sung the song My Buddy.
Let’s go back to the time of Anna’s arrival in the early 1920s. After the ending of World War I (WW I) in November of 1918 and the ending of the decade in 1919, the world entered the 1920s. Overall, a time captured in visual arts and architecture with Art Deco that permeated every fabric of life – fashion, buildings (like NY’s Chrysler Building), appliances, et cetera, that still can be seen. There was the use of electric replacing gas lighting continuing at a rapid pace. It was also a time of post bellum memories of those loved and lost during the decade just past and, at the same time, a look to the future with general optimism and exuberance hoped to be experienced during the new decade of the 1920s. It’s analogous to going through a tunnel, a decade long, of the darkness of war and exiting it into a bright, new modern period full of sunshine promises.
It was a time of women’s rights with the suffrage movement attaining the right to vote and more social openness for women as epitomized by the flappers, dancing the Charleston, snappy jazz, emergence of big bands; a general time of prosperity and hope after the dark war years and grieving the dear lives lost within the previous decade. It was a new social frontier. In large part it carried on in secreted night clubs, behind the walls of prohibition, which began at the decade’s start and continued three years beyond. It was the decade of daredevils going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, escape feats and death of Harry Houdini (born Erik Weisz), female aeronautic daredevils, great circus shows, vaudeville was in its last full decade, being displaced with movies theaters, both co-existing for the decade, it was a time of a new frontier. New York continued being a melting pot, pulling in millions with the magnetic aspirational attraction of pursuing prosperity and happiness. What a decade to be alive!
In their own right, songs are narrative oral history, audio depictions of their times arranged to music. Comparable to the way oral histories have been passed down through the centuries of every culture. While there were many great songs and tunes throughout the 1920s that would come and go, like rising tides that ebb, there is one song that stood out for the most part throughout the 1920s that conveyed the genuine heart-felt sentiment behind all of the gaiety of the times. That song is My Buddy - - a tune that was popular throughout nearly every year of the 1920s. The lyrics were written by Gus Kahn in 1922 with the original music score by Walter Donaldson. The sheet music had a picture of Al Jolson on its cover and an introduction by him, but I don’t believe that he ever recorded the song. It was, however, recorded by various major radio broadcast voices of the time with its popularity continuing into the mid-1920s. The tune expressed a sentiment felt through experience, as well as, an understanding of the expressed sentiment, if not experienced. It was a song of a heart’s feeling for another, when hearts are close. A song about close buddies, kindred spirits, loved ones, that have now parted.
The feelings expressed by the song were brought to life with the August 12, 1927 release of the silent movie Wings, a twist of fate romantic, yet full of authentic action, World War I story that stared the Queen of Movies at the time Clara Bow as the “girl next door”, with 1920s-1930s “America’s Boyfriend”, Charles Edward “Buddy” Rogers and Richard Arlen, where both compete for the pretty girl (Jobyna Ralston), train as aviators, go off to war and through their trials and tribulations transition from competitors to close brothers, they are parted by the tragic, ironic, passing of the other Buddy (I don’t want to reveal the full account here, in case someone is motivated to see it.) The script was written by John Monk Saunders, a WW I aviator, specifically for Clara Bow. Gary Cooper, at the early start of his movie career was also featured in a short appearance that does add to setting of the movies’ direction.
Although being made for decades, the movie industry was still taking off, with ever new technological innovations leading the way and a growing population with a strong increasing demand. This was the peak of silent, black & white movies. It was the time of when mastering facial expressions was a true talent and art form, of which there were none better than Clara Bow and her tom-boy like charisma. I’m of the opinion that many a flapper copied the makeup of her facial looks. In 1927, on May 11, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was founded. In 1929, at the first AMPAS Award Ceremony, Wings was the first movie to be awarded Best Motion Picture for 1927 (awards were also made for 1928) and the only silent movie to have done so. There were a number of firsts accredited to the movie and it’s worth checking into. So, the movie Wings perpetuated the song My Buddy, into the latter half of the decade.
Here are some of the song’s lyrics – a more complete ordering of the lyrics – different from the original ordering is included among the “Photos” category of this memorial.
I put the chorus first – the same melody and lyrics that repeat, which when read with thought, conveys the sentiments expressed:
Nights are long since you went away,
I think about you all through the day,
My buddy, my buddy,
No buddy quite so true.
Miss your voice, the touch of your hand,
Just long to know that you understand,
My buddy, my buddy,
Your buddy misses you
And then after the above chorus, the lyrics
Life is a book that we study,
Some of its leaves bring a sigh,
There it was written, my buddy,
That we must part, you and I.
Then a repeat of the 8 lines of chorus above followed by
Buddies through all the gay days,
Buddies when something went wrong;
I wait alone through the gray days,
Missing your smile and your song.
Then another repeat of the chorus
In his version of the song, Bing Crosby ended with
Yes, I do
Doris Day did a nice version that consisted of just the chorus lyrics.
As related by our cousin Matthew, his mom, our aunt Mae, along with Anna, would sing this song together, as it captured, in part, that special bond they had between each other. He told me each and every time she would tear up. Dwell on that feeling for a moment. It’s more than fair to say that all of Anna’s brothers, and her baby sister Joan, all felt the same depth of feeling.
Yes, while Anna passed on before her teen years, she did have a full life – a life of sincere, heartfelt love – to a degree that many will never experience through a much longer life. And now, whenever you read those lyrics and know that very special heart felt loving sentiment, those moments will then live on through you. If that in itself gives you a momentary, special, unique feeling - - then that’s the Spirit of Anna.
ABOUT ANNA’S AILMENTS
Before reaching her teen years Anna passed on from chronic rheumatic heart disease. Specifically, she passed away from valvulitis, which is an inflammation and scaring of the heart’s mitral, aortic and tricuspid valves. This all occurs (sequelae) from a streptococcus bacterium infection.
Apparently, Anna had an inflamed throat (pharyngitis), which is common in the colder months of the year. As it turned out she had a bacterial rather than a viral infection. She was actually infected by the bacterium A Streptococcus (group A streptococci – “GAS”); hence “strep throat”. Similar to colds and flus, this bacterium generally presents during the cooler, damp weather of the winter and spring months most frequently in northern states. It may have appeared that Anna was overcoming it, as do about ≈99.7% of cases.
However, it’s likely that Anna had a weakened immune system as it became rheumatic fever that, in turn, lead to rheumatic heart disease. Rheumatic fever can run the gamut from mild to severe, for Anna the latter was to be the case.
Rheumatic fever’s onset occurs rather suddenly. In addition to the more commonly known red rash, the body’s immune system can tend to start attacking itself (autoimmune condition). This is because the bacteria’s structure resembles that of the body’s tissue (refer to “bacterium cell wall” below). Thus, antibodies flowing through the blood’s plasma begin to recognize its’ own tissue as the invading antigen and attacks it. The bone marrow keeps pumping out increasing numbers of lymphocytes (antibodies), some of which free specific antibodies into the plasma.
Among various attack sites, these antibodies go to the joints (arms, fingers, wrists, knees, etc.), which leads to pain and inflammation accompanied with jerky movements. To this condition, I recall hearing several times as a young child the term “St. Vitas’ dance”, although I don’t readily have a relational link in my mind’s memory bank. I do recall that we would mimic it – maybe I was around 8 or 9 years of age. I now wonder if it was in parlance at that place in time because Anna may well have suffered from it during her health battles and it was about 25 years after her passing. These jerky motions causal to rheumatic fever is now known as chorea.
Some of these B lymphocyte antibodies have a protein on their membrane surface that attack the invading microorganism, bringing and presenting them to T Helper cells, who then signal for the production and deployment of more antibody troops. These cell surface receptor proteins, known as Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLAs), which are programmed (encoded) for their dedicated sole roles, are classed as a Type II MHC (major histocompatibility complex). Sometimes the HLAs are inside the cell; these are MHC Type I. Type II MHCs are broken down into certain types: DP, DM, DOA, DOB, DQ, and DR. I mention this just not because of the role they played in Anna’s sufferings but also because you need a match of HLA-DRs for any transplant to be successful. We get various combinations from each of our parents and they can be the same and or vary among siblings. So, beware of the beast of the night.
The bacteria also do their sinister work at the heart, leading to rheumatic heart disease. The way I understand it, in short, is that fibroblasts of Anna’s immune system, in response to fending infection with the beta-hemolytic bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes (S pyogenes), deposit layers of a protein known as collagen, which form scars. In Anna’s case her immune system over produces the collagen matrix proteins causing fibrosis. This in turn leads to narrowing of the valves passage ways, i.e., stenosis, a.k.a. insufficiency. It occurs twice as often in females than males, with the highest incidence between the ages of 5 and 15; incidence is a rarity under age 5 and over age 25.
As indicated, S. pyogenes has a very sinister mode of operation. It is referred to as a beta-hemolytic bacterium. A beta-hemolytic causes a complete lysis (cell destruction by the antibody lysin). These bacteria cells secrete a toxin within the area (micro environment) in which they grow; that is, an “exotoxin”. Their exotoxin is called streptolysin. Streptolysin is what causes the red rash in scarlet fever. This toxic enzymatic protein binds to red cells causing complete lysis of the cells. Bear in mind that it’s our red cells that carry oxygen, via hemoglobin, from which we breathe.
As to the bacterium’s cell wall, its’ outer membrane has a chemical structure that mimics host connective tissue (epithelial cells). In other words, chemically, it bears a structural resemblance to that of your body’s cell walls. This cellular covering is known as epithelial tissue. Because of this mimicry it is not attacked as an invader by the immune system soldiers, such as macrophages and neutrophils. Thus, it escapes being eaten up (phagocytosis) by these Pac Men (phagocytes) like defenders of the immune system that would engulf and digest them. However, B lymphocytes and released antibodies, carried in the blood’s plasma, can and do attack it, as briefly described foregoing.
Since it’s able to invade our epithelial cell wall tissue it escapes being killed off by penicillin, which does not effectively enter epithelial cell walls. As far as I know, penicillin may be used preventively, but not at this stage. As an historical matter of fact, penicillin wasn’t readily available at the time of Anna’s suffering. Unfortunately, Anna’s bacterial infection and suffering from S. pyogenes was literally at the end of the pre-antibiotic tract in the medical timeline – most untimely. As a side note, the better fitting term would be antibacterials, rather than the broader term antibiotics.
It was by happenstance that in 1928, Alexander Fleming, a Scottish scientist at London’s St. Mary’s hospital, observed mold that took to growing on a Petri dish was consuming the Staphylococcus aureus (S aureus) bacteria the dish was holding. It was Penicillium mold; thus, the origin of the name penicillin. His finding underwent refinement over the next score of years. Even during that time, it was realized that it could fight various infections, as well as pneumonia, when it was used in 1941, during World War II.
It became widely available during the late 1940s, once drug companies commercialized it. Thank God for capitalism. This was essentially the impetus for large drug companies’ research for other antimicrobials. Then expansion of microbiology leading to monoclonal antibodies, kinase inhibitors, nanomolecules and other like advances, without which I would not be here writing this memorial. For his finding and refinements, Fleming was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.
ANNA’S FINAL DAYS OF HER VISIT & RETURN TO HEAVEN
So, with that broad understanding in place, let’s get back to Anna – unfortunately the final days of her short life. Anna was admitted to Bellevue Hospital, at 26th Street and 1st Avenue, in Manhattan on Thursday the 24th of May, 1934. This is where her mom’s brother-in-law, Thomas Cullen, was rushed to, nearly 50 years earlier (11/25/1884), for a fatal head injury from a fall. As noted within his memorial (no. 129443478), Bellevue had established a pathology and bacteriology lab during the year of his death. So, this was certainly the place to go for her deadly malady. It is still the premier infectious disease center for the greater Manhattan metropolitan area.
You can imagine her frail body, breaking down from within, with each breath less than the other. Her helplessness. She was just 12 years old. Sweetness. Their little girl and sister. The hopelessness for a full remedy. Suffering and Despair.
For the next few and a half weeks, Anna was under the care of Dr. William A. Brick, who was in residence, up until the time of her death at 10:30 P.M. on Sunday the 17th of June 1934. Oh, the helpless severe suffering she must have experienced. She was now at eternal blissful rest. Anna was interred at Calvary Cemetery on Wednesday of that week, June 20th, 1934. The undertaking services were provided by Edward D. Lynch, at this time his funeral parlor was located at 46-09 48th Avenue, Woodside. Our father was friends with his son, Edward II and our brothers Jimmy and Larry and myself knew Eddie (III) from St. Teresa’s, our church and elementary school, when we were kids, before the passing of our parents.
She was laid to eternal rest with Frank J. Cullen, her mom’ first husband and brother of the aforementioned Thomas. Frank J. had passed on some 36 years before causal to an infectious disease (Spanish flu leading to a fatal lobar pneumonia), more than three times her young age of 12.
As mentioned earlier, I recall our Uncle Eugene making mention of Anna from time to time – he turned 12 that July 13th after her death. I’ve seen death through the eyes of a 12-year-old also, as I write this, I clearly recall memories. Also, that July 17th, one month after Anna’s passing, our Uncle Johnny turned 14. Our father and his sister, our aunt Mae, were just becoming young adults, our aunt Joan was still a toddler with her third birthday coming up in 17 days.
Our cousin Matthew recounts that when Tom Corrigan passed on from a fatal heart attack, the small, white coffin holding Anna’s remains, had to first be lifted, in order to place Tom’s casket and then Anna’s coffin. It’s best to spare words and let this incident speak for itself. To make use of a Latin term used in law, Res Ipsa Loquitor.
Requiescat in pace.
N.B.: There is a tie-in with the human leukocyte antigen DR cell surface receptor (HLA-DR), encoded by the petite arm of chromosome 6 at 21.31, with rheumatic fever and a familial risk with rheumatic heart disease.
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