This is my Aunt Patricia, my mom's younger sister. Patricia Jean Morris was born in the old city of South Norfolk to Elsie Odell Byrd Morris and Haywood Carroll Morris. She was the only biological child of my grandfather, and he never got to see her because he was overseas during that time serving in the Army in World War II. Patricia died at the tender age of two weeks from a respiratory illness, possibly flu. My mom and her older sister Ruth were visiting with one of Grandmama's sisters in northeastern North Carolina when their little sister was born, and she lived such a short time that they never got a chance to meet her. No photos exist of her--the only person in my family who ever saw her was her mother, my grandmother. With her two older children staying with a sister and her husband serving overseas, my grandmother had noone to help or comfort her when her little girl became ill, and she was forced to endure alone the seemingly unendurable pain of watching her youngest child die and then seeing to her burial arrangements. Patricia was buried in an unmarked grave in the children's section of the Old South Norfolk Cemetery, now named Riverside Memorial Park; in 1988 she finally got a headstone when her siblings, nieces and nephews pitched in together to get her one. Having a grave stone finally allowed my grandparents to address the grief they had held inside for over 4 decades, and from then on they regularly visited Patricia's grave and lovingly tended it until both went Home to be with the Lord. Mother and daughter were finally reunited in heaven in 1993, and my grandfather finally met his little girl in person in heaven in 2004. I look forward to the blessed day when I too will finally get to meet my Aunt Patricia!!
This is my Aunt Patricia, my mom's younger sister. Patricia Jean Morris was born in the old city of South Norfolk to Elsie Odell Byrd Morris and Haywood Carroll Morris. She was the only biological child of my grandfather, and he never got to see her because he was overseas during that time serving in the Army in World War II. Patricia died at the tender age of two weeks from a respiratory illness, possibly flu. My mom and her older sister Ruth were visiting with one of Grandmama's sisters in northeastern North Carolina when their little sister was born, and she lived such a short time that they never got a chance to meet her. No photos exist of her--the only person in my family who ever saw her was her mother, my grandmother. With her two older children staying with a sister and her husband serving overseas, my grandmother had noone to help or comfort her when her little girl became ill, and she was forced to endure alone the seemingly unendurable pain of watching her youngest child die and then seeing to her burial arrangements. Patricia was buried in an unmarked grave in the children's section of the Old South Norfolk Cemetery, now named Riverside Memorial Park; in 1988 she finally got a headstone when her siblings, nieces and nephews pitched in together to get her one. Having a grave stone finally allowed my grandparents to address the grief they had held inside for over 4 decades, and from then on they regularly visited Patricia's grave and lovingly tended it until both went Home to be with the Lord. Mother and daughter were finally reunited in heaven in 1993, and my grandfather finally met his little girl in person in heaven in 2004. I look forward to the blessed day when I too will finally get to meet my Aunt Patricia!!
