TJ Cherry
The Story of Me…
Introduction
I started on January 6, 1953, born to Janet, a young mother at the age of sixteen and a young father, Bud himself was just seventeen. Oh, I was not the first born either, my sister Pam was born one year and 9 days earlier on December 28, 1951. By the time I turned 12 years old I started to realize what a terribly dysfunctional family I had been born into. I am not suggesting any of my relatives were not spiritual, highly respected, individuals, it is not my place to judge. In my latter year as a young adult, I began to realize how strange it was for all the male relatives before me had just disappeared.
Episode 1 – Dysfunctional Family Chain
As far back as I can remember my father was gone so I never really knew I even had a father and except for a few occasions I never saw him either, at least not until I was a middle-aged adult. You can imagine, two-year-old’s know nothing except whatever they experience.
My experience started with my mother and included three generations of my dysfunctional family tree starting with Stella and Joseph Weber. Stella and Joseph be got Pauline Weber. Pauline and John Podgurski be got Cletus Janet Podgurski. As stated earlier, Janet is my mother, she also has 7 other children for a grand total of 8 counting me. This may sound uneventful, but it is anything but.
My Great Grandparents Beginning
The story begins with Great Grandmother Stella. Stella was married, or at least I assume she was married, to a full blooded Cherokee Indian Joseph Weber. Joseph Weber was born on an Indian tribe sometime in the late 1800’s. Joseph’s family had been relocated during the Trail of Tears and were blessed to have survived the ordeal. Joseph was born after the relocation which was described as Indian Territory back then.
To avoid the misery of life living on Indian Territory, as told by my Great Grandmother, Joseph cut his hair, put on standard clothing of the American settlers and began fitting in with them evidently, he also spoke English well. Stella told us that he had a light complexion which also helped hide his real identity.
After Stella gave birth to a baby girl, my grandmother Pauline Weber, Joseph Webber vanished from the face of the earth never to be seen or heard from again. The name Weber had no real family significates because Joseph just pulled his name out of nowhere to conceal his real Indian heritage. As to the best of my knowledge Joseph’s real Indian name was never known by the family. I never knew Joseph, I never even knew of him until I was an adult, the stories about him were told to me by Stella, Pauline, and Janet.
My great grandpa Clemens, the one I knew, was a big burly fellow who farmed most of his life until the big farm corporation put the small farmers out of business. I remember going to the farm and watching him work. He’d plow the fields with his tractor and even let me drive it at an early age.
One day I noticed his hand, one of his fingers was deformed, I did not say anything for some time. His pointing finger on his left hand was a little different, sort of bent down and going around toward the palm of his hand. When I got up enough nerve, I asked him what happened to his finger. Gramps told me a ‘cow bit it’. At that a busted a gut, could not stop laughing. To this day I do not know if he was pulling my leg, or if he really did get bitten by a cow. After losing the farm Henry took a job at the coal mines in Granite City, Illinois. Granite City is a short ride from the St. Louis riverfront.
The Awkward Arrangement of my Grandparents
Pauline Weber was married to John Podgorski. After the birth of my mother Cletus John also vanished never to be heard from again until just before his passing. I never met John or even knew he existed either until he placed an ad in the local newspaper, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, trying to locate his only daughter. As it turned out he wanted to see his daughter before he passed away. John was diagnosed with a heart problem and knew his clock was ticking.
To the best of my childhood knowledge, my grandmother, Pauline was married to who I thought was my real Grandfather Paul Gilbert so as a youngster I knew her to be Grandma Gilbert. At least until they were divorced. It turned out that in the years to come Grandpa Gilbert would pass away. I might mention Grandpa Gilbert lived with us in our apartment in the city of St. Louis when he became ill and passed in our home.
Grandma Gilbert remarried to a gentleman named Paul Helms who became Uncle Paul to me.
