Doris Pratt

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It's hard to look back and understand and have empathy for the way our parents lived their lives. True empathy seems to come with age.  We haven't had the experiences and trials they had. Today I look at them in old photos with love and see their emotions written on their faces, from young to old.

   My Pratt family line at the turn of the twentieth century was in some form of service. Lucy Cox Pratt's family in England was "in service" (as in PBS's "Downton Abbey"). Her father, brothers and others served at Aldenham Hall in Bridgnorth, near Morville, in Shropshire. And I have old pictures of them in their various livery uniforms. Grandma Lucy's father was the gardener at Aldenham for over fifty years.

    Lucy carried on this tradition of service through her sons in America:  insurance, finance, accounting, business and in service to a Park Avenue family. By today's standards, they lived short lives, the longest was 65. All four brothers lived through Prohibition, the Great Depression, and two World Wars, so it's no wonder that alcohol was an important coping choice. I have no doubt that this contributed to their life spans. I was only 10 when my Dad passed away. 

   

    My Mom Lillian Tancy was a child of the Depression too, and grew up in Pittsburgh in poverty. She followed her brother Fred to New York for a new start. When she met Alfred Pratt during World War II at a New York electronics corporation doing "war work," I'm sure it was love at first sight. They eloped in 1946 and first my sister Carol was born, then me shortly thereafter.

   

 

 

    You may be wondering why I've devoted so little space to the women in my family. When information was available, I've tried to include it.

    I'll be writing more "Being Pratt" parts in the future, including about my cousin Millie the Rockette, and my Mom, Lillian Tancy Pratt. I hope you've enjoyed the story of my ancestors. Please keep checking back for new family pages in 'Being Pratt.'

 

 

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