Vivien

This is my cousin, Vivien.

She was in "show business."

"Show business" was a profession that

was more or less frowned upon when I was growing up.

[at least in our house!]

I regret that I never had a chance to meet Vivien.

She was a concert pianist.

She was a dancer.

She performed in vaudeville with her husband.
Vivien was  talented and beautiful.

Oh, I'm sure in many ways Vivien's life was glamorous.

But she experienced heartaches, struggles, and demons

just like we "non-glamorous" people do.

She was a Mom to two sons.

Her son, Bennett, drowned when he was only seven.
How does a mother ever get over something like that?
Her other son, Marshall, lives in Florida.

Her first husband, who acted in vaudeville with her,

was schizophrenic.

How do you deal with that?

Men were attracted to her beauty.

Some of those men were with the "mob."
Seems like that would make for a difficult,
possibly dangerous relationship,
but I am just surmising.

The relationship between Vivien and her sister

was questionable.

I don't know much, except what was told to me

by her sister, who was apparently a little envious,

and a tad judgmental.

 

Vivien's father was killed in a auto accident,

and over the years, I get the impression that her

relationship with her mother

was strained. 

I am certain Vivian loved her sons.

 I  believe she was a good mother,

but I don't think she was

an "apple pie" sort of mom.

[But I don't know this -

perhaps her son will set me straight!]

 

Because she is related to me on my Dad's side,

I wonder if she was outspoken, ambitious,

independent or headstrong (stubborn)

 like so many of her Melby relatives.

The final struggle of her life was when she

was diagnosed with a brain tumor

which caused her death at the age of 56.

Was her life really as glamorous as
what we, on the outside, perceive?
I would like to think that she really wasn't
that different from any of us.
After coming home from work,
she had her family to care for -  her house needed cleaning,
she had errands to run, groceries to buy.
Just like the rest of us.

Vivien may have had many difficulties,

but I hope she was a happy person.
I hope that with the struggles she did have,

there were people around her with compassion.