Just Another Story. More About My Mother's Childhood

Page 29.
     My mother lived in an orphanage during her entire childhood. She knew she had a very large family and that nobody wanted her. Her many relatives lived in various phases of financial comfort; meaning: some struggled and some didn't. The family was spread around the country, but most were in and around Youngstown, Ohio, the Hungarian immigrant family's American home. Many years after Jane's death, some family members would claim that nobody took her in because they knew that she was well-taken care of at Bellefaire, Cleveland's Jewish Orphans Home. They claimed that the family didn't have enough money to take care of an extra child as these were the depression days. Only problem with that theory was she was nearly 11 when the Depression began and, as already stated, there were some wealthy family members who could easily have taken in another young mouth.
     There's little doubt in my mind that nobody took her in because of the shame and embarrassment her illegitimacy brought. Also, I believe her personality disorders already began showing their fangs when she was a young child. People simply didn't want to be around her, even her family. That would never, ever change.
     Of her 8 aunts and uncles, only 3 was she very friendly with. Coincidentally, or not, they were all single. Aunt Ida and Uncle Joe lived together their entire lives. And Uncle Lou was gay, though at the time, pre-1970's, that was a secret. There were a couple of other aunts and uncles whom she kept in touch with. But the rest...well very little or no communication that I know of. She had equally erratic relationships with her numerous cousins.