Carolyn

A depression-era family deals with more than poverty.

Carolyn.  Well, actually, that's the name she was given.  Then they took it away from her later on so that I DON'T KNOW what it is now. 

 

When that train full of soldiers broke down outside of Odessa, Missouri, in 1944 or 1945, Rudolf Kuschell was an American soldier.  I think the train was heading east, but I can't say for sure. 

 

First, let me speak a little about the Erwin sisters - Laura Bell, Ruby Christine and Nora Dean.  Back in those days in those parts, people had two names and used them.  I don't understand that part, either. 

 

Living in rural poverty is never easy.  However, it's harder still when everyone else around you is better off.  That's how it was with the Erwin sisters. 

 

Murray Erwin, their father, was a second or third generation descendent of Ukrainian Jewish farmers. When their sthetl was forcibly evacuated IN A DAY in order for the Czar to create his beloved Jewish Pale in the Russian breadbasket, his family and others pooled their money, sold their lives and bought some cheap farmland in central Missouri.

 

Ever heard of the Jewish Pale?  The Russian Czar decided to remove all Jews from the best farmland in the empire in order to appease the Russian population, who thought the Jewish bankers and financiers in Moscow were the root of all their problems.  Does that make sense?  Only if you think that every Jew is alike.    

 

Stupid, anti-Semitic Jew-haters!  And I do mean stupid here.  Have you ever wondered why there are so many blonde, light-skinned blue eyed Jewish folks from eastern Europe?  I mean, do they look Semitic to anyone? 

 

Ever hear of the Kingdom of the Khazars?  In case you haven't, it was a dominating force for about 600 years in a region that stretched from the Caucasus Mountains to the Caspian Sea.  In fact, the Caspian Sea was previously known as the Khazarian Sea. 

 

Their king decided to convert the country from Paganism to Judaism en masse, and it remained so until they were conquered by the Kievan Rus.

 

Now, these folks, the Erwins - plus their entire shtetl - were non-Semitic Jews.  Not white people who converted - who would do THAT in Czarist Russia?  Like most of the Jews of eastern Europe, they were descendants of the Khazars. 

 

Wow, did I digress!

 

Murray Erwin married Blanche Stapleton, a first generation Swede.  His family disowned him, along with their money. Thus, they became the poorest family in an otherwise middle-class farming community.  Murray took to a barstool shortly thereafter. 

 

While Rudolf Kuschell (remember him) strutted his stuff around Odessa and Holden, he fixed his eye upon Laura Bell Erwin.  She was 16 - the oldest of the Erwin girls.  Blonde, blue-eyed, beautiful and dirt poor.  Rudolf had a bit of money to spend on a short-term romance, apparently.  By the time the train was able to move on down the line, Rudolf left Laura Bell with more than she expected - that being Carolyn in utero. 

 

Now, Laura was a girl with a few ambitions.  They did not include being a single mother in the 1940s in destitute poverty in rural Missouri. After delivering Carolyn at home, she moved on to bigger and better things, like Kansas City. 

 

The second sister, Ruby, took on the role of surrogate mother with a passion. She was 14 years old at the time.  While Blanche worked the farm and Murray entertained the folks at the bar, Ruby raised Carolyn with an almost pathological amount of love.

 

To top it off, Carolyn turned out to be a delightful child, full of sweetness and light.  The smell of Carolyn's sweet baby head, as Ruby and Carolyn snuggled together in their bed of hay, has never left Ruby's psyche, even though she is now 78 years old. 

 

It's strange how a single event can alter so many lives.  In this case, the word "alter" should be exchanged for "destroyed." 

 

Somehow, Laura Bell was able to locate Rudolf for the purpose of demanding child support money.  That was the singular event. 

 

The family of Rudolf Kuschell had more than a tad bit of money, apparently.  They hired a private investigator to travel to Missouri and check out the situation.  The attorneys immediately followed. 

 

Laura was declared an unfit mother (perhaps because she wasn’t living there anymore?) and Rudolf was given sole custody of Carolyn.  WITHOUT EVER LAYING AN EYE ON HER, he immediately put her up for adoption. 

 

Murray took the train to Kansas City to hire a lawyer to stop the adoption.  He put the farm up as collateral.  However, highly paid attorneys hired by wealthy families beat out ambulance-chasing attorneys who are willing to work on consignment most times.  And so it went. 

 

One day, a big car carrying two men and a woman drove down the dirt path to the farmhouse.  With Carolyn in her arms, Ruby went to the door.  She was completely unaware of anything.  Murray came running, though. 

 

There was a scuffle as the woman tried to pry screaming Carolyn out of Ruby’s arms.  Finally, one of the men simply knocked both of them to the ground, grabbed Carolyn and shoved her into the back seat of the car.  In shock, Ruby continued to lie in the heartless Missouri dust.  She lay there for two days, even though it rained. 

 

Murray took the train back to Kansas City, but all his attorney could determine was that a couple in Warrensburg, Missouri had adopted Carolyn and changed her name - both first and last.  With the adoption finalized and sealed, Carolyn Kuschell Erwin ceased to exist. 

 

After a spell, Murray and Ruby took the train to Warrensburg.  They wandered the streets, looking in people’s yards and peering through open windows, hoping to spot a glimpse of Carolyn.  After a week of wandering, they took the train back home. 

 

Murray sold the farm, paid the attorney and moved the family to Kansas City.  Shortly thereafter, he died of lung cancer.  Stomach cancer found Blanche quickly enough.  In fact, everyone involved in this tale, other than Ruby, has passed on.  Laura Bell married and abusive alcoholic and had six children with him.  She eventually succumbed to lung cancer also.  The third sister, Nora Dean, stuck her head inside a book and never took it out.  Lung cancer eventually found her, too. 

 

As for Ruby, she married and had two children, but her mind was never right again.  She spent several years in and out of mental hospitals.  When she was home, she sat on the porch in silence, chain-smoking and staring into space.  Her children were firmly instructed that she was not to be disturbed, ever.  They raised themselves with the financial assistance of their father, Red, who worked the night shift his entire life. 

 

I don’t know if Rudolf Kuschell is alive or dead, but I’m easily imagining him rotting in hell.  I might even be happy thinking he’ll be tortured for eternity in a strict Christian hell. 

 

As for Carolyn, I wish she could know how many lives she touched.  However, I don’t think I would want her to know how many were ruined by her mere existence.  Sweet baby Carolyn, who laughed and sang and hugged her mama tightly.  Who are you now?