Personal Essays
Three of us ...
"there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded". Diana, Princess of Wales
Some years later, my grandparents were enjoying an evening at home together. My grandmother was nursing her baby son. There was a knock on the door and their visitors were ushered in. One was a lady of mature years and the other a young woman who was older than my grandmother. The mature lady introduced herself as my grandfather’s missing first wife Asiye and the young woman as her daughter Letafet.
My grandfather offered to put up his first wife and their daughter in a separate establishment. My grandmother, who was intent on avoiding scandal, insisted that they were welcome in her house. So they stayed. Asiye had a further two daughters as did my grandmother Safiye.
My mother still has some studio photos of my grandmother with her children. The photos are in sepia with fading margins. There are touches of colour on the faces of my grandmother and the children. I think they were probably taken in the 1930’s. In the photos, my grandmother looks slim and elegant, like a ballet dancer. She has straight, bobbed, dark hair and determined eyebrows. She does not smile but she looks beautiful, young, fragile, determined. The photograph of my grandfather from the same period shows a short and plump middle aged man with a small moustache. He looks at the camera and smiles faintly and confidently.
I imagine that this rather unconventional family was not unhappy. The two wives and their children got on well together. As my grandfather was a wealthy man, they had a life of relative luxury.
Until he died...
Some years later, my grandparents were enjoying an evening at home together. My grandmother was nursing her baby son. There was a knock on the door and their visitors were ushered in. One was a lady of mature years and the other a young woman who was older than my grandmother. The mature lady introduced herself as my grandfather’s missing first wife Asiye and the young woman as her daughter Letafet.
My grandfather offered to put up his first wife and their daughter in a separate establishment. My grandmother, who was intent on avoiding scandal, insisted that they were welcome in her house. So they stayed. Asiye had a further two daughters as did my grandmother Safiye.
My mother still has some studio photos of my grandmother with her children. The photos are in sepia with fading margins. There are touches of colour on the faces of my grandmother and the children. I think they were probably taken in the 1930’s. In the photos, my grandmother looks slim and elegant, like a ballet dancer. She has straight, bobbed, dark hair and determined eyebrows. She does not smile but she looks beautiful, young, fragile, determined. The photograph of my grandfather from the same period shows a short and plump middle aged man with a small moustache. He looks at the camera and smiles faintly and confidently.
I imagine that this rather unconventional family was not unhappy. The two wives and their children got on well together. As my grandfather was a wealthy man, they had a life of relative luxury.
Until he died...