She and I

Her name was Laura, and I hope I bear a resemblance. I don't know much about my great-grandmother during her living years, but in her death, she remains remarkable to me. When she discovered that an elderly neighbor was dying of consumption and all alone with no one to care for him, she took up the burden. In caring for him, she caught tuberculosis as well. In her time, people who had TB were shipped off to a sanatorium, and she was no expception. From her Texas home, she was forced into the nearest hospital in New Mexico, where she was separated from her family and eventually passed away. This is the only surviving photo of her. I like to believe that she was extraordinary.