her. They thought of her as a tomboy or a flirt, though neither description was totally accurate. Although their attitude hurt at first, she decided it was fine because she didn’t like them much either. She felt much more comfortable around boys, like her brothers, but it wasn’t proper to play with boys—even speak to them at some schools. So she became a loner.
Although it might have seemed unusual for a girl in the 1910s, she began in time to excel at two things she could do on her own: music and basketball. As time passed, she stayed a loner, keeping most of her thoughts to herself and wishing for the day when she would have a husband and a family. Eventually she entered the eighth grade when her life would change forever. Although still very much a loner, she became a member of the girl’s basketball team. Much of the time, however, she continued to dream wistfully of someone who quite probably didn’t exist, someone with whom she could spend the rest of her life.
One day it happened. Seemingly out of nowhere she spotted him. His name was Robert. Although he was several years older than she (and certainly not aware of her existence), she knew he was THE ONE. Anna wasn’t quite clear how she knew it, but there was never any doubt that Robert was to be her husband.
This “knowing” was one of several unusual experiences which would shape her life. In one of the first, she had been at her aunt’s house in the city. A place she had frequented dozens of times before. Through the back window she could see the marshlands, and the grasses, and the trees off in the distance. Instead of being peaceful, the image suddenly grew more foreboding and frightening as if the fear had been buried deep within her all the time. She began to feel chilled, alone, and more terrified than she had ever been before. Suddenly, she heard herself whisper, “I’ve got to get out of this place . . . I’ve got to get out of this place!” The fear subsided just as quickly as it had come, and all that remained was the scene through the back window. She was in her aunt’s house, safe and sound, though the happening would remain with her and be called to mind more than twenty years later in the home of Edgar Cayce as he witnessed a similar scene contained in the Akashic Records.
The experience with Robert was similar. She found herself in the schoolyard where dozens of children were playing and laughing and arguing. Suddenly, she happened to look up from what she had been doing in the direction of a group of students not too far away. Instantly, in the midst of all the noise, the excitement of play, and the bouncing of balls, she spotted him, and what happened next would amaze her for the rest of her life:
All at once, the noises began to subside. All the children in the schoolyard began to vanish from her sight and she was completely alone with a boy she didn’t even know. There was no sound; there was no one else around. The two of them were all that existed. Her astonishment at the scene caused her to catch her breath, and in the next instant the schoolyard and all its children returned. From that day forth, her dream of a husband would have the face of Robert . . . but it would seem a very long while before he even knew that she was alive.
Finally, toward the first of the year, Anna began to feel more comfortable around some of the children at school. Unfortunately for her reputation, however, all of them were boys. Harsh and untruthful talk among some of the girls continued, and an event toward the end of the eighth grade would ruin her reputation.
One night, when her parents thought she was at a neighborhood party, she and some friends went for an innocent adventure in a car. Her friends, all boys, had “their girls” with them, and Anna was simply along for the ride, dreaming of Robert. The journey started well enough, but instead of soon returning as had been planned, the car broke down miles from home. All of the other girls and most of the boys managed to get rides to their respective houses. Only three of them were left alone—the three who lived near one another—Anna and two of the boys. Hours passed before the three got another car and the boys were able to take Anna home.
Her father had gone to the party looking for her. There he heard wild tales of Anna heading off in a car with “a bunch of boys.” The ensuing hours had given him plenty of time to contemplate his worst fears. By the time the trio pulled into the dirt driveway he was waiting for them, rifle in hand.
Without waiting for an explanation, he threatened to kill the boys if they ever laid hands on Anna again. His daughter tried desperately to relate what had happened, but the man was enraged and could not hear a word she was saying. Fearing for their lives, the two boys bolted from the home, and Anna was “whooped” and sent off to bed. Unluckily for Anna, by the next morning the story had spread like wildfire throughout the small town. But it wasn’t the story of the car breaking down, or the old man with the gun, or the three and their innocent adventure. Instead it was the story of the young girl and imaginative tales of what she had done late at night with two boys.
Within a week Anna couldn’t venture anywhere without having someone point at her and whisper behind their hand about the incident. Her reputation had long been in question, but there no longer remained any doubt. She was branded a loose woman. The episode made her withdraw even more into a place where her only fantasy was Robert. Her schoolwork began to slide drastically, her depression grew much more severe, and she began to seem very different to her parents than before the incident.
Her mother and father became alarmed. They were aware of the name their daughter was acquiring in the community. They were also worried about Anna’s infatuation with Robert because they were aware that the young man had acquired quite a reputation as a “lady-killer.” From their point of view, he was from the worst part of town, the child of a totally unsuitable family, and not at all the one for their daughter. They worried that Anna’s blossoming figure, her spoiled reputation, and her own infatuation could lead to only one thing when Robert finally noticed her. Seeing no other option, they sent her away to school for a year—to Kentucky with her eldest brother, Mitchell, who had gotten a job as a teacher.
Depressed to the depths of her soul, Anna dutifully followed her parents’ wishes. But as time passed she realized that she was no better off in Kentucky. Before too long she found herself just as hated by the girls and not trusted to be around the boys. To make matters worse, one of Anna’s teachers made it her personal responsibility to discipline this wayward child, causing the girl great misery. Before too long, Anna was experiencing all of the horrors she had back home, but she was even worse off because Robert had remained behind. As her state of mind deteriorated, her teacher saw it as a rebellious spirit and rode Anna mercilessly. The discipline seemed to have no effect on the girl, so by midwinter the teacher managed to have Anna expelled.
It would have been disastrous to return home expelled because it would only confirm her reputation of corruptness in the community. Her parents were heartbroken and couldn’t understand how they had managed to raise such a child. Seeing no other choice, they advised her to remain in Kentucky—being passed among relatives until the school term had ended. No one would ever have to know of her shame at school. It would be safe to come home when the school term was finally over.
The rest of the year went slowly, but eventually she found herself back at her parents’. Even after returning home, however, life never returned to normal. She just had to get away. Without her parents’ knowledge, at the age of seventeen she eloped with Robert. It would become just one more heartbreak in their experience.
From the very start, Anna felt out of place with Robert’s family. Her parents had been right; the families really were from two different worlds. Her only solution was to try to make the best of a difficult situation. More than anything else she wanted children, and she was bound and determined to make the marriage work.
Robert, however, seemed different after they married. He saw himself very much as the center of the universe. To make matters worse, many of Robert’s friends seemed to think as highly of him as he did. It was as if he had an entourage of supporters who fell in line to wait on his every command. He appeared to get much for little, behaving as though the world owed him a living and all he had to do was wait for it. Much of the time Anna felt like an outsider in this widening circle of her husband’s friends. However, each time she reached the depths of her depression, he threw just enough attention her way to keep her secure.
As time went on, her unhappiness about Robert and his family worsened. She experienced much sorrow and ill-health over a tubal