My mother, Edith Howard, was born and raised in Watsonville, CA. Around the age of 5, in approximately1937, her father, James Howard (who was said to be much older than her mother) passes away. In about 1938 my mother's mom (my true maternal grandmother), Edith Howard (Mullnix), passed away in her sleep (my mother awoke to find her mother dead next to her in bed). Her half sister, the former Della Trusty, now at this time married to Lynn O'Dell, took my mother in, and raised as her daughter and we all grew up calling Della Grandma, or "Granny" O'Dell. Her brothers & sisters, whom I was raised to call aunts & uncles, were in fact her nieces & nephews, and my cousins. My "Granny" was in fact my "half-aunt" if you want to be technical about it.
