CHARACTER SKETCH
NAME
LOUISE MARTHA BRADFORD NELSON
NICKNAME NONE
APPEARANCE ALL
AMERICAN GIRL TYPE
HAIR –STYLE-COLOR-TYPE-TEXTURE RED
EYES –GLASSES-CONTACTS- BLUE
WEIGHT UNKONWN
COLORING FAIR
HEIGHT ABOUT
4’5”
BUILD SMALL
(IN FACT, IT WAS SAID THAT EVERYONE WAS AMAZED SHE COULD HAVE SUCH A BIG
BABY!-ME, NOT EDITH. WE WERE BOTH BORN BEFORE WE WERE EXPECTED. NO DR’S OR HOSPITALS FOR US. SO NO IDEA
HOW MUCH WE ACTUALLY WIEGHED. THEY DIDN’T BOTHER WITH THINGS LIKE THAT
BACK THEN. IT WAS A FAIT ACCOMPI SO WHY BOTHER.
FACIAL FEATURES –LIPS, EYEBROWS, LASHES, JAW LINE, NOSE
I
REMEMBER THAT SHE EITHER HAD SHARPLY PLUCKED EYEBROWS AND THAT THEY WERE SO FAIR,
THEY BLENDED IN WITH HER PEACHES AND CREAM SKIN SO THAT SOMETIMES IT APPEARED
SHE DIDN’T HAVE ANY.
VOICE –ACCENT – WAY OF TALKING DEFINITIVE MASSACHUSETT’S ACCENT.
FAMILY ME,
EDITH (A MID LIFE SURPRIZE PREGNANCY), HER MOTHER, FATHER, GRANDPARENTS, MY
FATHER, HIS PARENTS, HIS GRANDPARENTS, SISTERS, BROTHERS, THEIR FAMILIES, THE
LIST GOES ON. ONE OF MY AUNTIES DID A FAMILY TREE AND IT TURNED OUT THERE WAS A
BIT OF INTERMARRIAGE BETWEEN COUSINS WAY BACK, BUT NOTHING
TOO SHOCKING. THEN THE TRAIN CRASH WIPED THE ENTIRE FAMILY OUT, EXCEPT FOR ME
AND EDITH. I WAS IN THE NAVY AT THE TIME, AND BECAME EDITH’S GUARDIAN. THOSE
WERE HARD DAYS FOR BOTH OF US.
CONNECTION TO ME MOTHER
BEST FRIENDS/ENEMIES LOVING MOTHER, BUT DUE TO HER STATUS AS A NELSON, A NANNY
WAS A NECESSITY. SHE WASN’T PLEASED ABOUT IT, AS SHE’D BEEN RAISED BY HER OWN
PARENTS AND DIDN’T LIKE THE IDEA. BUT MY FATHER AND HIS PARENTS INSISTED ON TO
TAKE CARE OF ‘PESKY DETAILS’, HENSE, IN MY EARLY YEARS, I SPENT MORE TIME WITH MRS.POPHAM THAN MY
PARENTS.
BUT EVEN
WHEN MRS. POPHAM COMPLAINED THAT I WAS A NAUGHTY BOY (HEY, I WAS!) MY MOTHER
ALWAYS SPENT AS MUCH TIME AS SHE COULD WITH ME, ALLOWED ME PLACES OTHER HIGH
SOCIETY PARENTS WOULDN’T HAVE ALLOWED, AND HELD ME CLOSE AND TOLD ME SHE LOVED
ME, ‘WARTS AND ALL’.
ETHNIC/CULTURAL BACKGROUND ENGLISH, SCOTTISH. CLAIMED DESCENT FROM THE MAYFLOWER
SETTLERS, LONG BEFORE FATHER’S SIDE OF THE FAMILY CAME OVER, BUT I DON’T RECALL NOR DID I EVER FIND
IT IMPORTANT. PERHAPS I SHOULD CHECK THE ATTIC FOR MY AUNT’S FAMILY TREE NOTES.
SCHOOLING
HIGH SCHOOL BUT NEVER GRADUATED DUE TO A BOUT WITH INFLUENZA WHICH ALMOST
KILLED HER. SHE DIDN’T BOTHER TO GO BACK WHEN ALL HER FRIENDS HAD ALREADY
FINISHED AND GONE.
OCUPATIONS PRESENT-PREVIOUS WITH A COMFORTABLE CHILDHOOD AND
SOCIETY WEDDING, NO NEED TO WORK. SHE MADE SURE, HOWEVER, TTHAT I SAW FIRST HAND HOW ‘THE
OTHER HALF HAD TO LIVE’,SO I WOULDN’T GET ‘ABOVE
MYSELF’, OR COMPLACENT, AND WE SPENT A GREAT DEAL OF TIME SERVING AS VOLUNTEERS
FOR SEVERAL CHARITIES.
HOBBIES NEEDLEWORK
POLITICAL PREFERENCES SHE DIDN’T BOTHER HERSELF WITH POLITICS. IT WAS ENOUGH FOR
HER THAT HER MOTHER HAD BEEN A SUFFRAGETTE, AND SHE COULD VOTE IF SHE WANTED
TO. I DON’T RECALL THAT SHE EVER DID, AT LEAST NEITHER SHE OR
MY FATHER MENTIONED.
LIKES FLOWERS. SHE WOULD OFTEN PURCHASE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS BUT
INSTEAD OF BRINGING THEM HOME, SHE WOULD GO TO THE VARIOUS CEMETARIES AND HONOR
THE DECEASED. SOME OF THE PEOPLE BURIED WERE RELATIVES, BUT A LOT WERE PEOPLE NOBODY KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT. THAT ALWAYS SADDENED
HER.
DISLIKES PROFANITY IN ANY FORM. SHE ALSO MADE SURE THAT HER CHILDREN WERE ALLOWED AND ENCOURAGED TO EAT AND PLAY IN THE SAME DINING ROOM WHERE SHE AND FATHER HAD THEIR BREAKFAST, AND SOMETIMES DINNER. (THEY OFTEN WENT OUT FOR THE EVENINGS.)
MOVIES/BOOKS/PLAYS LOUISA MAE ALCOTT’S STORIES
FOODS PLAIN
GOOD FOOD, BUT SHE ALSO BECAME QUITE FOND OF THE LATEST HAUTE CUSINE DISHES.
SHE TAUGHT ME ABOUT ESCARGO. I THOUGHT IT WAS THE MOST HORRIBLE THING I’D EVER
TASTED. TO THIS DAY, I’M NOT SURE IF SHE REALLY LIKED IT, OR SIMPLY HAD TO
PRETEND TO LIKE IT, FOR APPEARANCES SAKE WITH ALL OF FATHER’S BUSINESS
ASSOCIATES.
SPORTS NONE
THAT I KNOW OF
FEARS/PHOBIAS SHE ACTUALLY HAD A PREMONITION ABOUT A TRAIN CRASH AND DIDN’T WANT TO
GO ON THAT TRIP. FATHER’S FATHER TOLD HER THAT IT WAS RIDICULOUS NOT TO GO
BASED ON A SILLY DREAM. I FOUND THIS OUT LATER FROM THE BUTLER. IF ONLY...
QUIRKS
NONE THAT I KNOW OF
CHARACTER FLAWS SHE WAS PRETTY MUCH PERFECT IN MY ESTIMATION.
FAVORITE EXPRESSIONS/ TYPICAL GESTURES ‘SWEETIE’ (TO ME) ‘DUMPLING’ (TO
EDITH)
CHILDHOOD/TEEN MEMORY NONE
ROLE MODEL YES,
FOR CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS
TEN WORDS TO SUM UP WHAT I THINK OF THIS PERSON
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, AN ANGEL ON EARTH.
TEN WORDS HOW THIS PERSON AFFECTED MY LIFE
INSTRUCTED ME IN HOW TO USE MY TALENTS AND MONEY FOR THE BENEFIT OF
OTHERS, INSTEAD OF SITTING ON MY LAURELS AND WASTING MY LIFE AWAY.
WHAT I’D SAY TO THIS PERSON IF WE MET TODAY
THANK YOU
THANK YOU THANK YOU
WHAT I WISH I HADN’T SAID /DONE TO THIS PERSON
I’M SURE
I DID, BUT I CAN’T THINK RIGHT NOW.