I’m sure Kate O’Rourke never imagined that she’d spend her life raising her sister’s children. She probably had her own hopes and dreams of marrying and having a family one day. But when her sister Mary Mattimore died at 27 leaving two young boys, Kate became a caretaker and stand-in mother to Harry and Joseph Mattimore. When the boys’ father died, she became their guardian as well.
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When our grandfathers — Harry and Joseph Mattimore — lived with their Aunt Kate after their own mother’s death, they became close with Kate’s family living in Oswego, New York. Postcards were a quick and easy form of extending greetings between families. As our Mattimore clan prepares to celebrate Christmas, I share with you a couple of these sweet, throwback Christmas wishes.
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