Sometimes Things are Punk, Sometimes They are Not

This diary is very different from my grandmother’s in many ways-the generational differences are apparent upon reading. Hilda helped ran a garage for her father, while Esther worked as a stenographer and was very much a lady, whereas Hilda would have been considered a 'tom boy.' Another issue with Esther’s diary is the lack of photos. Due to a family squabble, if that is even the right word, all the things that belonged to my Great Grandmother and Grandfather were essentially stolen and only over decades were some of the things were allowed to trickle back down to my mother. This diary is also different in the sense that it more similar to an itinerary of her daily life, rather than introspective or reflective. So, we have daily snapshots of Esther’s life as a young professional woman in Chicago against the backdrop of the Great War, the Spanish Flu, Vaudeville, Theater, films, parades, Liberty Bonds and the propaganda that encouraged citizens to believe in the cause of war. There is no love interest or great tensions in the diary, but it is hers and whatever story it contains is worthy of preservation for its familial and historical context. With the completion of this text and my other familial works, I have voiced entire swaths of the 20th Century.