Sallie's World: Undine Virginia

Undine was named after the heroine in a German Fairy Tale. The story was about a Mermaid who fell in love with a mortal. Hans Christian Andersen based his fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" on this story.

To read the story of Undine . My mom Undine was a vivacious child. She was a dreamer who loved art and music and dancing.

Undine lived in Asheville North Carolina. Her Her family was very strict and rather sombre. Her father was the Undertaker and her mother was the daughter of a country preacher. They felt they had to maintain a severe dignity in their home because it was a funeral home, with the family living in the back. This was a rather cheerless place for an imaginative child to grow up.

Undine often played with her cousins on her Mom's side of the family. Their grandfather was the Preacher at a country church in Weaverville, North Carolina. shown here are the Ammons cousins with her two sisters and herself. Flossie and Edna are seated along with Undine.

Undine is shown in the photo below with her father Patrick , who was an Undertaker. He was a Deacon in the Church, and he was very old for his age. He died at age 59, when Undine was 20 years old. She was his pet , since she was the baby in the family.

When Undine was 15 she met the love of her life. He was on the Asheville Fire Department and she baked him a Chocolate Cake and took it over to the fire Department, He ate the entire cake by himself and would not share it.

Shown below is a photo of Hubert and Undine when first they were married. They eloped because he was 9 and a half years older than Undine and her family did not approve. She said that when Hubert came a courting they would sit in the Parlor with the window shades open. Once a neighbor was looking at them through her window and Undine marched over and pulled down the window shades. The phone rang and her Mama came into the room and pulled the shade back up.

When the second World War came, Undine and Hubert along with their three children moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia. Hubert felt it was healthy for the children to live at the beach. His nephews and niece had been sickly when they lived in the mountains and they seemed to blossom in the sea air.

Undine and Stephen, Mary is seen in the background. I remember Undine worried about sending this photo for she was afraid it would look as if Mary Had her leg missing.