RIP and remember Annie today

[Suzi]

Dear Annie- let's all spare a thought 'eh

[Hunter]

All of the canonicals seemed to have a turn in their lives that enhanced their risks to the destruction that befell them. Annie may have been the most desperate. Not only had her options been depleted on that fateful night, but she was probably seriously ill to the point that she may have spent the hours she was unaccounted for huddled somewhere shivering and wracked with fever, trying to pull herself together to utilize the one option she felt she had left. Sometime before dawn, she evidently did... a sad and pathetic shell of the woman she once was... her killer trying to add to the humiliation by his attempt to dehumanize her in an act of savagery never before seen; even in a place where pride and shame were often exchanged for just another few moments of existence.

Dark Annie, if you had died from your illness, like Mary the flower seller before you, there may have been a very brief sigh from the folks that took temporary pity on you to buy some of your crochet work... or someone who might have tossed a couple of doss to ease their conscience. Instead, your tragic end rolled back the fine carpet that they tread upon and forced them to walk in the excruciating fear that glared in your eyes at the moment of your demise.

But maybe in the aftermath... just maybe... Mary the flower seller was waiting on the other side to welcome you with a scented rose with no thorns.
__________________

[Archaic]

Thank you Hunter. I know that post is heartfelt.

Thanks to you too Suzy.

B.

[sdreid]

There's a Jack the Ripper program scheduled on the Discovery Channel tonight. I don't know if it's a new one or not.

R.I.P. Annie

[Archaic]

Hi Stan.

I just checked and the Discovery program tonight is a rerun of 'Jack the Ripper In America'.

Best regards,
Archaic

[mariab]

Yep, Mary Ann Nichols' feels like the saddest story of all to me too, and a typical case in point for the social history of Whitechapel.
It wasn't the first time in the history of crime that a perp picked a sick or elderly homeless person to attack, and it doesn't come any lower or cowardly in my opinion.
Very inspired post, Hunter. Kinda reminds me of The little match girl, which is my favorite of sad stories since I was a kid.
There seems to have been some obvious disharmony in Nichols' family, as it's reported that the eldest son would have nothing to do with his father at his mother's funeral, despite them both having payed for it.

[kensei]

So nice that Annie is the only Ripper victim for whom we have a photo of her alive, yet so sad that of all the victims she had probably fallen the farthest and was the worst alcoholic. Demon Alcohol is practically a second villain in the Ripper case.

Rest in peace Annie, and sorry that the place where you died is buried underneath a giant modern building.

[mariab]

Wow. I've just realized I've mixed up Annie Chapman with Mary Ann Nichols. Way to go.
(My only excuse being I'm a bit engulfed in a project on deadline right now.)
Many apologies.

[kensei]

That's ok mariab, people do get frazzled.

[Carol]

Dear Annie- let's all spare a thought 'eh

Thank you, Suzi, for bringing Annie's very sad fate back into our thoughts today.

Love
Carol

[Carol]

[QUOTE=Hunter;190009]All of the canonicals seemed to have a turn in their lives that enhanced their risks to the destruction that befell them. Annie may have been the most desperate.

Thank you, Hunter, for a very touching and heartfelt post. Joan Baez's song 'There but for fortune go you or I' always comes into my head whenever I think about the circumstances those poor women lived under.

Love
Carol

[Hunter]

Thank you, Bunny and Carol... and it is indeed good to hear from you.

The greatest reward I have had in my obsession with history is the individual stories of the people who shaped it. An understanding of their lives is essential in comprehending events. After a while, you feel you get to know some of them. They all walked on this earth as we do now... and but for the passage of time, were really no different... and conversely, one day, we will be the same as they are now.

Our relevance to those who come after us can be measured by our respect for those who have come before.
.

[Archaic]

You know what Hunter?

I'm really glad you are my friend.

Bunny

[Carol]

Thank you, Bunny and Carol... and it is indeed good to hear from you.

The greatest reward I have had in my obsession with history is the individual stories of the people who shaped it. An understanding of their lives is essential in comprehending events. After a while, you feel you get to know some of them. They all walked on this earth as we do now... and but for the passage of time, were really no different... and conversely, one day, we will be the same as they are now.

Our relevance to those who come after us can be measured by our respect for those who have come before.
.

You've hit the nail on the head as usual, Hunter. I couldn't agree with you more.
I find it endlessly fascinating to learn how I would have lived if I had been born back then in what we call 'History'. When we get to Heaven I'm really hoping that God has got a special treat in store for us 'History buffs' - I'm thinking of lovely open-air cinemas that we can go to and see films about our history, as filmed at the time. Also, how about Virtual Reality where we can actually take part!

Love
Carol

[Mayerling]

How appropriate that on a day (09/11/2011) when my thoughts turn to the murder of nearly 3,000 human beings by a gang of cowards I am reminded of an earlier Victim of a coward. If there is an afterlife Annie should be reunited with those who loved her - let us try to remember her as she appears in that photo taken when she was alive and married - not when she was sick, and drunk, and turned into a sick, demon's idea of sadistic fun.

Jeff