She was eight years old at the time and her name had been Elizabeth Ward.

Elizabeth Masen fell in love for the first time in 1891. She was eight years old at the time and her name had been Elizabeth Ward.

It had been at the beginning of fall and, like every year before, she had been put on a train in Chicago and had been sent east to visit her grandparents. Her mother’s parents coddled, loved her, and tried to spoil her as well, but she wasn’t the type of child to ask for things.

Every year on her visit her parents would take her to the local fair. It was always one of the highlights of her trip. Her nana and gramps thought she enjoyed the games and food, but truth of the matter was she just took pleasure in watching the two of them act like youngsters, sneaking kisses and cuddling as they walked when they thought she wasn’t looking.

The trip to the fair had almost not happened the year that she was eight. For almost a month the fall season had descended more rapidly than usual and her grandparents had been scared by the threat of a storm due to the fact that the skies had been overcast for days but, her gramps had seen the disappointment in her bright green eyes, despite the fact that she did not complain, and they had made the trip in spite of the overcast day.

The lack of sunshine had not spoiled their fun, at least not at first. She and her nana watched and cheered as her grandfather won a game where he had to throw a baseball at some stacked up milk jugs. The three of them had shared some roasted peanuts and she had had a hotdog. And, of course, nana and gramps where smooching when they thought she wasn’t looking.

Eventually the weather broke into their fun and it became apparent that a storm was about to let loose as the wind began whipping at the ladies’ skirts and the gentlemen’s ties. They were racing back to her gramps’ buggy when a gust of wind blew her hat off and sent it tumbling behind her. She ran after it without thinking. After all, it was a brand new hat that her papa had bought her.