Newspaper Clipping
Montgomery Advertiser
November, 1966
Descendant of Governors Fatally Hurt
"George Bibb Edmondson, Jr., 21 year old descendant of two Alabama governors, died in an automobile crash on South Boulevard early today….He was leaving a wedding party on the Southern Bypass.
Edmondson was a member of the track team as a freshman and sophomore and held several offices in his fraternity…"
The newspaper’s mention of George’s ancestors incensed me back then as I read what I considered trivia in light of his true significance. In my egocentric and possessive state, I only saw headlines that read, “George Bibb Edmondson, Jr.- His Sister’s Idol, Best Friend, Confidant, Encourager. He Promised to Stay With Her Forever!”
No consolation was available for such grief. His death jolted the innocence of my youth into permanent oblivion and me into a place of loneliness and melancholy. The loss of George in the family changed each of us more deeply, more permanently, than any other event we would eventually experience. My mother, convinced she was being punished by George’s death, carried the burden of guilt like a talisman until she died. My father retreated further into the abyss of his Civil War with his toddies. The internalized scream echoed in my decisions and relationships long after the death of my brother. I caress his memory loyally, yet after all this time, sometimes, still longingly. My second son, George Bibb Patterson, is affectionately named after his uncle and one grandson is also his namesake.
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