Recovered original email from Peter Zeimet. Body preserved verbatim.
Original subject: I did not answer some of your questions very well.
From: <renobassoon@pyramid.net>
Date: April 11, 2007
I work graveyard but today had to be in a two pm and was in a hurry.
As to the situation where baggage was concerned, your grandmother had a rough time with what a relationship was. I think she always saw Cyril fuller raping her instead of her husband. When she would see a couple together dancing or kissing it made her ill. She always thought it was disgraceful when a ranch couple were driving in a pickup and the woman was sitting in the middle next to her husband. A relationship was always DIRTY to her. so, with Jim Solomon being her first husband, I am sure he had a problem from the get-go. I doubt he was perfect, but in her eyes was likely a drunken rapist. Maybe he was a drunken rapist.........but it would not have mattered if he was a saint. To her, it was taking her back to some earlier time and heartache. I know my mother would have taken an axe to my dad if he got within ten feet of her. It was not a good relationship. Lani said they tried for a few years, but it was always a joke. They had two kids, but it was NOT a marriage...........it just was a "Whatever" !!!!!!
OK - your mother had a brother named James (Jr.) and a sister named Cheryl. They died but I am not sure how old they were when that happened. I believe your mom was the youngest. I clearly remember your grandmother saying he KIDNAPPED THE KIDS ...........plural. She did NOT say kidnapped Lani..........she said the kids.
This is NOT confirmed but I did have Aunt Thelma tell me that Lani was relocated to S.D. because some judge decided they could not resolve the custody and sent them to the closest next of kin. I know that one of them went to the Bahamas with one or more of the kids, too................try that one on for a secret situation !!!!!!!!!!!! ????????????? Whatever did happen, it was a big nasty mess and somehow, Cyril Fuller ended up with one or more of the children and your grandma Ara Belle was NOT going to have that situation be permanent. I have no confirmation this was the case. I believe SD law required two legal competent guardians and your grandmother Fuller was an invalidand Ara Belle challenged their guardianship over this. Your grandfather Peter W. Zeimet was cyril Fuller's best friend. The family gossip chain told me (several times) he was put on as co-guardian and AraBelle married him to get Lani away from Cyril Fuller before he started molesting her. This is pretty ugly data. I cannot confirm it, but that was the STORY going around the family network. Well, IF......IF it was true or not true it does not matter. If they "THOUGHT" that was the case, then I can see why the Zeimets had a dislike for AraBelle. Perhaps they were just pissed and made up some ugly stories. You see there were three old maids........well there would have been four, but Aunt Inice eloped with Earl and he was originally engaged to Leah. Oops. Then Inice had three abortions legally as she was mentally unstable and the doctors felt she could not survive the pregnancies. Peter William Zeimet was always the old maid's date for the saturday night dance. They would come down from Rapid and go to the ranch, clean the house and all have a wonderful weekend. When AraBelle showed up...........it was very possible dirty stories just started appearing because she upset the apple cart. Leah was working at Igloo and engaged to Earl. He ended up running away with the blonde sister and they settled in Tucumcari New Mexico in a trailer and later in Boise Idaho where Earle made a good living building irrigation canals. That catepillar that we had to deal with after your grandfather Zeimet died belonged to Earl. He finally passed away about 5 years ago. Inice died in 1973. Leah died in 1975.
Aunt Ida, Mary, Leah and Bonnie all went to my parents wedding dressed in black funeral clothes with hats and black veils. I have a photo of them looking like the German army ready for attack. They have their arms folded and they WERE NOT A HAPPY GROUP> so I believe they had a problem with the marriage from the very start. Lani and ALL OF US suffered from that situation. Later on, they softened a lot. I think honestly they did like your mom after the years went by. They did try and make amends. Remember Aunt Ida left an equal amount of her small estate to all of us. Your mom was NOT excluded. They were good honest people. Whatever really happened, it must have been a goodie and they never peeped a word to us. I heard some gossip from cousins and only your mother's cousin Thelma that live in Los Angeles. It was pretty much the same story, though. I wonder if the other kids did die or they were just sent somewhere else to live. I hate to open that can of worms, but when I asked how old they were when they died, I never got an answer. Your grandma did say that one died of SIDS and Lani said to me in Utah at the last visit there was a third child that died of crib death. So what happened to the others? Well..........we likely will never know.........and no matter how much we dig, those facts are all buried permanently. The only other possibility is that if they did not die, then they were in Australia and possibly living with Edna Yeoman. She wrote faithfully for many many years always sending photos of what we understood were her kids and then later grandchildren. She was a dear friend of your grandmothers and was always titilated when a letter would arrive from her. Your grandmother was not titilated very easily, so I always noticed the special look. She had me write to one of them a few times like a pen pal thing but I was in the 5th grade and that did not last very long.
When I read the obit, I was mortified to see there was a boy and a girl. You have no idea how that went up and down my spine. I thought it was two girls. I am sure they were the children of the new wife and not the existing two children. It did occur to me, though. I cannot imagine that the mother would have not asked Lani that when she did talk to her the once or twice they conversed. The names were different, so I imagine it was new children. ????????????????? I am not trying to open a new mystery. Perhaps they died and perhaps they were given to a new home. Something was very ugly where it was all concerned, though. I just do not know, Danielle. I asked many times, too. I just did not receive an answer. Aunt Thelma was positive that Lani was sent to SD and your mother had to retrieve her now matter how hard and it did not matter what she had to do. If it took marrying my dad I am sure she would have done so without a blink of an eye. Perhaps it was just an ugly family rumor and they really did GET MARRIED for the right reasons. If they did, it was a dismal failure. Maybe Cyril Fuller just told them to get married if she wanted Lani back she could quit globe trotting and blah blah blah. Whatever, the only fact that is known is they did get married and the family was not very enamoured with the situation. In fact, they were mortified over it all. I do feel there was more to my parents getting married than just a fast romance. Cyril Fuller did have Lani and your grandmother wanted her OUT of that house. If he had some legal power over that situation and marrying my dad was a way to get her out, she would have done that...............I AM POSITIVE OF THAT>...........Your grandmother told me dozens of times she was dying inside with Lani staying out on some ranch with that horrible insane man. He was a sick and disturbed animal. He died the week you were born. At the funeral, this 16 year old girl showed up and demanded to know when she was to receive her inheritance. She wanted to take off with her new man and move to Montana. YIKES...........Peter William Zeimet physically escorted her out of the funeral hall and deposited her in the street and told her to go see the attorney at the Custer County bank. Cyril Fuller had left his money to some young gal that was smooching on him. He was a disturbed bastard. The only thing mother got was NOTHING.......... The checking account had my dad's name on it as a joint signer and there was $16,000 in the account. Lani, Jo,myself and your grandmother each got $4,000 because Peter W. divied it up that way because he was sort of forced too. This gal got several hundred grand.....a 16 year old bimbo. In the 70's, that was a lot of money. The green Chevy Van with the white top your dad had when you were little was purchased with Lani's share of the checking account. I bought the blue Volvo and moved to Alaska eventually. Jo bought a 1966 Van Dyke 12x55 trailer and parked it in Longmont, Colorado. You grandma just left it in the bank for many years as a mad money type thing. She never got that mad, though. I think it was a symbolic thing for her in some respects. The Zeimet side of the family were honest and sort of serious. The fuller side was not a good situation. It was full of deceit and ugliness. I am afraid I could not believe the sky was blue if a Fuller told me. Your grandmother had a wonderful maternal family, though. The Christiansons that lived in Campbell, Nebraska were pretty sweet people. Marie Fuller was a Christianson. Your mother stayed with them during high school and virtually blackmailed Cyril Fuller to pay for your grandmother's college tuition..............they had to get down right dirty over it, but he did cough up the money. He as not poor, whatsoever. There is one thing I will tell you that I am sure Jo nor your mother have ever known. Being the youngest, your grandmother did vocalize more of her extreme hatred for Cyril Fuller to me as we had more years alone together. When Cyril was sick in the hospital in Custer, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He had a bad heart and was diabetic. My dad was listed as the legal relative at the Custer hospital and your grandmother was NOT a family signer even though she was his daughter. Well, they were going to transfer him to Rapid City for the prostate surgery. They put him in the ambulance and your grandmother drove like a madwoman passing the ambulance and CHECKED HIM INTO THE HOSPITAL as his relative, which she was. She did not allow the surgery to take place and he died shortly afterwards. She told him he was going to die and it WAS her decision to let it happen. My dad was very unhappy about this. After that, their relationship was very sterile. They quit arguing and just became acqaintances. I know this is not joyous news. It was not a joyous life. Cyril Fuller had been his friend and that is why he was the legal signer in Custer. Well, mother finally had her day with him. I am sure that is why he did NOT leave the house/ranch to your grandmother. Jo would never understand it........she just would not.
NOW...........JO AND YOUR MOTHER did not know about this occurence. If I ever ask anything of you it will be this. Please do not tell Jo. Your grandmother told me that she looked him in the eye and said.....bibi !!!!!!!!! Later she sort of forgot it all, but I remember her telling me. God she was cold over it all. He deserved much worse and it should have happened much sooner. I do not blame her at all. He destroyed her life, the life of her sister and probably the life of Marie Fuller, too. AraBelle never divulged these things to anyone but me. I doubt Jo would believe me as she was not a part of the scenario by then. My mother and I were pretty close. I imagine that she told no one else. Your grandfather Zeimet was hurt tremendously over it all. He did not once mention it to me. Cyril likely would have died soon, anyway but she was not going to prolong it...............that was for sure. He should have been in prison for what he had done. It was no crime to let him go. There is one more thing that I feel you should know. Grandma Marie always had a patch over her eye because she had strokes and one eye had diahlated and she could not see right. Mother said Cyril Fuller beat her until she was no longer much of a person and her health failed. He had an open permanent prescription for phenol barbitol and kept her doped. When the Custer hospital could not care for her due to her flebitis (blod clots) they transferred her to Hot Springs. The doctors there took her off the phenol barbitol and GUESS WHAT........her mind cleared up. She was dying, but was talking and chipper. The Christiansons came up to visit her. Jo and I were outside in the yellow Falcon station wagon when they all arrived. Aunt Mae knew it was her last gasp, but she said it was like having Marie back............back after 30 years of hell being doped by a madman. She was talking and happy to see everyone and listening to Patsy Cline on the radio. They all realized then what had been happening. It sickened mother to no end. Several years later, grandpa fuller was down in Edgemont and AraBelle and he got in a physical fight. They tumbled all the way down the stairs and hit the basement floor. He did not ever come to visit again. She escorted him out the door eventually. Ida and Mary went to Custer when he was getting feeble and drove him down in 1973 late in the summer. Well, mother was calm, but very upset he was there. The old maids thought they were doing something nice. OH GOD< had they only known. He stayed at his home through Christmas and your mon and dad came back to visit. He had your grandfather check him into the hospital a few days later and he never left until the tranferrence to the Rapid hospital. Your grandmother was there FIRST that time. I am surprised she did not end it 45 years earlier with that fence post she almost beat him to death with when she was 14 years old. Maybe poor Marie would not have been beaten until her head was disfigured. Maybe a lot of things. She did have strokes.....true......but not until after she had been tortured. Where is a lethal rattlesnake when you really need one? Your grandmother in later years sort of put it all behind her...........well not really. We did talk a little about it. Your mom adored Cyril Fuller. Jo adored the Zeimets. I adored your grandmother. The above mentioned groups did not adore each other. Please do not tell Jo any of these things. I have agonized for the last year whether to say anything. Well, Jo does not need to have her memories of the family destroyed. As you yourself said, she is tighter than a clam. She always was and lived in her own little world. I always asked and probed. These people are all gone and I cannot imagine Jo knowing OR BELIEVING ALL OF IT..........WELL, I think she already knows much of it, but has chosen to build monuments in her mind to all dearly departed. That is good for her. I will always be on Ara Belle's side and can never forget the sadness she lived. But, fighting the battles are no longer relevant and Jo is all I have left..............OH GOD.............oh my !!!!!!! Need I say more?
Now.........Elaine was your grandmother's OLDER SISTER> like 6-8 years older. When your mother said Elaine had been to Custer...............I was flabberghasted............what????????????????? There was no way. I knew from a Christmas card she sent Aunt Alice in the early 50's she had kids and lived in or near Grand Island, Nebraska as the photo studio mark was on the back of the card. I later found out Elaine was at Aunt Alice's funeral and mother left in a hurry actually running out of gas driving all night in a blind panic. She was always careful. We krept into Chadron at 2 miles an hour sort of coasting........................she never made a mistake like that. Well, she probably did recognize Elaine if she had seen her earlier. ????????????????????????/ I will never know. Jane and Ronnie Christianson still live near Campbell, Ne. I waited on a gal from Campbell last year and she said Ronnie was still out on Aunt Jane's farm. She was the one who sent the card to mother when Aunt Darlene died. It was in her personal belongings. Penny (Darlene'sdaughter) gave it to Jane to send to your grandmother. They might know something, but it does not matter to me. That was your grandmother's decision and I will leave it at that.
Your grandmother did say one thing to me in her final months in a phone conversation I had not heard. She said Elaine came back to SD during WWII to see Marie and Cyril. It caused a terrible physical fight and she was thrown out by Cyril. This was when the first "stroke???" happened. Marie also at that time apparently was driving the car (she did not drive) and smashed into a rock ledge near the ranch leaving her injured. Your grandma always felt she was chasing after Elaine after the fight and the first "stroke" was from the car wreck or the beating afterwards. Try that one on for size? Duh...........she told me this in her last few months. Boy was that timing, or what? GOD, WHAT A MESS!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I guess there may be some unanswered questions............and there have been for decades. It was their decisions to leave them unanswered. Perhaps we should respect the wishes. I do not know what, who where when or why so many things happened. I also saw a photo (well a lot of them in an envelope) that looked like your grandmother in a new house waving to the camera with some unknown guy. It said HELLO FROM THE ROBERTSONS . I asked your mom about that in Utah and she really stammered. She said it was some friend of your grandmothers. Why would she have a whole stack of the identical photos? I just talked to Cheryl who said your mother's hair stood on end when I asked her. Cheryl was sort of blasted by all the chitter chatter and confused as to what we were talking about. She quizzed me all the way back to Reno about who and where these people were. I could not answer those questions any better than I can yours. Was my mom married to someone else before my dad besides Jim Solomon? Your mother was very uneasy when I asked her that. I don't know. I never knew she was in Australia. I thought all three were born in California or Hawaii and Australia was a one time visit. So, there are too many gaps to fill in.
Sorry to unload all this on you. Some of it may be gossip. Some probably is not. It was not our decision to be left in the dark and those who made those decisions are no longer here. I hope to concentrate on my future. I asked and probed all my life and just got more unanswered questions. Did I answer yours fully? pz
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