Meredith Grace Lacy was born to Bartholomew and Gertrude Lacy in Pilger, Nebraska, on their home farm.
Meredith was not meant to be born until September 3, but her mother got very sick whilst pregnant with Meredith and Meredith had to be evicted 3 months early in June. Her changes of surviving were 0.000001% chance. But she beat the odds and survived. Her mother died in late May, and sh never got to meet her daughter.
Meredith grew up with her father on her small farm. The farm was all they had and they were never able to afford much because the were the poorest family in the state. Bartholomew Lacy was a horse poop grabber and he was to walk behind horses in parades and pick up the horse droppings. His least favorite part of the job was when the he walked to close to the horse and the horse dropped its waste onto him. But this was his only job as no one else would hire him as he is a former slave.
At the age of 6 Meredith’s doctor had discovered that she had 3 tumors in her brain, all at stage 5 cancer. She was diagnosed to have even less of a chance to survive at 0.0000000001%. Again, however, she beat the odds again and made a full recovery by the age of 11. She lived as happy as she could with her father being cancer-free for 3 years, until she was 14 years old, when she was diagnosed with stage 7 cancer in her leg and it had to be amputated.
She kept living and fighting for her life because even after the Civil War most white people still did not believe that a white daughter should belong to a colored man. The worked the farm together until Bartholomew died of Pneumonia at the age of 46 when Meredith was only 19.
Later that year, Meredith could not work the farm by herself and her parents left her no money to hire anyone. So she lost the family farm and lived on the streets until she met Christopher and fell in love with him. They later got married when she was 21 and the had a daughter they named her Priscilla and due to tragic events, Priscilla died 22 hours after she was born.
This death reminded Meredith of her late father who she loved dearly and her late mother who she didn’t remember and never truly got to meet. Meredith was traumatized from the experience and they never had any more kids. She wanted to do her parents justice, so she went to school and became a famous fashion designer because her parents were always fascinated with the richer peoples clothing and fashion. She became a millionaire and donated 1/4 of her fortune to children’s hospitals, shelters, and the homeless. She was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1965 for her donations to those in need.
She lived a happy life. She was happier than she had ever been before with her husband, until her husband died when he was 89 of old age, peacefully, in his sleep. Meredith had finally gotten used to living with love in her life and now that all her love was gone she began to smoke and drink away her depression. On top of this she became a “crazy dog lady” and owned 20 dogs in her small home she had bought about two years after the death of her husband. After a few years she got very sick and died peacefully, while sitting in her recliner chair, watching television, with her favorite dog, a Maltese- Chihuahua mix, named Shelly.
Meredith lived a difficult life but she is a huge inspiration to all women that no matter what happens to you, you can always persevere and do what you love the most!
– In loving memories,
Meredith Grace Lacy 1876-1980