I remember years ago seeing a movie starring Glenda Jackson whom I believe was one of the best actresses around. The movie was entitled “Flowers in the Attic” and centered around three children that were shunned by Jackson (the grandmother), because her daughter bore them out of wedlock. The storyline took place during the middle ages when Victorian beliefs were very strong.

It is strange because even during the time of the Roman Empire, pedophilia was acceptable but adultery was not. Children born out of wedlock were shunned. The storyline has the children’s mother visiting the grandmother who is of course outraged that her daughter would not only bear children out of wedlock, but actually bring them to visit her.

She forces them to live in an upstairs bedroom in the attic. At first, they are fed three times a day. But as days turn into weeks and the daughter does not leave, the children are virtually left to starve to death. As they know they are dying, they try to imagine some sort of childhood. They look for toys, the put on clothes they find. But eventually they grow weaker and weaker and they pass away. They are forever locked away physically and mentally.

We all have our “attics.” We all look for ways to make pain go away or make people believe things are not what they really are.  I have my flower in the attic-the attic is his mind. I know one day he will find the steps and come down them and face life head on.

When I worked at the Bridgeport Post years ago, I remember editing a story for a book about Bridgeport myself and a few other staff members were putting together.  I came across an article about a boy. He was 15 years old at the time. It was the late 19th, early 20th century. Of course things were different then. Parents were PARENTS. Not the watered down version the state forces us to be today.

Well, to make a long story short, the father was getting angrier and angrier at his son. He was ready to disown him. He called him lazy. He was tired of him not doing anything-school or work. He finally got fed up, gave him his life savings of nearly $500 and threw him out. The father told him not to come back unless he made something of himself.

It was hard decision. The father was depressed for many years and finally died not knowing what ever happened to his son.

What happened to this kid? You all know his name. Who was this “flower” in the attic that finally bloomed?

Samuel Chase.