赤毛のアン5章20

I do wish she'd lived long enough for me to remember
calling her mother. I think it would be so sweet to
say 'mother,' don't you? And father died four days
afterwards from fever too. That left me an orphan
and folks were at their wits' end, so Mrs. Thomas
said, what to do with me.

orphan:孤児
be at one's wits' end:途方に暮れる,往生する

お母さんって呼べるようになるまで生きていてくれたらな
あ。『おかあさん』って呼ぶの、たまらなく素敵よね。そ
の4日後に父も熱病で亡くなったわ。孤児になった私を周り
の人はどうすることもできないし、どうしたものかとトーマ
スさんは思ったのね。