Been thinking about Grandma Alma again. Alma had a husband who made her promise to keep the family together and then died leaving her with eight small children, no money and a mortgage she couldn’t pay, and then people bought her farm stuff for pennies at auction and some of them never paid her. I … read more Big booties to fill
Category: Inheritance
Ancestry and DNA, memory, blood ties, what we gain from the past and our parents. The nonfiction book 1919 looks at people and events of that year in their convergence, as harbingers and initiators of all that happened in the century.
Got gear
A guy’s gotta have gear. Tom left the hospital with a wheelchair and a commode, and today he got a truck full of other gear to keep his engine running during home rehab. A hemi walker, half a walker that folds up small, and with which he can walk the length of a hallway and … read more Got gear
Exit stage left
When my parents died, it really wasn’t so bad to take care of their belongings. My three sisters and I did it in a couple of days. My parents lived very simply. They shared a single closet that was maybe 12 feet long for all their clothes. They had a collection of about 20 CDs, … read more Exit stage left
Alma’s progeny
Every summer for the past five years, my sister Ann and I have come to Ohio for a week. We do ancestry research and visit old friends. And our Schnellinger cousins host a family reunion. Every year, there’s at least a couple of relatives I don’t know. Usually I know all my cousins, but not … read more Alma’s progeny
Through the lens
In the midst of the reunion, my cousin Gary pulled me aside. “I have something for you,” he said. “Is now a good time?” I hadn’t seen Gary more than a couple times in the past 45 years. I couldn’t imagine what he could have brought from Arizona for me, or why we needed to … read more Through the lens
Someone else’s memories
By accident, I just found online seven photos of Dad from World War II that I didn’t even know existed. The caption for the featured photo above is “Burtonwood – Flying control personnel – 1 May 1943 Cpl Schnellinger, ‘Nice chap’.” Yep, my dad really was a nice chap. Everyone who knew him would have said that. … read more Someone else’s memories
70 years of marriage
June 11, 1946, was a Tuesday. There were so many weddings that year, with all the GIs returning from the war – churches were booked solid. So Peg and Walt got married on a Tuesday morning at her local church, St. Joseph’s in Monroeville, Ohio. I wonder how many people took off from work to come … read more 70 years of marriage
Farm boys at the airfield
When Dad was 22, he had never been on an airplane or been anywhere but Ohio. He was a farm boy before World War II. He was processed through Dayton at Wright-Patterson with thousands of other farm boys, and I guess that’s where he got a few days of training to be an air traffic controller. Then he … read more Farm boys at the airfield
I’m not who I thought I was
For many years, I’ve been proud to claim my German ancestry. The good qualities that Germans are known for – hard work, frugality, efficiency and organization – are ones that I like to see in myself. I’ve always bragged that I was German, on both sides, all the way back – unusual for an American whose ancestors immigrated in the 1830s … read more I’m not who I thought I was
Restoration work
My mother bought this bracelet 40 or 50 years ago, at a flea market or something. It’s sterling silver, from Mexico, and the stone is an amethyst. I always loved it. The stone had a fissure in it, which I thought was intriguing. Then Dad took some jewelry-making classes and replaced the amethyst with turquoise. It was … read more Restoration work