My brother-in-law got his socks yesterday. We put the wrong address on the package the first time and it came back to us so we re-mailed it on Wednesday afternoon and he got them on Friday. Not bad . . from Texas to New York!
He’s the funniest guy and I love talking to him. He’s 90 and he loves to talk. Last night, he was telling me some story and in the middle of it, he said “I should write a book!” Oh, yes. He really should. Growing up in a Sicilian family, with his dad owning a construction company in New York . . yes, he should write a book. We talked for 51 minutes (I had to go back and look at my phone this morning because Vince said “You and my brother were on the phone for an hour!) He’s the typical Italian guy you see in the movies.
There was an older sister and I never met her. Vince’s brother told me that she knitted socks for him too and he still has some of those socks so I know he’ll take care of them.
Back 15 or more years ago, I made him a quilt – a Stack & Whack with pinup girls for the backing. I think he was a wild one in his younger days and I thought that backing was perfect for his quilt. I also made a quilt for his wife and a quilt with a pieced dog on it for their dog. Every time I talk to him, he tells me that he’s still using the quilt I made for him.
Frank was their dad and he did a lot of concrete work too. This is a plate he put in all the sidewalks he did in the area. As the old sidewalks were jack hammered to make way for new sidewalks, Vince’s brother would rescue the plates when he would find them and he made this for Vince to keep. Pretty neat to have! Vince’s dad was born in 1897. I wish he had written a book too!
We should all write a book! It’s sad to think that everything we know, all the memories . . when we’re gone, that’s all gone too. I love to listen to Vince’s brother and my uncle tell stories. So much history lives within these people . . and dies when they pass on.
Carol Harper says
In a way, you ARE writing a book, with your blog…
Nelle Coursey says
He should record these memories for you! My grandfather told of going from Bronte Texas to California in the 1800’s! They went by wagon and had to hobble the horses! Took them 3 months to get there. There were no roads back then! And we think we have pot holes!! Pat’s dad told me a lot of stories also. He interviewed Eleanor Roosevelt in Abilene in the late 30’s or early 40’s! They moved to BWD in 1940 when Pat was 3 months old! I wish I had recorded him as well. He worked for the West Texas Chamber of Commerce at the time. We have met a lot of people as well through the years when we had the County Progress Magazine. It was the official publication for the County Judges and Commissioners Association for the State of Texas. It was a monthly magazine and Pat went to 5 conventions a year, never missed a one. As far as I know his dad never did either. His dad bought it in 1940 and Pat and Sam bought it from him in 1976. That is a lot of meetings! We sold it in 1995 to H.C. Zachery in 1995.
We have the blocks of the letterhead for the magazine that printed the masthead for all those years!! And we have Pat’s dad’s signature on a block. Wouldn’t take for those. I confiscated a lot of type trays (metal ones) that I was going to paint on but never have. Since they are metal, I was going to make memo boards out of them! I may still do that. They have that spray paint that is like a chalk board.
Dottie says
It’s wonderful knowing the gifts you make are so appreciated.
Rebecca in SoCal says
One of my favorite Stack ‘n Whacks ever!
Susan Nixon says
I have a blog just for that. All the stories my aunt told me, siblings told me, things I remember, stories I’d tell my children, family history stories I find … they all go on that blog, and it’s private. Every once in a while, I save the whole thing … you know in case the internet blows up, or the sun comes out and dries up the cloud. LOL Anyway, it’s amazing what you’ll remember if you start talking to friends, and I go right home and write things up in that blog. I use the tags and categories so a person could look up stories about various people or genealogy information about a particular family. It’s fun to do it, but our church really emphasizes family history and that’s how I got started.