all y'alls with modems must hate me. ha ha ha ha ha oh, sorry. i'll stop the maniacal laughing. Aunt Judy wrote my father the above letter on June 25, 1967 (if any y'alls aren't so proficient with Roman Numerals) when she found out that, rather than coming home on leave after Officer Training School, Dad ("frater", being latin for Brother, in case any of y'alls aren't into Latin either) was joining the Army's elite Ranger training program. The reference to Aragorn, might I add, would be tres relevant, seeing as LoTR was released in the US in paperback in '66 or so, and was HUGELY popular for the first time among college students and the like. (hence things like "frodo lives!" scrawled in the NY subway, and such nonsense.) Dad had read it, by the way, and appreciated the comparison. I'm not sure how he felt about the V.C. relative to Orcs, however. Now her son, my cousin Aleksander (much given to things like the above) makes soooo much more sense... I've known very little of Judy, as she moved to Norway when she was in her early twenties, married a Norwegian, and has been back only for short visits. She has three sons, who are charismatic, handsome (very tall and pasty Nordic-type), amusing, articulate young men (between 22 and 17, i think-- not sure how old the youngest is), and whom I see far far too little of. Andreas (the oldest) is 9 days my senior and is studying electronic engineering in Trondheim. ... I guess it's just odd to see these things and think of my parents' generation as being my age. (For that matter... at the time this letter was written, my mother not only hadn't met my father, but also was... 17? Roughly my baby sister's age. Was just about to graduate high school. Forever ago for me, much less her! Oof.)
my dad's a pack rat. he still has EVERY MAP he was issued in Vietnam. Every single one. Even when they issued the wrong one. Because, at the time, they'd forget to give him a map, but require him to know where he was on it. So he developed a habit of hanging onto every map he was given just in case it might be useful in one of those situations. But he then kept them for 35 years even after moving to a new house 3 or 4 times. My family has so much STUFF. But both mom and dad were history majors in college, and are into history and so on. I saw a picture of my great-grandmother as a young woman, when I went home last time. And suddenly, my figure made SO much more sense... my mom isn't a particularly busty woman, nor is my grandmother-- both are reasonably well-endowed, but not quite to the extent I am. But Great-Grandma Denison-- wowie zowie. Yup. I am not without genetic precedent. So, while it may make a house (and garage and barn and second garage and chicken coop/storage shed) feel very small, it's sort of nice to have 'stuff' sometimes. Or this project wouldn't be nearly so cool.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2002-03-16 05:54 pm (UTC)ha ha ha ha ha
oh, sorry. i'll stop the maniacal laughing.
Aunt Judy wrote my father the above letter on June 25, 1967 (if any y'alls aren't so proficient with Roman Numerals) when she found out that, rather than coming home on leave after Officer Training School, Dad ("frater", being latin for Brother, in case any of y'alls aren't into Latin either) was joining the Army's elite Ranger training program. The reference to Aragorn, might I add, would be tres relevant, seeing as LoTR was released in the US in paperback in '66 or so, and was HUGELY popular for the first time among college students and the like. (hence things like "frodo lives!" scrawled in the NY subway, and such nonsense.) Dad had read it, by the way, and appreciated the comparison. I'm not sure how he felt about the V.C. relative to Orcs, however.
Now her son, my cousin Aleksander (much given to things like the above) makes soooo much more sense... I've known very little of Judy, as she moved to Norway when she was in her early twenties, married a Norwegian, and has been back only for short visits. She has three sons, who are charismatic, handsome (very tall and pasty Nordic-type), amusing, articulate young men (between 22 and 17, i think-- not sure how old the youngest is), and whom I see far far too little of. Andreas (the oldest) is 9 days my senior and is studying electronic engineering in Trondheim. ...
I guess it's just odd to see these things and think of my parents' generation as being my age. (For that matter... at the time this letter was written, my mother not only hadn't met my father, but also was... 17? Roughly my baby sister's age. Was just about to graduate high school. Forever ago for me, much less her! Oof.)
no subject
Date: 2002-03-16 06:40 pm (UTC)THIS TOTALLY ROCKS.
lucky you, your family has a historically preserved past
damn.
i'm jealous.
Re:
Date: 2002-03-16 06:46 pm (UTC)he still has EVERY MAP he was issued in Vietnam.
Every single one. Even when they issued the wrong one. Because, at the time, they'd forget to give him a map, but require him to know where he was on it. So he developed a habit of hanging onto every map he was given just in case it might be useful in one of those situations.
But he then kept them for 35 years even after moving to a new house 3 or 4 times.
My family has so much STUFF.
But both mom and dad were history majors in college, and are into history and so on.
I saw a picture of my great-grandmother as a young woman, when I went home last time. And suddenly, my figure made SO much more sense... my mom isn't a particularly busty woman, nor is my grandmother-- both are reasonably well-endowed, but not quite to the extent I am. But Great-Grandma Denison-- wowie zowie. Yup. I am not without genetic precedent.
So, while it may make a house (and garage and barn and second garage and chicken coop/storage shed) feel very small, it's sort of nice to have 'stuff' sometimes.
Or this project wouldn't be nearly so cool.