Emma's wooden shoes
The wooden shoemaker

The wooden shoemaker

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Giving my dear husband a hard time about the pronunciation of German surnames is one of my great joys in life. Gary always responds quickly, firmly, assuredly. That is, until we came to his great-great-great grandfather, George Tuchscherer. Give it a try – how would you pronounce it? Gary says it’s do-SHARE. What? How in the world do you get do-SHARE out of Tuchscherer? Gary simply shrugged and repeated: do-SHARE. The great-great-great grandson was tickled when a note from his…

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forced entry

forced entry

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It’s been challenging to decide whether to include this poem Mom wrote in 1976 in a blog post. It was a turbulent time in the nation, despite the flag-waving Bicentennial Celebration. Current and ongoing news stories about violence against women and the reaction of a wink and a shrug by some provided the nudge I needed to share this: a dialogue on values during a forced entry get out of my houseshe screamed about herself as she was being raped…

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bag of receipts
A bag of receipts

A bag of receipts

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What stories will be revealed as I go through this bag of receipts? The clear plastic bag was in among the family archives we brought home from Mom and Dad’s house in 2021. With the initials M&D written on a card in Dad’s handwriting, I expected it to be filled with his parents’ paper memorabilia. It was soon clear Dad labeled the bag to show it contained odds and ends from his long life with Mom. And it was meant…

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1985 Dad's blueberries
‘Homecomings’

‘Homecomings’

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In this 2004 poem, Mom remembers her youngest child’s return from the hospital as a newborn in 1964 and again from serving overseas in the Marines. Homecomings Soon after you were bornyour Father took your brothers sister berryingyour Grandmother steadied the housefor your homecoming and for the berry pickersthe two of us took off to bed after the admiration partyand the blueberries went into piesa succulent sleep in a hot ovenon a summer afternoon Years later on another summer afternoonwe…

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1945 Missing Andrew Wagner
The telegram

The telegram

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Leo and Minnie Wagner waited a long while for a son. They’d married in 1909 and settled down on a farm a few miles west of Gary’s ancestors here in southern Indiana. Minnie was a Mehling. In our family tree, she is Gary’s first cousin, twice removed. By 1922, Leo and Minnie had five daughters. That July, though, a son was born. Think of the love and care Andrew Matthias must have received from all those sisters! The next year,…

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broom dance
‘Three Brooms’

‘Three Brooms’

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I came across this poem in quite a roundabout way. A few days ago, it occurred to me that I don’t have stress dreams anymore. Really, that “I’ve got a final to take but didn’t even attend any of the classes and can’t find the classroom” sort of dream. Or, “it’s time to go on stage, and I really meant to memorize my lines, but hung around backstage playing cards instead.” Gone. All gone. Seven years ago. What a coincidence;…

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sumac shrubs in our backyard
‘What Red’

‘What Red’

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What’s that out in the woods? Farmer Gary is so patient with my ignorance of all things nature. “Sumac,” he replied. “It’s a shrub.” The leaves were orange last week. Now they’re red. Mom had something to say about sumac back in 2005: What Red What red returns in Autumnin sumac dogwoods the sugar maples We follow itin hills and hollowsthe ponds reflecting The color calls in days alive and readyin this reign of red ~ joan vayo ~ 25…

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Animal Farm
Banned books starter kit

Banned books starter kit

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It’s that time again: Banned Books Week. Here – in no particular order – are a score of the banned books I’ve read and written about on this blog over the past seven years. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway As is customary around this house at the end of each month, I checked to see if the book had ever been banned. It makes sense that the Italian fascist state wasn’t crazy about it. But parts of the…

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semi
‘Don’t make me get Bubba!’

‘Don’t make me get Bubba!’

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Please don’t think for a second that we’ve run out of family stories. It’s just that Farmer Gary has this “Bubba” story he’s been wanting to tell in the worst way. (You may notice I just set up the old gag Abraham Lincoln used for describing his dancing abilities. “I wanted to dance with Mary in the worst way – and I did.” Although with Gary’s accent, maybe it should be “wurst way”?) This audio clip is a tiny bit…

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1997 Gardner
The Gardner story

The Gardner story

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In a search for Irish ancestors on Dad’s side of the family … … I got sidetracked. After a career of staying on course, working with a focus on specific results, it’s kind of fun to skip around on the various ancestry sites, in search of family stories. Even, that is, if they are stories from other families. Here’s where we are: We have a story from Le Nouvelliste newspaper in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. Dated 30 May 1964, this article is…

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