Christmas is a big deal around our house. When the boys were little, we went a bit nuts with what went under the tree. To counteract that gimme-gimme message, we always made a point of anonymously donating wrapped gifts to children in need. It was a fun family activity to pick out gifts for these boys and girls and wrap them in festive paper.

When James was in Beta Club in high school, he came home one day with a similar plan in mind. Club members were asked to pick up some gifts for residents of a local nursing home.

James showed me the wish list he’d been given with ideas for his recipient. Things like liquid soap and shampoo were at the top of the list. I asked James what the gentleman’s name was.

They didn’t include a name. Just “male.”

I’ve got to tell you, that made me sad. We figured it was a privacy thing, but not knowing the name of the older man – who only asked for body wash – brought tears to my eyes.

We slowly perused the shampoo and body-wash aisle. The choices were numerous. Almost overwhelming. We sniffed a number of the products to get a feel for available fragrances and finally I just had to ask.

James, he needs a name. What should we call him?

Without hesitation, James came up with an answer:

“Walter. His name is Walter. We’ll call him Walter.”

That helped. A lot. Suddenly we just knew someone named Walter had to be an Old Spice man. James picked out a nice throw and a comfy pillow, too, plus a few other items for Walter. We hope he’s doing well.

Later that evening, we got to talking about how you don’t meet many young Walters these days. In fact, all the famous men named Walter aren’t around anymore: actors Walter Matthau and Walter Brennan. Newsman Walter Cronkite. And of course, Walt Disney.

My mom had an Uncle Walter. He lived on Lombard Street in New Haven, Connecticut, within walking distance of her childhood home on Chatham Street. He was the youngest of her dad’s three brothers. “Good natured,” is how Dad remembers Walter Cassidy, who worked as a “pickler” at Hummel Bros., a pork processing plant in the Long Wharf section of town.

While talking to Mom and Dad about Uncle Walter this evening, I grabbed my iPad and found out – to their great delight – that Hummel Bros. still exists and has a delightful “Our Story” section on their website.

Apparently, Hummel’s claim to fame is pale hot dogs.

This old advertisement is fantastic:

Here’s another Walter story that involves someone we’ve never met. On the drive up to Rose-Hulman, we like to avoid the interstates and travel through smaller communities. One in particular includes a hairpin turn. It’s one of those “pay attention NOW!” spots for drivers.

Each time we drive by, we wonder what led up to the addition of the gigantic arrow sign in front of the white picket fence. One hopes it was preventative – not as a result of someone missing the turn and plowing into the living room of that cute house.

Walter’s house.

One time we drove by, an older man was crossing the yard. Gary and I were delighted: There’s Walter! We briefly considered stopping and complimenting him on his charming home, but decided that might be a creepy thing to do.

And speaking of creepy, a few miles past Walter’s house, someone else’s front porch caught James’s attention.

Mom – did you see those people on the front porch? That was so creepy!

Well, no, I hadn’t. I was driving and watching for additional 90-degree curves in the road. James was convinced the people he saw weren’t real – they were mannequins. Or so he thought. I promised to watch on the way home and let him know.

Sure enough:

The front-porch mannequins weren’t the only examples of creepy, it turns out. Despite Gary driving far slower than the speed limit as we passed the house in question, it took me, well … three passings to catch photos of the lovely couple.

It wasn’t till later that we realized there was an additional person on the porch – a live human being. He waved at us the third time we drove by!

Who’s the creepy one now, right?!

There’s one more Walter who has a place in this post: Walter Sommers.

Here’s a video with just part of Walter’s amazing story about not only his experiences during the Holocaust but civil rights here in America:

There’s an annual event at the museum that is named in honor of Walter. It’s coming up this Saturday and will feature Dr. Eileen Angelini, who will present a program about French Women in the Holocaust. We highly recommend visiting CANDLES Holocaust Museum.

With all of these glorious Walters, I went looking for a quote from Walt Whitman to close this post.

He didn’t disappoint:

The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislatures, nor in its ambassadors or authors or colleges, or churches, or parlors, nor even in its newspapers or inventors, but always most in the common people.

– Walt Whitman. American poet 1819-1892

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