A bag of receipts
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 for his children to explore.
Shall we dig in together?
In chronological order, we’ll start with 1954 Withholding Tax Statements.
In the year 1954, Dad worked for three bosses: the military, an insurance company, and General Electric.
Mom worked at the New Haven Free Public Library. Here she is, pictured in the newspaper:
Dad had served in the Army since 1952. When he finished his tour of duty in May of 1954, Dad returned to Mom in New Haven. After nearly two years of marriage, they could finally be newlyweds!
Dad was of the understanding there was a job waiting for him in a General Electric training program. It was all set up before he left for boot camp. But it turned out they didn’t save room for him.
Before long, though, Dad landed a job with the National Surety Corporation. Someday I’ll find the note with his boss’s name on it, and fill it in here. Dad thought the world of him. Why? He coached Dad in forgiveness when G.E. approached to say they had room for him in the training program after all. Dad felt like a louse at the thought of leaving his new job so quickly. But his boss helped him understand it was important not to let your frustration over things in the past cloud your decision-making for your future. Even though he would have been happy for Dad to stay, his boss at National Surety Corporation encouraged his new employee to jump and grab ahold of the G.E. opportunity.
Next, we jump ahead to 1970
When we cleared out Mom and Dad’s house in 2021, I wondered what happened to Moses.
Moses was a wall hanging. A dark-brown carved wooden statue. I remember his appearance in Pittsfield, and that Dad referred to him as “Mo,” which resulted in inappropriate snickers around the dinner table.
According to this receipt, Mom purchased Moses just a month or so before we left Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and moved to Fairfield, Connecticut.
I wonder if Moses was a birthday gift for Dad – the purchase was just two days before he turned 40.
After polling my brothers, I can state we all remember Moses, but not one of us knows where he ended up. (Yes, I know, I know … he’s in a basket floating down the River Nile.) Maybe he was gifted to an admirer or donated to a church rummage sale?
Check it out!
A cashed check serves as a receipt, right?
In this case, Mom saved the check that paid for the printing of her book of poems, when in the rain a snow, in 1984
We’ve still got a few handfuls of Mom’s book left. Many were given away at her visitation in 2019. Before that, she was generous in giving them out to friends and family. And according to a few other receipts I’ve come across, local shops sold them, as well.
Let’s end this story with the poem Mom chose for the title of her book:
“when in the rain a snow” ©1984 Joan Vayo. All rights reserved.
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