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Category: Vayo

President Truman addresses Boys Nation 1946
Best All Around in ’46

Best All Around in ’46

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Remember when Bill Clinton was running for president and this picture went public of him as a teenager, shaking hands with President John Kennedy? Well, that was during an annual event called Boys Nation. It was (and still is) sponsored by the American Legion. My dad attended the very first gathering back in August of 1946. Dad also shook the president’s hand, as is tradition during the week-long convention for future leaders from every state. Only his presidential handshake was…

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Cameron and plush squirrel
Nuts to you!

Nuts to you!

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My parents are nature lovers. (For a reason I don’t recall, this moniker was often pronounced “nay-CHOO love-OOS” over the years.) My two older brothers even went to “nature camp” back in grade school. Indeed, they each won a free week at Nature Camp for scoring highly on tests given following Saturday morning nay-choo films at the local museum in Pittsfield. I went just once. Sacrificing Saturday morning cartoons for a chance at nature camp just wasn’t worth it to…

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Wedding Day
City mouse, country mouse

City mouse, country mouse

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Nearly four decades ago – on August 7, 1982 – Gary and I got married. We’d met 18 months prior. I was a reporter, he was a local farmer fighting the federal government to save his land. My first words to my future husband: What the hell’s a watershed? Gary’s animated response won me over, and I’ve never tired of his stories in all these years. We met in February of 1981. Gary popped the question in December. We planned…

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Mom's typewriter
The typewriter

The typewriter

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Carefully sorting through the precious photos from Mom and Dad’s past, I’ve come across a stack of tiny prints from 1953. Dad confirms that they were photos Mom sent to him while he was serving in the Army overseas. They are nothing short of charming, as Mom added a tiny note to each. Dad brought them home from Korea and saved them all these years. The newlyweds must have missed each other desperately. There was no Internet or mobile-phone service…

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Vayo siblings, 1937
Angels and angles

Angels and angles

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So where did Dad fit in with yesterday’s post about 8th grade graduation? He and Mom were both born in 1930 (his birthday is May 28, so he’s slightly younger). He should have been in that photo, too, right? One would think … Dad’s family moved from Lowell, Massachusetts, to New Haven in 1943. They moved in right across the street from the Cassidys on Chatham Street. The Vayos at number 32 and the Cassidys at 33. Dad started out…

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Mom & Dave Christmas 1957
Christmas in July

Christmas in July

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There’s something about the 25th of each month. Ever since I was a kid, something clicked in my brain: Christmas is coming! And today is Christmas in July. Gary and I packed light for our visit to Connecticut last week, knowing that we’d have plenty of extra stuff to bring back for use in the Too Much Brudders blog. Indeed, Dad had assembled a pile of photos and family keepsakes dating back 100 years. One of the first photographs to…

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