Harold Vayo ocean painting
The gift of our grandfather

The gift of our grandfather

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On this day in the year 1993, our paternal grandfather, Harold E. Vayo Sr., was laid to rest in Saint Mary Cemetery in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Grandpa had lived to be 94 years old. With her permission, here’s the Memorial Tribute my cousin Jean Marie (known to friends and family as “Muff”) presented during Grandpa’s funeral Mass at St. Joseph’s Lithuanian Roman Catholic Church on Rogers Street in Lowell: As we prepared for Christmas this year, God was busy preparing a…

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1970 Grandpa Vayo at the piano
A Christmas treasure

A Christmas treasure

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As miserable a job as it was to clear out Mom and Dad’s house back in June, sweet treasures from the past continue to surface. Among them, a cassette tape labeled “Dad playing at Ellen’s Christmas party.” Who’s Ellen? She was Dad’s sister Jean’s husband John’s sister (got that?). Ellen Cull, a teacher, lived in Lowell, Massachusetts. “Dad,” in this case, was Grandpa Vayo. It took me until Thanksgiving to have the courage to listen to the tape, fearing it…

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1951 Dad at Providence College
My father’s voice

My father’s voice

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Back in his college days, Dad was an editor of The Alembic student literary magazine at Providence College. In his senior year, as editor-in-chief, he wrote the occasional opinion piece. It’s been so interesting to read what he and the other editors thought about back then, 70 years ago. The following is from January 1951, a big year for the fledgling television industry. Along with advances in technology, shows such as the Hallmark Hall of Fame, Dragnet, and I Love…

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Maya Angelou
A boat, a cage, a murder, an affair

A boat, a cage, a murder, an affair

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November’s books take us on a river, to the Old West, to a deserted island, to London, and more. Book 1: Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome This delightfully humorous book seems surprisingly modern, considering it was published in 1889. As the title indicates, three young men decide a two-week boat trip up the Thames River is just what they need to get rid of their aches and pains. They pilot their own boat, they camp, they…

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Dickens LEGO set by Folio books
LEGO my legs!

LEGO my legs!

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Is there a term for a grandma who buys her LEGO-crazed grandson a set that she fully intends to keep, once built? (He will, of course, be welcome to visit it any time he likes.) I sprung the challenge on Cameron during our Thanksgiving get-together on Saturday. His response was almost poetic: Goose! If you buy it, I’ll build it! Within minutes, our Master Builder was hard at work, with his trusty sidekick, Papaw, at the ready. (Farmer Gary has…

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A soldier’s letter to ‘Joe’

A soldier’s letter to ‘Joe’

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Another mystery. This time, contained in a letter. As I’ve shuffled through hundreds of letters saved from the late 1940s and early ’50s, I’ve noticed Dad calls Grandma Cassidy (his mother-in-law) “Joe.” Thing is, her name wasn’t Josephine. It was Cecelia. Cecelia Margaret Regan Cassidy. And when she wrote to Dad, she signed the letters “Joe.” I wonder why … … maybe she worried that the other soldiers stationed in Korea might take a peek at one of the letters…

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1953 Joan Cassidy Vayo
The lyric poet

The lyric poet

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The year 1953 was a tough one for Mom. She was a newlywed, but her dear Hap was overseas, serving in the Army during the Korean Conflict. In one of her daily letters to Dad, she proclaimed, “After you get home, I don’t ever want to see a stamp again!” Of course, anyone who knew her is chuckling right now; Mom was a true and faithful letter-writer. She stayed in touch. So imagine her heartbreak when one of her favorite…

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All Souls Day
‘All Souls Day in Cellophane’

‘All Souls Day in Cellophane’

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Growing up as a Catholic kid, it was confusing. Probably exacerbated by the sugar hangover from Halloween. The Sisters at Sacred Heart School would test us: What. Comes. Next? Well, there was All Saints Day and All Souls Day, but in what order? (I got crafty one year and noticed they were alphabetical.) Good heavens, no wonder we were confused. Here’s what Wikipedia says: All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows’ Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All…

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Agatha Christie "Five Little Pigs"
Booktober

Booktober

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From the fictionalized horror of Ray Bradbury to an Agatha Christie crime novel, to the unforgettable history of a Holocaust survivor, this was a month full of unsettling stories. Book 1: Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton One word: Bleak. This classic New England tale details a life in which hope is just a waste of time. Revisiting Ethan Frome turned into a match of memories, as both Gary and I read it as high-school class assignments long ago. I remembered…

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1920 Jean & Rose Anna Plante family
A la douce memoire

A la douce memoire

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The prayer card handed out at Rose Anna Gilbert Plante’s funeral was in French. Even though she lived all but 14 years of her long life in Lewiston, Maine, Rose Anna still listed French as her spoken language on the census form every ten years. “A la douce memoire de …” means “To the sweet memory of …” Rose Anna lived to be 87. She outlived her “epouse,” Jean Vincent Plante by 29 years. (Jean was a brother to my…

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