For the last three days, the haunting melody of the Beatles’ “She’s Leaving Home” has tormented my brain. Now that I read through the lyrics, though, I realize very little applies. Our youngest isn’t running away. James is heading into his new life. Adult life. About an hour ago, Gary and I waved from our front porch (a lovely tradition from Mom’s aunt and uncle May and Pip) as James pulled out of the driveway with the last load of…
“I don’t know why you want to vote. You vote them in, the shit-asses do whatever they want anyway.” – Mike Mehling, circa 1940s Tuesday was the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote, so I started asking family members if they had any stories about our female ancestors voting for the first time, presumably in 1920. Gary’s immediate response was the above quote from his maternal grandfather, Mike Mehling (1888-1964). He certainly made no bones about his opinions, usually…
Today is the anniversary of V-E Day. That’s “Victory in Europe Day,” the day the Allies accepted Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender in World War II. Gary’s Dad, Andrew, celebrated in Austria. A soldier there with the U.S. Army, he had to wait his turn to make it back home. There was a “point system” and as a single fellow he had fewer points than those returning to wives and children. Andrew was a long way from home, but he’d survived…