Comments on: Jewell

By: Stacey

Stacey — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 20:36:16 +0000

Lovely post - thanks for sharing!

_____________________________________

You’re most welcome! ~W

By: saidra

saidra — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 04:48:49 +0000

Beautiful tale…both of my grandfathers died from problems resulting from alcoholism. The stories I’ve heard about them are quite funny escapades and adventures, but perhaps more mortifying if one was there when they were lived out.

One grandfather used to talk and argue with me, no one else would do this with him, and because I didn’t live close…I hardly saw him, and I loved arguing and telling stories with him…we used to have an invisible dog and monkey that always ran around the room and entertained us (then again, when you wake up at 6am and start drinking whiskey and water and chain smoke until you pass out at noon only to rise and do it until bedtime, I wonder if those things aren’t more real?)

The other did stop drinking by the time I was big enough for us to go off on our own adventures…and he let me play with all the electric fun stuff in his car (it was a new technology then) before he took me to the liquor store he owned and let me have 2 pieces of candy…he was also the one who ate stewed tomatoes in his soup and told me they were chicken hearts. My mom laughed when I fessed up just a few years ago, cause’ she never could figure out why I stopped eating stewed tomatoes (and really, these grandparents were from KY, so they were always eating unusual things)

I loved them both very much, and wish I had more time with them…no matter how rascally they were…

_____________________________________

Sounds like a book in the making, Saidra! ~W

By: Capricorn Cringe

Capricorn Cringe — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:16:56 +0000

Something struck me about this piece that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Then I read it again. There is pure poetry here. There’s a rhythm that is almost unnoticeable - and I wonder if you did it purposely. If you did, you’re a genius. If you didn’t - you have a gift. This is why I first began reading … and why I keep returning.

On the mailbox … buy it. Life is too short to deprive ourselves of beauty.

_____________________________________

Ah, the patter. Thank you. So many people read and identify with the content and that’s cool. But I always wonder if the patter comes through. Years ago, I took a class taught by my English mentor that was called, “Writing to be Read”–but because we all had to read our work out loud each week, it got dubbed, “Writing to be Read Aloud”. She is Southern too, and there is a distinct rhythm that comes with our speech, I think. I’m afraid the rhythm stuck with me—and only got enhanced with the preaching classes in Seminary. I don’t know that it’s genius or gifted as much as it is ingrained. I don’t know how to NOT do it, when I seriously write. But… it means a lot that you noticed because it took a lot of work to gain that rhythm, which I tend to think of as voice. ~W

By: Margaret

Margaret — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 22:24:10 +0000

My mom’s dad was a temperamental, spoiled but hilarious and charismatic Italian dentist; I loved that man’s stories and would roll on the ground laughing. However, he was also verbally abusive and controlling of his family, and my mom has love/hate memories of him and the way he treated her mother. My maternal Nonna died at 50 of heart disease that would have been easily correctable a few years later. My dad’s dad was a brick mason and his mom a piano teacher. Neither one of them drank, and my paternal grandfather was a very taciturn Scot. He used to give us quarters to walk down the hill to the little drugstore for comic books. Thanks for bringing back the memories! About the mailbox–I’m not crafty, so I’d have to pay the price for a nice one. We have locking ones though, so it’s a non-issue these days.

_____________________________________

Well, I paid a price to let someone else be crafty—however, at a fraction of what the German import cost. Oof…~W

By: Karan

Karan — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 22:07:51 +0000

Every time I read one your family history stories, I’m sure we’re related.

This website: http://www.uglymailbox.com/ will help you avoid a big mistake. I live in fear that my mailbox will someday win a feature there.

_____________________________________

The way my family procreates, that’s entirely possible. :D And your ugly mailbox site had me laughing. I sure hope my replacement doesn’t fall into that category! ~W

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 21:39:14 +0000

Wonderfully told, Wende. My grandfather didn’t drink much, but he did go through some very difficult times through the Great Depression. We talk an awful lot about children growing up too quickly now, but I wonder if generations of people had greater burdens put on their shoulders earlier in life than they typically do now.

If you weren’t allergic to paint, I’d suggest that you decorate your own mailbox!

_____________________________________

Heh, I actually found a post box–but I’ll post that on Monday. ~W

By: kat

kat — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:55:16 +0000

Really a great afternoon story for a Friday!
I really enjoyed it
I just read a book by Jeannette Waters, The Glass Castle.
From your story about your family I think you’d love this book!
(It’s a memoir.)

___________________________________

Thank you! And I’ve read the book–it’s excellent. ~W

By: IZ

IZ — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:36:02 +0000

Ohhh - I love this piece. GREAT story. Helps that it is as close to true as we can find. Boy, kids of an era ago and beyond really had interesting lives, didn’t they? You begin to realize that Tom and Huck weren’t completely made up - probably based on real kids. I know that Joe was a generation or two removed from that, but still…

___________________________________

Thanks… yeah, that Joe was a piece of work—a regular Tom Sawyer! ~W