cogdog on “Oh no, Granny! I must call you and apologize for not doing so on your birthday, last Friday… at least I made your split pea soup…” She would have been 116 that day — plus or minus as the story goes, October 15 was picked by a Census taker since Baby Janet lacked a birth […]
cogdog on I always (gently) teased my grandmother that she had to live to be 100. And this was no childhood thing; I am pretty sure I started this campaign in my 20s. I’m not sure why I did, and likely it was because I never could imagine a world where she was not in it, even […]
cogdog on This week of February was always handy for remembering to send cards or do phone calls to my parents. I knew the 5th and the 8th marked their anniversary and Mom’s birthday (often I’d get them switched but close enough is always good enough by parents like mine). Yes, the 5th came, and as my […]
cogdog on In its impeccable reminding, my calendar does not have to worry end up being the butt of You Had One Job. Yesterday, was the reminder that it would have been my brother David’s 67th birthday. As it was, he did not see past 34, passing away, likely alone, in a state mental institution in Maryland. […]
cogdog on Today would have been my brother’s 64th birthday. I’d probably tease him about being old. We mostly all have an optimistic start. A number of years ago my Mom sent a hand curated little photo book of family photos, annotated in her hand-writing. David was definitely a happy baby in these photos. Her words, her […]
cogdog on The reminder from Google Calendar is stark “Cousin Bobby Klugman Y (1984)” That comes from family births/deaths/anniversaries I pulled from my Mom’s calendar after she passed away. “Y” means “yahrzeit” for the candles Jewish people light on the date marking a death. I think Bobby was my Dad’s cousin, his mom Helen was my grandmother’s […]
cogdog on Many people (not here) see blogging as a thing of the past; most of the regular ones I was reading back in the early to mid 2000s have fallen silent or just vanished. Insert whatever theory you have. This one keeps going, no let up since it’s start in 2003. Here is but one small […]
cogdog on I bet you don’t ever look to see what’s on the bottom side of your furniture. I didn’t. Not till today. The featured photo on this post is the bottom side of a most special piece of furniture, the rocking chair that belonged to my deceased brother. It has its own story (read only if […]
cogdog on Yes, here comes yet another family memory story about my grandmother, who shall be referred to usually as “granny”. I’m still working through the adaption to TapeWrite of her telling them recorded in 1994. Another long ago memory came to me a few weeks ago, the taste of her thick split pea soup. As a […]
cogdog on According to a calendar, today my grandmother should be celebrating her 111th birthday, such a symmetrical (and big) number. I will do it for her. One of my favorite stories she told was of not having a birth certificate, but as an adult, she was able to get one from census records that provided enough […]