Brother and Sisters

The house across the street from us was sold recently and the new owner has been harvesting the woods for lumber.  It's been so quiet over there for so long that I'd gotten very spoiled.  The activity and noise startles me nearly every time but I suppose we'll adapt.

It's the sound of the chainsaw that takes me right back to Oliver Street Silver Creek.  I was trying to nap and the chainsaw noise woke me or kept me from falling back to sleep.  Whenever I hear that sound, it takes me right back to my 3 year old self.  I can feel myself in that bed--for some reason it was a big bed--maybe Mom and Dad's.  Chainsaws = naps.  Go figure.

Anyhow, I thought it might be fun to look at some old group pictures for this blog post.  I'll apologize to Judy right off that I have more without her than with her.

 Fella loving on Weenie

 I'm apparently rocking the Popeye look

 There's Judy.  Look at Mary Jane's hair!!  Can you remember how that couch fabric itched?

 Weenie really had a lap-ful here.  He looks very happy.

 Aww.

 I like this one especially.

Yo! Cowboy!!  Paula looks very proper here.

Miss you all.

March 16 26 years hence

To celebrate Amy's birthday today, I thought it would be fun to reflect on her actual birth day.  I plan to share some of my 26 year old memories of those days surrounding her birth and then I will share some reflections from my Spring/Summer 1988 journal.  It might be fun to see how they differ!  You'll have to trust my methodology here.

Memories first:  My first pregnancy progressed pretty much as expected though Jim had planned to take his band to NYC to march in the St. Patrick's Day parade right around Amy's due date.  March is Music in our Schools month so he had taken a group to the local mall to perform.  I went and ran straight into one of our former students who shouted out on the mall "There's Miss Ryan!"  I was just about 8 3/4 months pregnant and very embarrassed.  I think I left.

The night before he was supposed to leave, I made tortellini for dinner and did some ironing.  Not long later, I began to feel kind of sick to my stomach.  This progressed and we fretted the way first time parents do.  I think Jim put his foot down and we called the doctor.  Off to the hospital we were directed.  I was a bit annoyed because I was SURE they were going to send us right back home and I did not want to be "that" person.  We carried a bowl because I felt sicker and sicker.  Jim came off the Rte 17 ramp a little too fast and was stopped by the police.  It was a classic Lucy episode.  Jim told the officer to follow us to the emergency room if he wanted to.  He did not.  They kept me.  Amy was born the following afternoon.

By that time, the band had departed without Jim and I'm pretty sure this was the main subject of the daily gossip wave on campus.  I remember Jim holding Amy watching the parade on the TV in the room.  I remember answering the phone in the room groggily and the person on the other end said "Amy?" hesitantly and I said drunkenly "Yeah...isn't that a nice name?"  The call was for the mother in the other bed--Amy.    I remember they brought another new mother in to share the room and it was a student of ours.  "There's my library teacher!" I heard in my haze of drugs and lingering flu symptoms.  When I came to, I was in a different room thanks to Jim. 

Some memories of that time written in my journal 26 years ago:  Back at the hospital, we knew we were in for it when the admitting nurse said "Another one?".  We were whisked off upstairs and monitored.  It wasn't long before we realized this was the real thing--they didn't send us home! Your dad had to make the calls to tell people he couldn't make the trip.  This, of course, meant the entire school knew what we were up to by this time.  ......I was so sure you were a boy--that's what most everyone predicted.  That--combined with the anesthesia--made me almost forget to ask if if you were a boy or girl.  I was harboring a secret wish for a firl just like you.  I was so lucky.  

And, honest to God, here's the last entry in this journal written the fall Amy had started kindergarten:
You are currently in a phase where you are being very very helpful. You take pride in looking after your brother for me and especially seem to enjoy helping me cook.  The other day, as I was sort of dozing on the couch, you climbed up to the cupboard and set the dinner table with everything we needed by yourself!  I was very impressed.  Now, excuse me--at the moment you two say you are locked in the bathroom.

And nothing more follows.........This probably explains why I still have -to this day- one of those keys for such situations taped inside the cupboard door OUTSIDE the bathrooms....just in case.

Flight 375 bound for Philadelphia

As I write this today, a Malaysian jet liner remains "missing" with 239 passengers.  After 3 or so days of searching, there is still no trace of this Beijing bound flight.  How is such a thing even possible in this day and age?? 

Airplane disasters are statistically infrequent (we are told) yet remain a serious impediment to travel for some.  One thing we know is that they generate a fair amount of media attention and corrective measures when appropriate.

I found an interesting story involving a "non-blood" that I thought you'd find interesting as well.  Thanks to the 1960 media attention, I've been able to fill in some details related to our family's story.  As a side note, the steps I took in this research completely validate the Ancestry.com commercials about following the "shaky leaf".  If it wasn't such a tragic story, it would make a good ad.

Elsie Saunders Supple was 70 years old when she died as her plane crashed into the sea while attempting to take off from Boston's Logan airport in October 1960.  She was apparently on her way to Pennsylvania to see a grandson.  (If you're curious, Elsie is the mother-in-law  of our 1st cousin 2x removed: George Ryan grandson of Irish patriarch Timothy Ryan).

 This is one account of the crash and its aftermath.  It's a little bit graphic so be aware if you read this.  It's interesting to note that thousands of starlings suddenly took off and were sucked into the propeller driven engines causing the crash, close enough to shore that bystanders waded out to assist in the rescue.  This accident resulted in corrective measures to help insure bird related crashes could be avoided. 

Furthermore, this article notes that seat design at the time may have prevented more lives from being saved.  They detached upon impact then rolled forward apparently causing some people to drown.  In my imagination, this is what happened to Elsie.  Presumably seat design was studied and adjustments were made as a result of this accident.

As tragic as it is to think about a 70 year old grandmother dying just a few feet from shore in a plane crash while on her way to see her grandson, it is gratifying to know that positive changes resulted saving future lives.  Our family indeed has been a part of the history of the country and world!

I have some newspaper articles which describe our family members coming to the hospital shortly after the victims were delivered but Blogger doesn't play nicely with Adobe so I can't share it here.  Ask if you are interested and I will send it to you. 

In the meantime, SIGH, I guess we are anticipating some MORE SNOW later this week.  What would March be without some kind of snowstorm?  Jeez.