Give us a D...Give us an A...Give us a D....What's that spell?

Can you find your father in this picture?

I have this labeled as taken in 1945 which matches right up with what I figure are Dad's high school years.  I guess he came by his Bonaventure cheering position honestly!  And our cheerleaders Kathy Paula and Mary Jane's pom poms didn't fall far from the tree.  There's a 1945 Gloucester High yearbook available on eBay that I expect includes Dad.  They want $65 for it (!) which is too rich for my blood especially considering we probably trashed them when we cleaned out the house.  Guess we should have been more on top of that at the time but that 1945 Gloucester yearbook has been on sale for several weeks now (no wonder at $65).

Happy Father's Day to all our dads out there.  Sure is a different experience today than it was in the past.

More about those Franciscan brothers

I guess I'm not the only one interested in the story of the twin friars:  See this NPR story.

Gotta Love Those Franciscans!

I recently saw a headline noting that twin 92 year old brothers died within hours of each other in Florida.  This intrigued me so I clicked the link and was delighted to see the tag line was Olean!  So, of course, I read more carefully and learned that these two men were Franciscan priests who served many years together at St. Bonaventure.  I was especially tickled by this article from the Buffalo News.  It appears that these two were quite the cards and I couldn't help but smile as I read the article.  It made me think that if I were ever to have to be a priest, I would choose to be Franciscan.  I remember Mom and Dad telling some great stories especially about Fr. Crispin.  It looks like these two were on campus during at least some of the years that Mom and Dad were there so I am guessing some of their stories may actually have been about them!

This is at our kitchen table prior to Judy's wedding.  Note the (usual) table decorations!  Fr. Crispin came all the way to Walton to perform weddings for Kathy, Judy and I.  I can't remember if Paula's was conducted by Fr. Crispin or not but it was always fun to have the out of town wedding guests kind of gasp at his laid back behavior (or worse if he drove back to the rectory after sitting at our kitchen table for a few hours).  We also could reassure our guests that even though it was a Catholic wedding, it was a Franciscan style Mass!  Short and sweet and to the point.

He obviously had a long history with our family and I was sad to learn that he died when his oxygen ignited from a lit cigarette.  I see the same smile in these pictures taken 34 years apart.  Gotta love those Franciscans!

This is what remains of my chocolate malt from Sonic after sitting in my closed car for about 4 hours in low 60 degree weather.  I hadn't had very much of it before I had to leave it behind in the car for what turned out to be several hours so the chocolate malt ice cream mixture melted into a liquid mess.  But the "whipped cream" didn't change shape or texture one little bit.  It is very disturbing to think that this stuff didn't disintegrate AT ALL -- even when I dumped it down the disposal--it was still very cohesive and perfectly formed.  Really makes you wonder what it is made of.  I thought about looking it up but I don't think I want to know and I certainly don't want to burden you with that knowledge. 

When I think of our childhood, sometimes I think about all those commonplace every day habits of the adults in our lives that are now considered unhealthy or even dangerous.  Leaving meat out on the counter for hours and hours; full fat milk; no use of seat restraints or car seats--the list could go on and on.  We have been well trained in different habits, but it seems to me that no unhealthy or dangerous habit that Mom and Dad may have exposed us to could possibly be as scary as this blob of white.

Look at what someone sent me.

Don't remember this night, but that is not a surprise. Paula?

This time of year is a constant reminder of college graduation.  While I don't really have a clear memory of my own, there are pictures and documents to prove I really did graduate as an undergrad and with my Masters from Geneseo.  The people on my floor are gathering together this summer at the old stomping grounds for a reunion--all these years later!  

I think this is Dad's St. Bonaventure graduation and he's here with his mom to the far left, Uncle Peter to the far right and his Aunt Bud (Viola Ryan).  Dad seemed especially fond of Aunt Bud and I've been working to research her life recently -- with very little luck so far.  Apparently she carried on a long term affair with a married man and never married herself.  I have a note that she may have died in 1957 which would have only been a couple of years after this picture was taken.

Ryan has finished his first year at Cortland and has moved back "home" (it's still home here in Harpursville) for him.  Makes me think of all the changes in the last year or so.  One year ago, Jim was not retired; Kathy was in Florida; Ryan hadn't graduated from high school yet.  WOW!  Within a year after college graduation, Mom got her drivers license, a husband and was pregnant with her first child.  WOW!

Guess who's coming to dinner?

Less than a year from now (on April 1 2012), the 1940 census will become public.  Yahoo for me--and for you too if you have any interest whatsoever in family history.  The US census records are very helpful in many ways; one of the biggest is that you can definitively put a person in a particular place at a specific time.  The federal government has been taking a census every 10 years since 1790.

I'm sure you remember filling out your own census forms for the 2010 and 2000 census.  This is not how it was done in 1790, believe me.  More's the pity because by the time the 2000 and 2010 census records become public, I don't think they will be nearly as helpful (or charming) as they are now. 

People curious about 1940 can use some census "substitutes".  One such substitute is the city directory.  These are kind of like phone books but contain very interesting additional information.  I was lucky enough to be able to purchase the Olean City Directory for 1939-40 and this is the entry for the Flynns:

You'll see Barbara Flynn (Gammie Flynn) listed as a nurse at 117 1/2 S 6th St with son Charles.  You also see Mom at home with Nanny and Weenie.  Nanny is even listed separately as stenographer for her father and brother.  Uncle 4-5 and Fat Aunt Marg (John and Margt B) are also listed.

A little searching around dug up an interesting little tidbit.  This is a different page of the 1939-40 city directory:

Take a closer look at the listing for Harry McLaughlin.  Mary F (his wife) is Nanny's sister "Teen".  Their address is 117 S 6th St--same as for Gammie Flynn!  Gammie apparently lived at the same residence as her daughter in law's (Nanny) sister.  That's kind of an interesting dynamic, don't you think?  These may have been apartments next to one another but it appears to me it was the same house.

This very topic has been in the news recently.  There's an uptick in the number of households combining for reasons such as unemployment or other. This is certainly true in our families today.  Petey now lives with his dad since he has separated from the mother of his baby.  Cousin Kevin is living with his parents and Kathy is living with us.  Although I don't really know the reasons why Gammie ended up in the same house as her daughter-in-law's sister (!?!) it brings some comfort to know this is a tradition that lives strong today.    You just never know who might be at the dinner table for the foreseeable future.