2008

I can remember being in elementary school and the nun put a math problem on the board-- she wanted us to figure out how old we'd be in the year 2000. We all laughed at the thought, to think that there could even be such a year in our future. When you're ten years old, you think that anyone over 22 is really old.

I think of that math problem every year about this time. Happy New Year.

We went downtown to the Science Museum yesterday. They had two exhibits-- one on Chinese artifacts from more than 2000 years ago, and one on designer jewelry made in the 1930s through the 1950s. I forget the designer's name, and I don't know if every piece in that collection was owned by one person...... but the jewels were fabulous. Such a contrast between the two exhibits.... one culture making practical, useful items for eating and drinking, the other culture making baubles and trinkets that are merely ornamental.

The weather has finally warmed up again. We had a few days of below-50 during the day, and close to freezing at night. Now we're back into the high 70s, right where we should be at this time of the year. Everyone is getting ready for Mardi Gras now...... the bakeries in the supermarkets are displaying the Mardi Gras cakes, and I'm sure the gift shops around town have lots of purple/green/gold decorations.

We're still thinking about the Valentine's party..... we may have just a sit-down dinner for 8 or 10, instead of our usual Charades party for 30. I can't believe how the Charades group has grown over the years. To think that we started out with less than 10 people. Now I send out invitations to 36, and usually about 30 friends are able to come. The large parties are a lot of work, much more than the dinner parties where there's just a small group of us around the dining room table. I told my husband we have to make up our minds soon.... the bigger the party, the sooner the invitations have to be mailed.

Interesting surprise....... one of my aunts got a letter from a man near Lyon, France who is looking for my father. Apparently, this man says that my dad and his Army company used to spend time with his family during the war. From Sept. to Dec., 1944, to be exact. The man in France found my aunt's name in the NY phone book, and had an interpreter send a letter to that address. The way the story goes--- my dad had kept in touch with the man and his family after the war was over, but then they lost contact after a few years.

So now, all these years later, the French man is wondering how my dad is, and is he even still alive, and can he get in touch with him again, for old time's sake. Which is where I come in. My aunt gave me the information... the name and address of the French man and his family, plus the name and address of the interpreter. My dad clearly remembers the French family, and asked me to write to the man and send a couple of photos. I will send one picture of my dad in his Army uniform, taken before the war ended, and one photo of myself with my dad, taken a few yeas ago.

I asked my dad how he communicated with the French man and his family if he didn't speak French and the man didn't speak English. My father said that everyone in his unit spoke a few words of a lot of different languages, and they were able to get their point across after a few tries. And when all else failed, he said they would draw pictures. "It was The War.... you did what you could to let people know what you needed to tell them. And if they took the time to listen, you knew right away that they weren't going to shoot you."