Our Quickie West Virginia Trip, part 2
For years my mother has told me she wants me and my brother to go through the stuff she removed from my grandmother’s house, and take what we want. She had some things set aside that she thought we might be interested in, and I always mumbled “OK,” knowing the day was safely off in some murky, ambiguous future.
But while we were in WV this past weekend, that day finally arrived. I was required to root through boxes of old stuff, and get all sad about my departed grandmother again. Fantastic.
She was one of those rare people who never had a negative word to say about anyone, and was pure good, as far as I could tell. She was a great cook, a real friend, and always there. Going through her belongings and dredging-up the feelings of loss again wasn’t exactly my idea of fun. But I had no choice in the matter, not really.
And, shockingly enough, it turned out to be kinda fun… I kept shouting, “Oh god, I remember that!” and “Holy crap!!” while Toney dozed-off in the background, from sheer boredom.
I think my mom wanted me to cart most of it away, but I only took a few small sentimental things. Some of the stuff was off-limits, because she wanted my brother to have it (I’m not sure how this was decided), but I think she was hoping I’d take the rest.
For instance, my grandfather’s copy of the Warren Report. What would I do with such an item? Seriously. I’ll tell you what I’d do with it… I’d take it from one of my parents’ closets, transport it to Pennsylvania, and put it inside one of our closets. I didn’t really see the logic in such an exercise.
Oh, well.
I did make one excellent score, though. Check it out. That thing has an interesting history, which I’ll tell you guys about at a later date. Plus, I love old radios, old time radio shows, and all that stuff. If there was ever an item CRYING OUT to be included in the Bunker Collection, that’s it. And now it is home.
Do you have any stories to tell about sorting through a departed family member’s belongings? Was anything interesting or surprising found? Tell us about it in the comments.
On Saturday we went to Carter Caves, in Kentucky. We went years ago, and it was pretty cool. On the previous visit we walked through some large caverns, saw an underground lake, etc. It was a good time, and somebody suggested we return on this visit.
However… there was a long wait until the next tour for the big caverns was supposed to start, and nobody wanted to hang around for it. Well, nobody but me, anyway. I mean, what else were we going to do? Go back to my parents’ house and watch even more HGTV?
But whatever… I was overruled, and it was decided we’d tour something called X-Cave, instead. It was described as “narrow passage,” and I didn’t care for the sounds of that, not one tiny bit. I was afraid I might get inside that shit, have some kind of claustrophobic freak-out, and throw myself into the “Devil’s Anus” bottomless pit, or something.
Indeed, after the guide opened the steel gate at the front of the cave, and we entered that smelly hole, I was fearing the worst. The ceiling was really low, and kept getting lower. I thought we were going to have to crawl through there, but it finally got a little taller.
We had to walk single-file, though, and my gut was brushing up against 750,000 year old formations. I was worried I might destroy a national treasure with one of my love handles or ass cheeks, and had to be on high alert at all times.
I’m surprised they allow people to walk through that thing, without signing a disclaimer or something. There’s jagged rocks everywhere, the ceiling kept coming down to roughly shoulder height, and the path was an obstacle course, like something off Wipeout. It was crazy.
And my mother just had knee replacement, a few short weeks ago… So, I was worried about that, as well.
But it was interesting, I guess, and nobody had to be airlifted to a hospital or anything. The guide was funny, and had a Southern accent so pronounced he made Goober Pyle sound like Paul Harvey. So, it was pretty good, but not great.
I missed the underground lake, if you want to know the truth. I loved that underground lake… Here are a couple of pictures, to give you a general idea of the atmosphere.
Oh, and at one point I sneezed extra-loud (I love doing that, I had one inside a corn maze years ago that’s still family legend), and my Dad said, “Good god, Jeff! You’re going to cause a cave-in!!” And everybody laughed.
I didn’t know this West Virginia stuff was going to drag out like this, but I’ll continue the story tomorrow.
See ya then.
Filed under: Daily
FIRST, MO FOS!!!!!!!!
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Good Morning, Surfers!
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Second suckers!!!!
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The Warren Report is actually pretty cool. I found one in a used bookstore a few years ago and it serves two purposes: one, it’s interesting reading, just to open to a page and read a bit; two, if someone sees it on your bookshelf they have to pause a bit and figure out whether or not you are a conspiracy theorist.
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Damnit…too slow!!
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Were the secrets spending an inordinate amount of time at the cave in your second picture? ‘Cause it appears to be a man going into a giant vagina. Even has two thighs along the sides. I prefer the smaller version, apparently size does matter.
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When my grandmother died a few years ago, we had to go through A LOT of shit. We found, among other things:
An unopened box of Hai Karate aftershave (Hilarious pamphlet enclosed)
Gas & Electric bills in bundles by year BACK TO 1942
Various spices and extracts in her kitchen cabinet that pre-dated the Truman administration (no WONDER we can’t duplicate any of her recipes to save our lives…)
Jesus, that woman didn’t throw anything away. I remember she would dry out coffee filters and reuse them. You could stand a fucking spoon in her coffee.
Happy Tuesday, Surfers!
Nice score on the radio, Jeff, BTW.
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SC Scott — I was about to say essentially the same thing (about the giant rock vagina, including the thighs; it also has a clit, too). Good to know I’m not the only one around here with a warped mind.
p.s. I refuse to jump on the “@” bandwagon.
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My wife and I are trying to decide at what age we’ll throw away her impressive collection of dildoes. What if we bite it at the same time in a plane or automobile crash? Then I wouldn’t be able to throw away her stash. I don’t want the grandkids finding her SuperDong or AssBlaster2000 along side her sewing stuff. I think it’s a legitimate concern.
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TOP TEN!!!!
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Tada.
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12 again, aw crap!!! puberty
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Good Afternoon Surf Reporters……
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I had a similar thing with my Grandmother’s stuff. I went down to Texas a few years ago and my mother insisted we go through her stuff. She was also a great cook. One of the things I took was her pepper mill and her rolling pin. Then there were boxes of letters and pictures. Several years later, whenever I open one of those boxes it still smells like her. Not a bad smell.
I love the vagina cave.
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what is that “@” thing anyway?
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@kristin
as opposed to
dear kristin,
I don’t like it. I also refuse to use it.
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When my grandmother passed, the GD family vultures picked through her possesion like it was free day at the flea market. It was digusting with all the bickering and in-fighting going on. All I ended up with was a box of love letters my grandfather had written to her. So I went through them reading each one. When I had gone through the whole box, I ended up with close to $5,000 in cold hard cash with about a $100 in Silver certificates. the DF’s were so busy picking up the stuff they thought was valuable and overlooked a treasure cash trove. I never told anyone what I had found.
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My sister has everything and that kinda sucks. Lots of stuff. Old stuff. Like late 1880′s, 1900′s stuff! Grandma’s leather top desk, some cool old dressers. Lots of neat old things including Grandmas flag. I would go out ever Sunday when we’d go there to visit and I’d put the thing out there in it’s holder on the porch. Meant a lot to me and still does. 48 stars to boot. I’d like to have the flag…that’s all. Sis got all the stuff I guess because she had a house and I travled. Even after I became ‘stable’ no one offered me anything. Hell…my Dad gave his Dad’s (aka my grandfather) pocket watch to my nephew (aka his grandson) and not me! Man I guess I pissed off somebody by not living their boxed-in idea of life.
I’m ok with it all…just would like to have the flag to put out here. That won’t happen and I know it. I’ve mentioned all this to my sister before and she hung up on me. Guilt or fuck off? Doesn’t matter either way I suppose.
I fear caves and mine shafts. Nope…ain’t going in. I’ll be in the gift shop or bar.
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We had a radio just like that. PawPaw used to sit in the yard on Roxalana Road watching eerybody go up and down the road and listen to it.
When my grandmother passed away she had boxes of pictures and some of the boxes had names on them. My box contained a picture of my grandfather with Jimmy Hofa, (yes before he disapeared). Also a picture of the old Caldwell Dairy, her family home, where Roxalana Hills is now. Anybody else remember that?
By the way, if anybody goes by my brothers house he has an old lift top desk that belongs to me that I want. Please “pick it up for me”. I’ve been trying to get it from him for years.
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When my great grandfather died, I had to go through his house and pick and choose. Got a nice bed frame and mattress. A percolator. Several cuspadors (old dude spit more tobacco than the number of breaths he took). An old TV that lasted exactly one year to the date of his death and two identical little statues of a small black child, sitting on a toilet, with a bee buzzing around his head, and the caption at the base of the statues saying, “Skram, Bee, dis ain’t yore hive!” Yes, the old man was quite the racist. Then, in his will, he left me enough money for a fifty percent down payment on a house. Favorite relative from my childhood. Always wore a suit, even sitting around the house on a hot summer day. His name was Alpheus.
On IPOD right now- “Dear God”- XTC
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DTO – The gift shop at Chimney Rock in NC is inside the mountain that sits next to the formation. Two ways to get to the rock, a 5 mile trail up the mountain of go inside the mountain and catch the elevator. Not many chose the 5 mile walk.
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Regarding T. Farty’s comment above about throwing away the dildo collection:
My daughter was about 2 or 3 years old and Halloween was approaching. She mentioned to my wife that she wanted a red “old fashion” man’s handkerchief to tie around her neck like a cowboy. Just so happens, I have 2 or 3 of those in the bottom of my sock drawer ( they were my grandfather’s and I kept them for all these years after he died). Wife instructs daughter to look in Dad’s top dresser drawer.
Daughter comes down the steps a few minutes later with the handkerchief and my wife’s big blue vibrator, which was stored in the same drawer. Daughter wants to know what the blue stick is for. I thought fast and told her it was a handle for a paint brush. Told her I had been looking for that, and thanked her for finding it for me and told her I was going to put it in the garage where it belonged with all the other paint brushes and rollers. Hid it in the trash and she forgot about it.
No more sex toys around here since then.
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hardoxdan – priceless and very quick thinking.
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I’m 33 and single….god help me if I die unexpectedly and someone has to pack up my stuff. They’re gonna get quite a shock at the “toy box” under my bed.
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SR…Ok thanks. So where’s the bar?
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Jeff….the cave in the second photo has huge labia’s.
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I’m with Lew. I have an interesting “collection” too. One time I accidentally left a flog hanging from my bedroom doorknob when my parents were over. I don’t think they noticed….or at least they didn’t say anything.
My mom can never die because I don’t want to ever sort through all her shit. She’s a packrat. All I want are the family photos.
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Jason-How much catfish bait do you suppose are in those giant cave labias?
I went through my grandparents things years ago and nabbed the biggest ashtray I had ever seen, it must be 10″ wide by 14″ long, that baby holds 6 cartons worth of butts before it needs emptied. My sister beat me to the Wagner Ware, dammit!
Also, I’ll be letting my brother know to torch my house if I should die unexpectedly.
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When my grandmother died a few years ago I got all her kitchen stuff. I couldn;t believe nobody wanted nice stainless steel pie pans and cookie sheets but i love them and use them all the time. i have an ever expanding ass to prove it.
I am rethinking my hiding places thanks.
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Yeah Jason, how much?
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Personally speaking, labia’s are overrated. I’m searching for that elusive “G” spot. I’ve found it a couple of times but that sucker keeps moving. I gonna start mapping that beast. Jeezum Crow, how did we end up talking about sex toys and labias.
On the iPod now -”Heavy Cloud No Rain” – Sting
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The generous labia cave.
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Heh..on second look of that giant cave labia photo…..It’s like throwin’ a hotdog down a hallway..
Bet that thing has better suction than the Titanic going down.
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Not a deceased relative but one moving to a smaller house — when my in-laws moved from a 2 story, 4 bedroom house w/ basement to a 2 bedroom ranch ( empty nest and all ) some of the things that had to be disposed of were owner’s manuals for appliances that they had purchased 30 years earlier. The appliances were long gone, but my wife’s mother fought tooth and nail to save these booklets.
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I have an agreement with one of my friends that should I die an untimely death, she will be my “cleaner” and will remove any unseemly objects from my house before my family clears out my belongings. I find it sad that my expensive deluxe $120 vibrator will end up in the trash. Who says I don’t have a sentimental side?
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As for the real question of the day…. Both of my grandfathers died before I was born, and my paternal grandmother when I was 16. She didn’t have much of any material value, just sentimental stuff that a teenage girl had absolutely no appreciation for — “old junk”.
My maternal grandmother is still alive and kicking at 89. Every winter when she’s snowed in the house, she gets out the box of love letters my grandfather wrote her while he was away during WWII, and she reads them all again. He died as a POW in Russia and my grandmother never really got over that. (Her second marriage was one of convenience, not love.) She won’t let anyone read them because they’re too personal and said she planned to burn them before she died, but we all protested and begged her not to, promising to wait until after she passed to read them since it’s the only thing really connecting my mother to her biological father. Oma put up a fight and said we wouldn’t be able to read them anyway since Opa wrote in the old German script, but I taught myself to read it just for this purpose, and she has agreed not to send them up in smoke.
The one other thing I’m going to have to fight one of my sisters for is an aquamarine ring that my grandmother has worn ever since I can remember. In my head, I can see very clearly that ring on my grandmother’s finger every time we went into town. She never wore it around the farm though. Strange how her hands are the thing I most associate most with my grandmother. I can also see her peeling hot, boiled potatoes with her bare hands, which is perhaps why boiled potatoes are one of my comfort foods.
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My sex toys will probably be the cause of my death. They should be able to get up and walk out on their own TWO feet. That is given the position I may be trying at that time.
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DO NOT throw away used sex toys. I know someone that buys used sex toys, pays top dollar.
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Jason — I didn’t think open cans of Chef Boyardee could be salvaged. Learn something new every day.
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Wow, all this racy talk, coupled with the a jiggly Further Evidence link. I’m gonna need a cold shower.
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Watch it, waaaatch it.
Just in case anyone is interested:
http://www.JasonsUsedDildoEmporiumAndCheeseShop.com
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For the record, I noticed the giant labia cave in pic #2 as well…but what about jean short cutie in pic #1? I wonder if Secret #1 was paying attention to her or the caves on this underground adventure…
34, 6’2″, 215lbs,single (never married), girl 9, Finance for Canadian Federal Government
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My favorite part in the Warren Beatty Report is the chapter about labia caves and sex toys. It never does say how he managed to get away with killing Kennedy, though.
Now playing on the Victrola: Lou Reed “Metal Machine Music”
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Brynhildr – Ich glaube, es ist Zeit für uns zu sprechen. Ich interessiere mich für warum sie nicht beantwortet haben meine Kommunikation. I know it’s not perfect but shoot me.
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My family and I went to Devil’s Anus once, reeked of candy redhots and cheese.
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Right next to each other in the same comment:
Not a bad smell.
I love the vagina cave.
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Jeff, don’t apologize for the WV trip dragging on so long. It’s good stuff. Every time I have taken my wife, the child bride, there, she has only negative and offputting things to say about the people she sees. You can’t go wrong with the descriptions. Poofterbilly: should qualify for a new word in the next Webster’s Dictionary.
Can’t wait to tell everyone about the phone call I got today, by someone who thought they were calling Applebee’s. I was born for radio, goddammit. Maybe Friday.
No IPOD right now. My daughter is telling me how stressful kindergarten is.
Eating three goddamn hard boiled eggs for dinner tonight. Wish me luck
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Oh yea, the vagina cave is something to behold, looks like the guy is trying to flee for his life…climbing up the giant turd!
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AWG: Omg…you gotta tell that story! I love shit like that! Can’t wait to read it!
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I miss the AWG stories. I wonder how Ardna is doing.
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My parents had been married for 40 years and died within 14 months of each other. They had a 4000 sq ft home (5BR, 3.5BA) – I had to sort through all of that. I took most of the kitchen stuff, jewelry, one car, a few other sentimental items and all the awards my dad had been given in his nearly 40 year career with the Federal Highway Administration. I wasn’t sure what to do with most of it, so I arranged an estate sale – I did all this while I probated my mom’s will (I had done my dad’s will 14 months earlier), being 6 months into a high risk pregnancy and trying to get the house on the market while my brother did nothing.
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I was younger and not around when I could have gone through my grandparents things. I would have loved to. They were all immigrants during tough times, there are some old pictures floating around that I hope become mine one day.
Mr. McAppleass, I think you just need to put ridiculously old expiry dates on the cheese in your fridge so that no one will mistake it for food.
As for going into caves, I had to go into an underground mine once for work, once I couldn’t see daylight anymore I had a few moments of anxiety but quickly got better.I was never comfortable but was able to spend about an hour touring. I certainly am respectful of people that work down there.
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Evil Twin’s Wife – tough times and sorry that the kicker was your brother doing nothing.
for those who Twitter, check out @shitmydadsays
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Oh, jeezum crow, I think I am having some sort of after school special crisis.
First, I learn from Limey that I may be gay because my Barbie had a purple corvette that looked like the decorative stickers had been applied by a retarded dog. Hey. I’ve got poor small motor skills, ok?
And now I am finding out that no one but me likes the @. I like it because it denotes to the reader that this is a comment that is specifically directed to someone, and the reader can easily pass over if it is not of interest.
Should I drop the @ to fit in with the cool kids or be true to myself? I think I will go huff some paint and think it over.
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@White Trash Barbie – use the @ symbol and let that gay purple Barbie corvette freak flag fly, baby!
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Oh TY Alice in WV
That was like the third time someone mentioned
@shitmydadsays so I finally checked it out.
Brilliant. Laughing so hard.
Anyone else read about the White Nose syndrome in bats
found in the Carter County link to the caves?
I read it as White Noise Syndrome, and it made sense to me. Complete sense.
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Alice — that is the most supportive thing I’ve heard in a long time. Can I hire you as my life coach?
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Jeff,
It fully sucks to lose your beloved Oma. I lost mine only two years ago, and it kills me once or twice a week. At least Bronson gave us a 6-1 victory over Die Brauer.
Greg
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Um Jeff, have you checked the score recently?
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I meant Greg. This game is killing me.
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When my grandpa died, I ended up with some of his bow ties. I don’t wear bow ties, but for some reason it’s nice to have them. I also ended up with his Army first aid kit and some of his letters home. He had the misfortune to turn 18 just in time to get shipped off to the trenches of France for the Great War, but the good fortune to a) come home b) in one piece. My dad did just as well, turning 18 in 1943, but I lucked out: a little too young for the Vietnam draft.
I also have my grandma’s (his future wife’s) diary from the same year, 1917. It’s an interesting look into the lives of people I only knew as old folks. I also have an enameled cast-iron pan from Grandma, as well as a big old-school wooden rolling pin. The rolling pin broke, but I use the pan now and then.
All of Grandpa’s guns disappeared almost immediately after he died. At first I suspected my cousins, but now I think Grandma sold them. I still suspect my cousins of taking his 1000 pound oak roll-top desk.
As for caves, the best I can do is that I was down inside a certain government-built cavern in NW Virginia yesterday. It doesn’t look at all like Jeff’s photos. That place is certainly the Mother Of All Bunkers.
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Almost forgot Grandpa’s old checkbook, which I saw but did not take, and later it had vanished. I remember it because the checks had a preprinted place for the date, just as they do now, but it looked like:
Date __________, 191__
For whatever reason, this stuck in my mind. I thought it was cool.
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I remember going through some of my grandpa’s stuff (we called him Paw Paw – this is Mississippi after all) when I was around 10 years old. I pocketed a cheap yellow pocket knife – mainly because I wanted it, not because I associated it w/Grandpa. But now, whenever I see it in the random box it lives in in my closet, I remember him. His name was Glenn – luckily I wasn’t named after him! {my apologies to any cool Glenns out there – I guess I haven’t met you yet!}
@ Brynhildr – where in Russia did your grandfather end up? I’ve done a little genealogical research that made me learn about the Soviet prison system – more than I wanted to know! A lot of the POWs who ended up there are easier to trace now, as the Russians are releasing more of their records fromt hat time.
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When my parents died, less than a year apart, (2003-2004) we were still going through my Dad’s parents stuff. Things I found that I still have, but need to get rid of:
- a barrel that my granddaddy stored his moonshine in. Complete with spout.
- “JAPAN SURRENDERS” newspaper.
- spinning wheel
- really old timey telephone (pre-Andy Griffin)
- ‘KENNEDY ASSASSINATED” newspaper
- portrait of my Mom in pastel done by some itinerant artist.
- pictures of my WV ancestors (they all look like a corn cob or something is stuck up their ass – not happy people).
- a stamp collection
- sheet music from the 30′s and 40′s.
- Shirley Temple songbook
- etcetera and so on.
I can’t bring myself to get rid of this stuff. Maybe I want to punish my children.
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D. — It’s sort of an amazing story, but maybe I’m just partial because it’s my family. My grandfather is buried in an unmarked grave in a small village outside Moscow. One of the men who buried him — also a German POW — drew my grandmother a picture of the church and churchyard 50 years after my grandfather’s death, marking the exact spot where he was buried under one of the church windows. My grandmother enlisted the help of my oldest sister, who lived in Russia for a while, and they went to find the village so that my elderly grandmother could see for herself.
Even though all those years had passed, the POW had such a vivid memory and his drawing was so accurate that some of the older people in the village could ID the church even though the religious symbols had been removed and the church changed into a factory under communism. The basic building was still standing and the graves around it undisturbed. My grandmother was also able to get the govt records regarding my grandfather and his death as well. He was not in a prison or a camp, nor was he shackled, but rather sort of held hostage to work on a farm out in the middle of nowhere. I suppose he and the others were free to go if he felt they could walk the 1500 miles all the way to Germany undetected and without equipment and supplies. The other POWs have told my grandmother that they were fed enough and were treated well by the people they worked for. My grandfather died of typhoid fever in May 1946 after having been a prisoner for more than a year.
My grandmother chose not to repatriate my grandfather’s remains though the German govt has more than once offered to do it. Instead, he is still there in Russia, and a headstone marks an empty grave in the family plot near my grandmother’s house.
Oh, and the creepiest family heirloom? A letter personally signed by Hitler, telling my grandmother that her beloved husband, an officer, had been captured in early 1945.
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OK, this is creepy. I wake up to read a story about Ted Kennedy passing away and then four minutes later I see a picture of his brother on the WVSR….
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@ Alice in WV – Thanks! You are a star!!
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I love going to caverns. Last summer, I went to Smoke Hole/Seneca Caverns (which, I have been to many times since I was a kid) and then all the way to Howes Caverns in upstate New York. There is a lake there too, and you can ride across it in a boat.
The funny thing about Smoke Hole Caverns is that the tour guide was an off duty cop who had a gun tucked into the back of his pants. He was a great guide, but I was glad he did not trip or fall.
And at Seneca Caverns, we were made to wear hard hats. The thought of wearing a hat that someone else had worn was not my idea of fun. Of course, they sprayed Lysol in the hat before they gave it to you.
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Brynhildr: Wow. What an incredible story. Loved it. You are so lucky to know so much information about your family.
WVKay: Hang on to those things. Sounds like you have a great collection of family memorbilia.
Since I am in the business of buying and selling antiques, this is all right up my alley. I love the stories that comes with the pieces I buy….if I am lucky enough to speak to the actual owner. On weekends I am standing in line at 6AM for an estate sale that opens at 7:30. It’s the nature of the beast. And as I read, some of you have had estate sales. I would be surprised if you said you didn’t have anyone beating down your door days before.
Dad died 20 years ago. So buy the time Mom passed, she had already gotten rid of a lot of stuff. I don’t really know where it went. But when she died about 10 years ago, the only thing she had of value was a large Hummel collection. Some belonged to my Grandmother. I am not fond of those things. Never was. But my 2 sisters and my brother argued as to who was getting what….Mom didn’t have a will. Just a piece of notebook paper with her wishes.
The only thing I asked for was her wedding ring that she had lost many years before. While my one sister was all to happy to be cleaning out her dresser drawers, she found it. Came out with it on her pinky finger, held up to my face and said, “look what I found…finders keepers”. She took the ring and I haven’t seen the fucking bitch since.
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My grandparents died in various stages over the period from 1968 to 1999. I wasn’t aware that I was supposed to get any “stuff” from their deaths. I just figured my Mom and Dad were dealing with that. And the Good Lord knows I don’t need any more “stuff”.
@shitmydadsays – simply excellent. laugh-out-loudacious.
Use the @!!! The @ rules!!!
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Bryn, I really enjoyed reading the story about your grandfather. You have a rich and detailed family history and it is a treasure to have those memories of your family and I am in tears just reading about it. It’s hard for me because I now know nothing about my family past my great grandfather other than that they were all share croppers and slaves. Just sayin.
Es tut mir leid. Ich war und Arschloch für fragen, warum sie nicht antworten möchten, zurück zu mir. Bitte außer Meine Entschuldigung.
It’s good practice for me, I am so rusty at this, forgive me!
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Darn the should have been ein and not und, see. I need to practice more.
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I’ve been to DeSoto Caverns, Ruby Falls, some cave not far from Austin, TX and another cave in Salado.
I thought they were all neat and I like the fact that they’re cool. I hate the fucking heat.
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Got exploring caves out of my system when I was in high school when I was in the spelunking club. We explored caves all around Indiana. Couldn’t remember the names of them now to save my life.
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@Everyone: How come you guys go into caves to get your rocks off? “and my gut was brushing up against 750,000 year old formations.” I guess Jeff visited a cougar bar when he was on vacation:)
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Shiny Rod — I understand. Not knowing your family history is hard if you’re truly interested in where you came from. My two nieces (adopted from a Russian orphanage) will run into this problem someday when they start to ask questions. My sister will only be able to tell them a little of what she knows, none of it very pleasant.
bikerchick — It really sucks that your sister was so awful about the ring, especially since that was the one thing you really wanted. After reading your post about estate sales, I think you’ll appreciate this: A few years ago my siblings and I paid for a shipping container so that we could bring over some of my grandmother’s “cast-offs” from when she sold her summer home. My oldest sister sat down with Oma and asked her about all the pieces that went into the container and Oma made notes on little slips of paper that went in boxes. 100 year old brandy snifters, wedding gift from so-and-so to your great-grandparents, misc collection of teacups given to great-grandma each year on her birthday by her mother starting when she was 16, and so on. Oma had to explain what some of the china was used for back in the day. My uncle and cousins couldn’t care less, but Oma was excited that we were interested and she started to talk. Since she’s 89, time is of the essence and we ask a lot of questions because when Oma’s gone, so is the info. I always encourage people to interrogate the old folks while they can. Oh, and write it down.
Another interesting family heirloom…. a copy of my maternal family genealogy going back to the 1600′s I believe, certified by the German govt as true and correct and used to prove they were, as horrible as this might sound, non-Jews. Different time and place. My paternal genealogy is sketchy — full of poor Irish immigrants who tried to hide a few illegitimate children along the way. Keeps things interesting.
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Fear the @! Fear it!
I actually like the @. Must be a Twitter thing.
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Bryn: SO COOL! I would have LOVED to hear those stories that pertained to each piece you had shipped back. And you are so right…wriite it down! Both sets of my grandparents are now gone and for some time. Unfortunately, while growing up I could give a shit less about hearing the stories. Funny how differently you feel 30 years later when it’s too late.
Pagan: HEY WATCH IT!! I am a “cougar”….46 years old and still get carded a time or two…believe it or not!!
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@Pagan
Hilarious! I almost choked on my coffee. Top drawer hilarity.
My grand’rents died when I was 2 or 3 and my mum was adopted so there is a definate overall vibe of where-do-I-come-from-itis.
But I DO have friends that have family, and when I meet the elders I absolutely love listening to all the stories that thier family has already heard.
When my best friend’s Papa died a few years ago her Granny, who is insistant that I call her Granny, (warm fuzzies!) gave her tons of old horror movies; Boris Karloff etc and Marilyn Monroe stuff.
I got the comic-ized version of the Bat Man movie with Adam West and a bunch of Vampirella comics.
He was awesome and he let me call him Papa.
Maybe this is a midwestern thing but I gotta ask, at what age does one start collecting old Coke-a-Cola memorabilia? Everyone I know over the age of 55 has some tin ad’s in thier kitchen or needle point thing.
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Okay- Subject change-
Being a “Wisconsinite” I found this very funny and wanted to share-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VfHnCwLp14
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tadpolegal, that was great. The corporate pinheads disabled my sound, but with the subtitles, I could enjoy that. the “MJ is Dead” one is funny too, even though it’s the exact same footage.
It’s my opinion that Favre should have retired a Packer (for good) and that the perfect ending to this holding another team hostage story would be that before the regular season began, a middle linebacker would break through the line and grind his porcelain shoulder into dust on the field. The End.
Did you know- I skipped lunch today and gained two pounds?
On IPOD right now- “Tick Tick Boom” The Hives
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@ ratchet – Thanks for making me feel good about turning 51 next month and I am not collecting Coke-a-Cola memorabilia
Alright, I hear the old fart jokes. When 51 years old “you” reach, look as good “you” will not, hmm?
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That whole Hitler series is funnier than shit!
You can’t lose wait if you skip meals because you’ll just end up eating the wrong things later in the day. IMO
There I responded to two people with no @’s, matter of fact I didn’t even acknowledge who I’m talking to so there take that anti @ers!
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AngryWhiteGuy- AMEN!
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