I was 17 and following my mom’s tradition of making birthday collages when I made this for my mom. I don’t remember making it, but I know I did make collages — Just like Mom did for me and other folks. It’s actually perfect, especially the “my problem is my mother” and Can’t we be friends? I don’t remember if she liked it. That she saved it doesn’t mean much since she saved everything.
Somehow we obtained a video on a mini vhs tape of my mother-in-law’s family filmed sometime around 1944. I think Dean’s Uncle Ed sent it to us and we transferred it to the tape, but I cannot be certain.
Anyway, I finally got it on DVD and sent it to the family. I also added some music that might have been playing in the background of some of the shots. Today I uploaded it to Vimeo.
It’s over 12 minutes long, so I don’t expect people to watch it all, but it’s sort of sweet, I think.
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1653248&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
Franzen Video Circa 1944 from Dona Patrick on Vimeo.
Last week I started to scan and upload to Flickr a collection of photographs I took from my mom’s house this summer. I know only one person in the batch I uploaded – my grandfather, seen below.
I cannot say how old he was in this photo. I thought it might be his graduation photo, but then I realized I have his wedding photo, and he looks a bit older here.
I’ve written extensively about my Grandpa Green, how he helped shape my character and helped foster a love of reading. And even how he wrote a poem about me when I was born. There really isn’t much more to say.
He was a quiet man who liked to read, play solitaire, drink beer and golf. He was a crossword puzzle wizard. He hated salads (said they made his nose wiggle) and wore a folded tissue under his wristwatch (to keep the ticks off, he said). I loved him. He was only 63 when he died – possibly an indirect result of his dislike of salad. I was 16.
Clutch Cargo Lips 