Lost Art of Letter Writing

After my parents married in 1937 and moved across the Ohio River to Illinois, Mother's father kept in touch with her through notes and post cards. Some of these notes said little more than he was thinking of her and hoped she was well. Other times he wrote about the rest of the family, their illnesses and their day-to-day life. As I read these notes today, it strikes me that no great event was ever mentioned, but these notes were important enough to my mother that she saved them.  This was the way my mother and her father anchored their connection when they could not be together.

When I married and moved away, I stayed in touch with my parents through long letters in which I told of life as a newlywed in a large city and with a new job. After the children were born, I wrote about their activities, from their first words to their first steps and to their first days of school. After my mother died, I found a stack of these letters that she had saved and I have a few letters she wrote me. These letters were our way of staying connected even though we lived far apart.

It is sad that the art of communication through letters has been lost. Because we all seem constantly in a hurry,  we dash off an email or send a text message to our loved ones. But it isn't the same. Maybe I  am showing my age by mourning the loss of what used to be?

Humor Has Gone Missing

Somewhere along the way, we lost our sense of humor. What used to tickle our funny bone ceases to amuse us. What formerly made us laugh out loud no longer brings a grin to our face. What happened?

Since everything appears to relate to politics today, it seems natural to blame it on the Republicans ... everyone else does. Or should we blame the Democrats? Which shall it be?

The way I figure it, politics was still fun when Bill Clinton asked us to believe that he never had a relationship with Monica of the Blue Dress fame. We all knew he had his fingers crossed behind his back when he said that. So, we laughed and wondered how he would next entertain us.

Then along came George W. Bush with his wicked little boy grin and habit of saying the wrong thing. Who wouldn't be tickled by our 43rd president? The animosity between the two political parties was increasing, but there were still fun moments, even after 9-11.

But when the Bush family left for Texas and the Chicago Crowd took up residency on Pennsylvania Avenue, the mood changed. Fun was out.  Humor vanished. Jokes taboo. Now people of different political persuasions don't talk or laugh or even attempt to have a good time.

Life is dull. Where is the humor?   We miss Tim Russert.

Anniversary of My Dad's Birth

Copyright by Brenda Joyce Jerome, CG

May not copy without written consent

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of my father, John Morgan Joyce. He was born in Sharp County, Arkansas shortly after his family had moved there from Hardin County, Illinois. The family didn't stay long in Arkansas and returned to Hardin County.

He graduated from high school during the Great Depression and, because there were no jobs and there was no money for college, he continued attending high school classes. He used to say that he was the only person he knew who had five years of high school Latin.

On the 24th of July 1937, my dad married my mother, A. Lavern Croft,  in Crittenden County, Kentucky. They lived in Rosiclare, Hardin County, Illinois, New Harmony, Posey County, Indiana and Salem, Livingston County, Kentucky. His life was not easy and he had many health problems.

My dad passed away on the 6th of December 1975 at a hospital in Paducah, Kentucky and was laid to rest at Salem Cemetery, Salem, Kentucky.

He's been gone now more than 37 years. May he Rest in Peace.

 

John Morgan Joyce

13 January 1913 - 6 December 1975

 

 

Gone Too Soon

 

 

 

 

Winifred Adams Lockwood Meinerding

 5 December 1895 -  7 May 1973

Born and died in the Lockwood family home on Oak Street,

Poseyville, Posey County,  Indiana

 

Daughter of Elmer E. Lockwood and Mary "Molly" Waters.

 

 

 

 

 



In Memory

 

 

Mary Helen Meinerding Jerome

Born 2 December 1920 Petersburg, Indiana

Died 26 September 1978 Pontiac, Michigan



Photograph from 1938.

 

 On the 92nd anniversary of her birth.

 

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Illinois Road Trip

Rather than fight the crowds at the mall on Black Friday, we took off for southern Illinois to see my cousin and her husband and to visit several family cemeteries. On the way to my cousin's house, we stopped in Elizabethtown, the county seat of Hardin County, Illinois. E'town is small, but full of history. One of my favorite places is the county courthouse. Many records for my family are found in this courthouse.



 

 

 

Two earlier courthouses were destroyed by fire so the earliest records, except for one deed book, date from 1884. At the bottom of the courthouse hill is the historic Rose Hotel

 

 

 

 

In front of the Rose Hotel, facing the Ohio River, is a Gazebo, providing a cool place to sit and watch river traffic.

 

 

 

Among older buildings in E'town is an old public school building. I don't know the when or how long this school was open, but I would guess sometime in the 20th century.

 

 

 



It was a beautiful day for a drive through one of the historic towns along the Ohio River. There are other old buildings in E'town, but I'll save those for another day.

 

 

Copyright on text and photographs

by Brenda Joyce Jerome, CG



 

 

 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

What can be more fun than ranbling through the countryside visiting old cemeteries? This morning we visited Zoar United Church of Christ Church Cemetery in Warrick County, Indiana. It was established in 1857. The cemetery is well maintained and the tombstones are arranged in neat rows. Many of the inscriptions are in German.

Nearby is St. John's Catholic Cemetery, where many of the names on the tombstones are also German. It, too, is beautifully maintained. A long time ago someone told me that crosses often are a part of tombstones for Catholics. I don't know if this is true or not, but there are certainly a lot of crosses on tombstones in this cemetery.