Expatriated Southern Dissident

Raymond Mautel Handy photographed in 1964 beside my mother's infamous "tiddy pink" Chevy.  She never did live down the color of that car.

Looking at these old photographs reminded me of an email I recieved several months ago from a cousin who was also working on the family history.  I shouldn't have been surprised by her question, but it did set me back a bit.

She asked me to verify the stories about how my grandfather ( shown above) injured his eye.  If you look carefully, his left eye is almost closed.

In this rare portriat with my grandmother, the condition is very obivious. 

I am sure, as a child, it was an embarassing problem to him, hence the colorful stories.

My cousin relayed several that were very inventive.  In one tale, his eye was damaged in a bar room brawl by a beer bottle, and in another he supposedly fought of a dangerous viscious dog. 

The one I liked best was based on the few years he rode the rails, crediting the bad eye to a bad fall from a train.  I thought this one was particularly romanatic.

Considering my Grandfather's reputation with women, none of this is surprising.  It is almost ceritian that he made up half of the tales himself to pick up girls and didn't bother to correct them at a later date.  It just wasn't important to him.

The truth however is rather mundane.  My grandfather was born with a long leader nerve in that eyelid.  In the early 1900's surger was dangerous, and the family was poor, so it wasn't corrected.  It could have been in later years.

Medicine and Science did advance to develope a very good treatment for the condition.  My grandmother would never concent to his having the surgery.  She feared that he would lose what little sight he had in that eye.

This brings my tale full circle.  Famiy myths are fun, but often untrue.  Recording them can be important, not for their accuracy but to give color and personality to our family. 

It is important to remember, that documenting and carefully recording what we can and can't verify is just as important.  My grandfather's eye gave him an air of mystery and everyone wanted to explain it.  Too bad the true story was so boring.

K. Goriup

Summer in the MidWest

It has finally reached a temperature that one can consider very uncomfortable here.  The days are long enough that the cool evening are way too short.

The festival and fair season is at its peak and the kids are loving the increase in activity.  Personally, I really would perfer that they were back in school, and I had some time to my self.  I am sure in a few years, I will sing a different tune.  For now, I am simply tired, trying to keep up with the hetic pace.

THe joy of this time of year is the wonderful plants.  There is a riot of color that one would not associate with the Great Lakes region.  Flowers are blooming everywhere!