Saturday-April 10,2021

Dear Marion,

  I begin writing to you while contemplating Earth Day as this is the month to create awareness. Spring cleaning motivated us to once again clean out some of the cobwebs in our home, closet, and minds. The news brought us information on the passing of Prince Phillip at the age of 99 just two months shy of his 100th birthday. Mere hours later the passing of a famous rapper DMX from a heart attack at the age of 50. Thursday was Yom Ha-Shoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. Your granddaughter spent her last day of Spring Break researching genealogy alternating between persuading me to hand over my credit card for one of the genealogy sites and researching on her own with some surprising results.

  One afternoon last week, I was questioned incessantly regarding our family history. At moments, even I was surprised how many questions I could supply an answer to but there were a few that left me stumped. For instance, we often discussed the family history and even some stories but I don’t recall hearing much about great grandparents- not even their names. We have a book for dad's side of the family that reaches back to the 1800s and even includes our names. There are photos on my wall of dad’s grandparents but I never thought to ask their names or even where they lived(which I could find in the book). I can see some familial traits that have been passed down to members of our family that I had not noticed before this week. Your granddaughter found dad’s draft card from WW11 online along with the day he entered boot camp. She was able to track your mom and dad arriving in America, some yearbook photos of various family members, etc. This whole experience encouraged my mind to drift along the journey our family members have taken to bring us to this point and place in time. If someone had made a different choice or come to a fork in the road and chosen the other direction, what would be different or the same.

  Interestingly, last week I was craving a nonfiction read, I picked up a book by Janet Skeslien Charles, The Paris Library, and couldn’t help but notice how it has oddly been part of a theme for this week. The writer has written a journey that begins in 1939 Paris introducing us to a young woman embarking on a new career as a librarian just as rumors of war swirl through the air. As the story unfolds, we are brought forward in time to 1983 Montana surrounding a young girl in seventh grade and the community she navigates while connecting the storyline of the past. I chose this particular book because of my connection to books and therefore love of libraries and bookstores as well as my particular desire to travel right now at this moment in time. Ahh…Paris.

  As I grabbed moments to read, your granddaughter began her quest into our past, and by the end of the week, I heard that Prince Phillip had passed away after 70 years of dedication to his country and family. The Duke of Edinburgh had not officially retired from his formal duties until the age of 95 or 96. What a full life- not a perfect person but one who made occasional mistakes and who learned from them, tried to do better. He was an environmentalist before earth day even existed. A life that was full of challenges- exiled with his family as a child, battled in wartime, member of the military(1939-1954), family challenges viewed literally by the world(no privacy). A man ahead of his time as he was in the midst of a successful British Military career, which he gave up to support his wife The Queen. Taking the backseat, keeping his head up while doing what was needed from him in order to serve his family and country. They say when choosing a career choose wisely and you will never work a day in your life meaning you enjoy your vocation. Retiring officially in your mid 90’s, I would say that is a person who chose wisely.

  There were many kinds of heroes during WW11, many who instilled hope and many who sacrificed for their beliefs and families. Your granddaughter has been working on a project reflecting on the Holocaust and highlighting some areas I had not previously learned. I was thinking about train stations and oh how interesting if their walls and tunnels could share their secrets. The tracks of these trains helped people escape but in some cases took people to unthinkable places full of hate, torture, and death.

  In my lifetime and experience, I have had the fortune to experience lovely moments through the travel of train tracks. As a teenager, NJTransit to Manhattan to sketch fashion I tried on in fitting rooms at Lord & Taylor, Altman’s, Bonwit Teller, Barney’s, Henri Bendel, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, and Macy’s. Amtrack to Providence, Rhode Island to return to college or post-graduation visit friends. At one point, Amtrack took us on a wonderful trip to visit Niagara Falls both NY and Canada views. Much later we took our kids to experience the tracks and train for Hogwarts- whether real or imaginary, it still brought us profound joy at the ages of 8,10, and older. Living in Manhattan or later to just visit, the tracks took us to The Bronx Zoo, The New York Botanical Gardens, The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Coney Island and The NY Aquarium, many museums, baseball games, etc.

  Inside Out, that’s the name of this week's recipe. After our 40 day duration sans chocolate, we are diving in headfirst to experience the chocolate with chocolate and more chocolate cookies our very good friend made for us last year. The recipe was graciously shared with us and we are now sharing it with you. I even think the name is quite apropos for this week- digging down and discovering what past lies inside of us and bringing it out into the light.

Quote:

“We all need to get the balance right between action and reflection. With so many distractions, it is easy to forget to pause and take stock.”

Queen Elizabeth 11

born 1926

Queen of the United Kingdom and 15 other Commonwealth realms