Wednesday, December 01, 2004

12/01/04’s illustrious band:

Weather is Here


Brought to you by Mother and Father Media.


As I drove home from work, I tried to think of something to blog about. It's been a quiet few days, and the flow of thoughts has slowed to a trickle. Well, don't' worry about it, I told myself. Something will turn up.


Good things come to those who wait. When I got home, I found in my mailbox a priceless treasure: a package of postcards, sent to me by Mother Media, that she and Dad had sent to his parents and other family members when Dad's Army posting took them to Germany. That was more than 35 years ago, back when their handwriting was still tidy. I believe Grandma (Dad's mother) had saved them, and they eventually came back to Mom and Dad. I'll add them to the collection of postcards written by and to Grandma herself that adorn one wall of Sensational Acres, which I inherited when she passed away.


My parents took advantage of the chance to tour Europe while they were stationed overseas, and the postcards prove that they made thorough rounds. Florence, Venice, Rome -- one with stamps that could only be purchased in Vatican City, and they saw the Pope; Paris -- I'm not sure I remember knowing that my parents had been to Paris; Brussels; several locations in Germany, including Heidelberg, where I was born; Luxembourg; Capri (where they make those pants); Holland; and one or two of the German-language ones are probably from Switzerland.


Mom and Dad's cards are a fantastic remembrance for me of the time in their lives when they were footloose and fancy-free -- the time before I, their eldest child, arrived on the scene to turn them into careful parents. In a few, they mention Mom's pregnancy and the fact that they suspected she was carrying a future football player, judging from all the kicking. Later notes describe me as a happy traveler. (They refer to me by a nickname embarrassing enough that you'll have to extort it from Mother Media if you want to know, because I'm not publishing it here for all the world to see.) They talk about taking bus tours, going skiing, and (GASP!) drinking beer. Didn't know we were such a jet-setting clan, did you?


When I was in high school, I had an opportunity to tour Europe with the French club. I was ambivalent about the trip at first; I feared it was too expensive and my friends would think me snobby. For my parents, however, there was never any question. They signed me up and packed me off with the biggest of smiles. I thought at the time that perhaps they were just glad to be rid of me and my adolescent angst for two weeks, but now I suspect nobler motives. My tour covered many of the same places theirs did. They wanted me to go where they had been, follow in their footsteps, share in their history. Having that journey in common became one more common bond. The older I get, the more I realize the value of this gift.


A couple of the cards written by Dad included his signature phrase, "Weather is here, wish you were beautiful." I always thought that sentiment summed up the world, and my father's sense of humor, pretty darn well. Back atcha, Dad. Thanks for the memories.


BND's Virtual European Tour


Today around the world: December 1 is World AIDS Day.


E-mail the Media Sensation: BandNameoftheDay@hotmail.com

Visit the BND archives at http://jugglernaut.blogspot.com.

posted by Jugglernaut at 5:42 PM

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