tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post170147398127037163..comments2023-09-28T10:08:44.827+02:00Comments on Gwynt: ..........And Grandma's GoneUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-26853296141178666882013-06-11T08:50:05.579+02:002013-06-11T08:50:05.579+02:00Yep, I'm ready to argue with anyone that child...Yep, I'm ready to argue with anyone that childhood is not the best years of one's life. But I guess it depends on what kind of life a person is having. Apparently ours has improved with age.David Oliverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04260130060172457192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-60426263858362611122013-06-11T08:40:08.045+02:002013-06-11T08:40:08.045+02:00Dear Ellena. What can I say? I have come a long ...Dear Ellena. What can I say? I have come a long way since those days, and the journey continues. Without the sadness, how would we know real happiness? Without the loneliness and some mystery, how would we know the joy of friendship and know some understanding? We must have the one to know the other.<br /><br />It's all coming right my dear friend. So, arms across the pond and a big hug!Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-65913275547309697242013-06-10T23:06:28.274+02:002013-06-10T23:06:28.274+02:00It hurts to think that one is being punished not o...It hurts to think that one is being punished not only for feeling but also for feeling ...someone...a boy. Ellenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14965850008354379369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-37449798530157923162013-06-10T15:40:11.815+02:002013-06-10T15:40:11.815+02:00Zephyr, I rather gather that aircrews were not ave...Zephyr, I rather gather that aircrews were not averse to 'taking a little something' before taking off. And it wasn't only to keep out the cold. Even up to the last week of his life, my father could occasionally remove splinters of shrapnel from his legs. <br /><br />It was an interesting discovery that you were the only other person, so far at least, to pick up on the aeroplane !!!Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-25854698974794797872013-06-10T14:17:09.851+02:002013-06-10T14:17:09.851+02:00"I suppose that at heart, and in many ways, w..."I suppose that at heart, and in many ways, we're still children..."<br /><br />yes, i believe so. And i am grateful that i finally learned to be kinder to myself, which has allowed my heart more freedom than it ever knew before.<br /><br />Okay, i will also comment on that airplane--!!<br />i imagine the exhilaration of those boys' first flights had adrenalin pumping hard through their veins (if not to the tips of their cold toes)--but i simply can't imagine being that exposed, up front like that, and finding a way to channel the terror into focused action. That really "took guts"!! (as we say over here). Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-14810594149590759232013-06-10T08:28:59.763+02:002013-06-10T08:28:59.763+02:00Robbie; I trust the holiday goeth well. Well now...Robbie; I trust the holiday goeth well. Well now, I can just imagine some riddled front gunner saying, "Gosh or phew, this is a lovely way to be dead; you've certainly 'riddled me ree' and that's so much better than hypothermia. Thanks baron!"<br /><br />It was an interesting discovery that you were the only person, so far at least, to pick up on the aeroplane.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-40240266355595091162013-06-10T08:18:59.266+02:002013-06-10T08:18:59.266+02:00David; Welcome to Gwynt, and thank you for your co...David; Welcome to Gwynt, and thank you for your comment. It has been said that childhood is the best time of one's life, an idea with which I totally disagree. I do believe however, that childhood is a period that requires a great deal of investigation and understanding. In my experience adult life, furthering one's career, marriage, children and so on, fall into relative unimportance compared with childhood. And of course that is the period when grandparents are likely to be around. They also help supply the psychic soil in which to extend one's roots. Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-66754181624116800042013-06-10T07:42:10.083+02:002013-06-10T07:42:10.083+02:00It must have come as a relief to a Fe2b gunner whe...It must have come as a relief to a Fe2b gunner when The Red Baron turned him into a colander; so much more preferable than hypothermiaRoderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-1605308145924712722013-06-10T06:14:24.708+02:002013-06-10T06:14:24.708+02:00I would have commented on the first part of your s...I would have commented on the first part of your story but I just now found your blog. I read both parts and this comment can serve for both parts of the story. You are a terrific writer! I could feel that house more than see it, but I could see very well your Grandma, Mother and your Father. Thankfully not the uncles. :)<br /><br />It seems kind of odd to me that as we get older, (at least I do) think more about parents and grand parents - what they were really like and how they treated us. Some of mine I've come to think more of and some less. Your story spoke to me about the insight I've had about my own family.David Oliverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04260130060172457192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-28471092846798455762013-06-09T20:53:59.103+02:002013-06-09T20:53:59.103+02:00Bruce, as a man accustomed to using words, that co...Bruce, as a man accustomed to using words, that comment is taken as high praise indeed. Thank you.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-27939361014398753382013-06-09T20:47:51.421+02:002013-06-09T20:47:51.421+02:00Christopher; I suppose that for me, searching is ...Christopher; I suppose that for me, searching is synonymous with asking questions. I was probably doing that before I was born, and I haven't stopped since.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-62612094858026034672013-06-09T20:33:49.413+02:002013-06-09T20:33:49.413+02:00Tom, your writing is exquisite. (I have added you...Tom, your writing is exquisite. (I have added your site to my blogroll.) And who among us doesn't relish the memory of an aunt or an uncle with panache and mystery.<br /><br />By the way I loved "...the froth of mere daily activity..." and "...an odd mix of rootless formlessness...". Splendid wordsmithing.Catalysthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03804837416104556928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-82295658070324200912013-06-09T19:57:20.392+02:002013-06-09T19:57:20.392+02:00Tom, as for me, I have stopped searching. I was s...Tom, as for me, I have stopped searching. I was seeking many things for such a long time. Now I am cultivating skill for no apparent reason and trusting that I am where I am supposed to be. I have a voice. That appears to be what I was looking for after all. Sometimes it arises and I know I have it. Other times I just keep on with things. Back in '66 when things started for me there was so much urgency. Now, 47 years later, I just like waking relatively pain free.christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04201537517464996231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-28036324820195461962013-06-09T18:48:18.527+02:002013-06-09T18:48:18.527+02:00Zhoen: I like your comment very much. Good to kn...Zhoen: I like your comment very much. Good to know it's safe.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-53040996339673408682013-06-09T18:33:50.085+02:002013-06-09T18:33:50.085+02:00I have found that writing about my mysterious, jea...I have found that writing about my mysterious, jealous, angry family has helped me exorcise their ghosts. So many lies and silences, and I have developed plausible stories to color in the spaces. Not that I think they are factual, they keep the drafts out though. <br /><br />The class attitudes flow all ways around, don't they? Sometimes, of course, it's an excuse, and people really just don't like other people personally in person. <br /><br />So you see, you are safe telling your tales here, so universal, only the details are specific to you. Zhoenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03515663141425057088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-78640602110540759422013-06-09T18:15:31.729+02:002013-06-09T18:15:31.729+02:00Natalie: It would indeed. Interestingly, my midd...Natalie: It would indeed. Interestingly, my middle sister can only see her childhood vis-a-vis our father as absolute heaven. But she has good cause, poor dear!Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-75033113465806456212013-06-09T17:55:47.465+02:002013-06-09T17:55:47.465+02:00Tom, the way you recall, interpret and write about...Tom, the way you recall, interpret and write about your childhood is fascinating and vivid. I can almost see a picture of the characters - are you perhaps a secret novelist? <br /><br />Strange the way each of us remembers incidents, people and places in our lives by the way they affected us emotionally, and no two memories will be the same. I've talked with family members about things we lived through together and their<br />memories/experiences of the same event are totally, astonishingly different from mine.<br />If your aunt V is still around, wouldn't it be interesting to find out how she remembers that particular meeting?Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-60888552714197127012013-06-09T09:04:29.889+02:002013-06-09T09:04:29.889+02:00Hi Susan; I did have siblings, three sisters all ...Hi Susan; I did have siblings, three sisters all younger than me. I did mention my middle sister as an aside in my previous post. Having said that, your comment was actually to the point. I was probably a lonely child rather than an only child. This didn't bother me as I am very introvert. That is not to say I don't like people, quite the opposite. It does mean that people in the physical vicinity drain me. Extroverts of course gain energy from physical contact.<br /><br />In our family, mother was responsible for the discipline of the girls, and my father assumed responsibility for my discipline. The result of all this was that the lives of my sisters (still only two at the time of the events about which I wrote) and my life, never really crossed. In a very real sense, they were not part of my life. In the two Grandma posts, I cannot recall where either of my two sisters were. I cannot see them.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-12554868685745494702013-06-09T08:40:33.600+02:002013-06-09T08:40:33.600+02:00Dear Zephyr, when I read what you say I sense a he...Dear Zephyr, when I read what you say I sense a hesitancy in my response, as if to say, "Let me tread gently here; I may be too unknowing." I suppose that at heart, and in many ways, we're still children. It's just that our bodies have become older, and we have acquired much on life's journey. But at heart?.....Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-1775023063720413802013-06-09T08:34:49.139+02:002013-06-09T08:34:49.139+02:00Hullo Rouchswalwe; It is strange about your disco...Hullo Rouchswalwe; It is strange about your disconnect between the lives of the men in your family as compared with those of the women. Strange and interesting. <br /><br />I agree that it is necessary to remember, and understand if possible, one's childhood. It is a question I would like to address in a future post. Meditation and Pathworking (see my next, and weekday, post) are invaluable aids to understanding one's own inner experiences, particularly of childhood.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-74686438062342614542013-06-09T08:28:30.354+02:002013-06-09T08:28:30.354+02:00Thank you Christopher. There is a purpose to my w...Thank you Christopher. There is a purpose to my writing, most assuredly. The difficulty at the moment is that I'm uncertain what that purpose is, at least the full extent of that purpose. Something is pushing me in this particular direction, and I hope I will discover that purpose from what it is I feel led to write. I think you will understand that.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-23116213993068989102013-06-09T03:33:19.539+02:002013-06-09T03:33:19.539+02:00It seems to me that sense of loss you speak of may...It seems to me that sense of loss you speak of may affect some children more than others - namely, only children. I don't get the feeling you were raised with siblings as you haven't mentioned them; the way you describe your reactions to your grandmother and the others doesn't seem to have been mitigated by having shared it with another who was close to you. I understand because I was also an only child (of much older parents - wwII was long) and also a somewhat introverted one.<br /><br />Your descriptions of time, place and people are very compelling. I too remember the mystery and excitement of early radio and the strangeness of adults.susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16747450215034568033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-60639276619608665202013-06-09T01:56:41.710+02:002013-06-09T01:56:41.710+02:00there is so much humor and heart in your writing, ...there is so much humor and heart in your writing, Tom, even as you reveal very difficult truths in your story. i'm so glad you are sharing these with us.<br /><br />Tender humor...it is what i love most about my mother's side of our family...that they were willing and eager to find it, everyday. It helped to buffer the hardships they all went and continue to go through, as well as the ugliness my father dished out.<br /><br />Here we are! All these years later...sharing with each other, with hearts continuing to grow.<br /><br />Thank you, Tom.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-26770064743991680052013-06-09T01:54:29.580+02:002013-06-09T01:54:29.580+02:00For three decades, I've been working family ge...For three decades, I've been working family genealogy, trying to trace the stories of my ancestors. It amazes me that as much as I was included in the lives of the adults around me, there is very little I know for certain although I remember much. And that documenting the lives of the men is so much easier than finding out details of the lives of the women. Writing about one's childhood memories is vital, and I'm gladdened to read your stories recalled. Rouchswalwehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01393987883437907945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-90058153661380635012013-06-09T00:45:27.780+02:002013-06-09T00:45:27.780+02:00I too like your writing very much. I hope it serv...I too like your writing very much. I hope it serves its purpose as you seem to write with a purpose. I dip in and out of memory at the call of something in me. Much of my writing has little to do with me except that I pilot the plane, so to speak. It would be a mistake to think most of my work is all that personal. I want the space to declare all sorts of things in a first person voice.christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04201537517464996231noreply@blogger.com