Happy Thanksgiving!!!

On this eve of Thanksgiving I am thinking of all that I am grateful for.

There are, of course, the big things-- for my life and those of my loved ones, for my country, my faith, for the wonder of creation, for the EUCHARIST, for this day.....

And then there are the handful of random little things I'm thinking of right now.

I'm grateful....

that we will have a house full of people for Thanksgiving dinner-- maybe as many as 23, actually,

that all of my children will be here and Anne's fiance Zach and his family too, as well as one of my best friends and some of her children,

that I have quite a few things done already,

that my husband has a job and that we will have a nice dinner,

that my oldest son will be here pretty soon,

that I can listen to my son John playing the piano right now, and for how often I am able to hear his music,

that everyone is excited about tomorrow and that it will be so much fun,

that none of the people coming are fussy so I don't have to worry about how my house looks or if everything is perfect. They're just good company type people, you know?

that I have blogging friends who haven't given up on me, even though I've been writing rather irregularly lately,

that my bed is comfortable and warm and soon I will be in it :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! God is good. Always!

Was Major Hasan a terrorist? Someone who commits an act of terror is a terrorist.

Oh dear, it's Friday already and I haven't posted since Tuesday. OK. Here's a quick thought.

In regard to the question of whether or not the attack at Fort Hood was terrorism, I am reminded of an incident that happened many years ago. My oldest son was about 4 or 5, his brother was a toddler. I was in the other room.

Suddenly, John started crying. I ran in to the living room to see John picking himself up off the ground. Mike was standing nearby looking guilty. I turned to Mike and asked firmly, "Why is he crying?" Mike's response, "I don't know." I turned to John. "What's wrong?" John says through his tears, "Mike pushed me down." I turned back to Mike, "Why are telling me you don't know why he's crying. You know exactly why he's crying."

Mike replied without missing a beat, "I didn't know if he was crying because I pushed him, or if it was because he got hurt when he fell." He said this with a completely straight face.

I was so taken aback I burst out laughing and told him he should be a lawyer.

Now, back to the horrible tragedy at Fort Hood. Major Hasan called on the name of Allah before he started shooting. He had ties to a radical imam. And he killed thirteen people and injured many others.

Is he a terrorist? I'd say. To those who say, well, maybe he was mentally ill I would say that clearly all terrorists have broken with a normal sense of reality. He was upset about his impending deployment? Yeah? How does that explain an act of violence?

He was a terrorist!!! I don't care if he had overseas ties or not. So what?

You can take whatever angle you want. He was a radical Muslim and he was a terrorist. I don't see any other way to look at it.

Amelia Earhart in Fort Wayne, IN

My new e-friend, Susan from Fort Wayne, IN, continues to investigate Amelia Earhart's visit to Fort Wayne. Since her discovery of the 1935 letter written by my father to "Miss Earhart," I continue to be fascinated by the details of her speaking engagement in Fort Wayne and how my father must have experienced it.

I hope Susan will not mind my copying here the results of her latest research at the Fort Wayne Public Library. Susan edited these texts herself and has compiled a very interesting set of paragraphs that allows one to really visualize what this visit from the famous aviator was like. For me, it is especially intriguing because it allows me to visualize the evening when my father, no doubt with great excitement, hoped he would be able to obtain Amelia Earhart's autograph.

MARCH 20th, 1935

Published in the Fort Wayne News Sentinel and the Fort Wayne Journal AMELIA EARHART’S VISIT TO FORT WAYNE, INDIANA
Gazette…


From March 14th, 1935…

“…Arrangements for Miss Amelia Earhart’s visit to Fort Wayne on Wednesday were completed as a meeting of Pi Chapter of the Psi Iota Xi Sorority Monday evening…the world-famous aviatrix will speak at the Shrine Auditorium here Wednesday evening under the auspices of the sorority on the subject ‘Adventures in the Air’.

…Tickets may be obtained from members of the sorority today and Wednesday, and will also be on sale in downtown stores and in the offices of the three public high schools and of Central Catholic High School….the box office will be opened at 7 o’clock, and the doors to the auditorium will be opened at 7:45 o’clock. Because of the large number of persons desiring to attend Lenten services in the Lutheran and Catholic churches in the city on Wednesday evening, the lecture will not begin until 8:45 o’clock. A 10-piece orchestra under the direction of Gaston Bailhe will present an hour’s program of music preceding the talk. An amplifying system has been installed in the theatre.

…Miss Earhart will be the honored guest at a banquet to be given at the Town House preceding the lecture, at which 50 members of the sorority will be guests…”



***************************************************************



From the Journal-Gazette, March 20, 1935—morning edition—

“ ‘The stratosphere is the new frontier in aviation”, Amelia Earhart, world-famous aviatrix, declared here today in an interview in which she talked modestly, intelligently and cleverly on subjects ranging from the Far North to hot dogs, and from books to rocket planes.
Miss Earhart will speak at the Shrine Auditorium tonight at 8:45 o’clock under the auspices of Pi Chapter of Psi Iota Xi Sorority on ‘Adventures in the Air’.
‘Yes, I’ve read all the books husband (George Palmer Putnam, of the famous publishing family in New York) has written, but I wouldn’t admit it to him,’ she said, laughing. ‘I’m fond of books, and he’s an aviation fan, and we have lots of plans for our future together.’
Miss Earhart, tall and lanky, even as Lindbergh, but trimly attired in a three-piece tailored brown suit, with dark brown and white polka-dot blouse, and brown strap slippers, ran her fingers through her slightly-tousled, short-cut hair as she answered—rapid-fire—the questions put to her.
‘Have I ever thought of interstellar and interplanetary flying?’ she repeated. ‘Well, I do know there is a group of persons now working on a rocket-type plane, and I feel sure that something will be accomplished in that direction, too.
Miss Earhart’s eyes sparkled when it was mentioned that her husband has proved an excellent expeditionist of no small importance, and has written numerous articles and books on his trips into Greenland and to Baffin Island.
‘He went in a whaleboat, and he charted an island that had not been known to be in existence before,’ she declared proudly. A soft smile emerged. ‘Do you know something we still hope to do together sometime? We have it down on our calendar for something very pleasant in the future. We would like to take an expedition North together and take a plane along.’
When something was mentioned about her attending a supper party at a downtown night club tonight after the lecture, she asked, ‘Would there be spotlights and all that sort of thing? Then, instead, let’s go to a hot dog stand or someplace where we can get a soda or hot chocolate. I’ll treat you all to hot dogs.’
Miss Earhart believes in woman’s rights. ‘I don’t believe in saying that women can’t do a certain thing or take up a certain line of work, until they have tried it,’ Miss Earhart said. ‘On the other hand, I wouldn’t say that women could do everything until experiments have been made and results studied. In another hundred years, I think we’ll know whether a woman is able to carry on the same pursuits as a man, for she will have tried and the results will have been studied.’
‘And, by the way, she called, as we left her room in the hotel. ‘Please refer to me as Amelia Earhart, not as Mrs. Putnam. I don’t believe even my husband ever introduced me as Mrs. Putnam.’


**********************************************************


From the News-Sentinel, March 21st, 1935:


(headline) AIRPLANES SAFER THAN MOTORCARS, SAYS MISS EARHART
IN LECTURE HERE

…With the disarming simplicity which is great art, Miss Amelia Earhart, America’s first lady of the air, spoke at the Shrine Auditorium Wednesday night. Her talk, a detailed and fascinating description of her recent solo flight across the Pacific, was sponsored by Pi chapter of the Psi Iota Xi sorority.
First, Miss Earhart made friends with her audience. Then she took them with her on what is the most spectacular flight ever made by a woman. With her, they set clocks at zero, drank tomato juice from a tin can, watched the instrument board through the long night hours, and touched stars.


Gamin-like, Miss Earhart good-naturedly poked fun at over-anxious counselors, emotional radio announcers and picnic lunches. But she never poked fun at flying.

…the two-thirds of a transoceanic flight which is preparation, according to Miss Earhart, developed into a novel, often humorous narrative….during the talk, the speaker quieted some of the rumors which had arisen concerning her Pacific flights. She was never off course, she was never lost in the fog, and she did not say she was growing tired. These reports she attributed to bad reception of her broadcasts and an emotional radio announcer.
‘I did not make the flight because I was bored with my husband, as some news stories reported. I cannot feel that 18 hours alone over the Pacific would be a remedy in such a case but I give you the suggestion for what it is worth.’
‘I have been asked what I thought about, what my reactions were, as I made the take-off on my last flight,’ she continued. ‘No pilot sits and takes his pulse. He has too much work to do to bother much about his ‘insides’—mental or physical.’
Movingly the flyer described the beauty of the moonlit clouds, the stars seemingly hung outside the cockpit window, and the terrible brilliance of sunrise from a high altitude. ‘The lure of flying is the lure of beauty,’ she said.
In the give-and-take of an informal question –and-answer period following her talk, Miss Earhart delighted her hearers with her ready and witty answers. The large audience which attended the talk gave her a heartwarming ovation at the close.


***************************************************************

From a pre-lecture interview at the Keenan Hotel:

‘Preparatory to going to a formal dinner preceding her talk at the Shrine Auditorium Wednesday night, she wore a formal gown of dark brown net, with a …flare below the knees and a long sheath-like skirt. Her dinner jacket was of matching brown taffeta, and with an…ascot of beige silk.
…Her graciousness included autograph seekers, photographers and two young men who wished to interview her for high school papers. She answered her telephone herself, made her own appointments. She replied to oft-asked questions patiently and fully and with a sense of humor.
She will…accept the invitation of the Mexican government to fly to Mexico, and will probably make the flight solo. She enjoys the present series of speaking engagements because, in spite of her reputation of going it alone, she likes people. She much prefers traveling by plane and would have flown her ship here had it not been kept in the east for installation of a compass.
She poses for photographs easily and well, and when complimented, replies that she comes from those parts where leaning seems easier than standing. Those parts, it seems, are Kansas.

Thank you, Susan, for sharing your work with me and the readers of this blog. I love it.

I am too tired to write. Still here. Everything's OK. I just need some sleep. I'll write tomorrow.

The Earhart Letter

In reference to Wednesday's post....

Susan, from Fort Wayne Indiana, has discovered that Amelia Earhart did visit Fort Wayne on March 20, 1935, the very day my father wrote to "Miss Earhart" asking for her autograph. If you want to see the original letter you can find it here.

My father was fascinated with aviation. I remember he had an old photograph, framed mind you, of the first plane he had ever flown in. And the tone of his voice when he would tell us that this was his first airplane ride made it very clear that this was an earthshaking event in his life. He absolutely loved to fly!!

When he was about to turn 50 he told our family that he wanted to do something new and adventurous. He was trying to decide if he should buy a motorcycle or take flying lessons. We told him to take flying lessons!!! (Although the motorcycle idea sounded fun too.) He did take the flying lessons. He earned his private pilot's license and was an excellent pilot. (Soon I will write about my first experience in a plane with my dad as the pilot.)

OK. Back to Amelia Earhart. Here is the text of my father's letter, dated March 20, 1935, and hand written.

Dear Miss Aerhart,

I hope you will sign the page of my autograph book that I am enclosing in this letter, for you did not the night I met you. I have red hair, glasses, a tan suit, and black shoes. I hope you will remember me with this
description.

Yours truly,

Richard Bailhe

Did you notice he misspelled Earhart? Clearly he wrote this on his own.

Susan has told me that when Amelia Earhart visited Fort Wayne on March 20, 1935, my grandfather, who was a violinist and a conductor, gave a concert with a 10 piece orchestra. I'm wondering if it was because of my grandfather's involvement in the event that my father had hoped he could obtain Amelia Earhart's autograph. He does say in his letter that he met her. Maybe he asked for her autograph and she was too busy talking to people to notice? Can you see the little redhead, all dressed up in his tan suit and eyes sparkling with excitement, reaching up to her with his autograph book?

Maybe this little boy, already fascinating with airplanes, was utterly crushed that he had not gotten her autograph the one time in his life when he would have had the opportunity. Had he been looking forward to the day of her visit with eager anticipation, knowing he might be able to get her autograph? Did he even assume, as innocent children do, that he would get her autograph? Was the letter written in tears of disappointment? It was pretty direct and to the point. (Is there even a very mild and veiled tone of chastisement that she didn't sign it the night he asked? teehee)

Since he wrote the letter the day of her visit and he says he met her, he must have at least shaken her hand. My dad had flaming red hair. I bet she remembered that little red-headed boy. Maybe she even remembered the autograph request. Maybe she felt bad that with all the people, etc. she had not been able to stop and sign his book. She did save the letter. It was with her things donated to Purdue University and now in their archives. Or....she might have had lots of piles of papers and this letter just happened to be in the pile.

In any event, my family is left with the question of whether or not she sent back the autograph. If she did, do any of us have it? Is it in a book somewhere? Could such a treasured signature have been lost over the years? Sure. Anything can get lost. If we should find it, you will certainly hear about it.

Letter to Amelia Aerhart?

I have been having the most fascinating correspondence with a woman from Fort Wayne Indiana, Susan. Susan contacted me because she was doing some research on Amelia Earhart and happened to discover in the Purdue University Archives a letter from a little boy asking "Miss Earhart" for her autograph. The little boy's name was Richard Bailhe.

Curious about this child, Susan googled his name and my blog came up. Those of you who have been friends with me for a while will remember that I wrote quite a bit about my father as he was dying almost three years ago now. So Susan emailed me to ask if the little boy was my father.

Well, he is!! I had never heard about this letter and I don't believe my father ever mentioned it. Course, he was only ten at the time. Maybe he didn't remember having written it either. I want to write more about this later. It's like a piece of history just jumped out of time for me to see. Many thanks to Susan for contacting me.

The letter is here. More on this later....

Everybody OK, so far...

OK. We're all better, even Liz. She was sick 3-4 days, starting with a fever and a little bit of a cough with some congestion. A friend of mine who is a doctor said that they're calling those symptoms swine flu because every time they culture for it it's coming back positive.

So. We were lucky. I'm assuming everyone in the the family has been exposed now to a touch of it. May be we'll have some immunity now? Dr. Lisa says not necessarily. Still, I'm hoping.

I'm keeping Coldeeze in a dish on the table like dinner mints. No one eats them like candy. They're not that good. But I do feel like I've warded off a number of sore throats by sucking on those babies when my throat first gets a little scratchy. The kids do it too. Actually I think it's been documented that the zinc in Coldeeze can prevent microorganisms from reproducing in your throat. Isn't that it? Anyway, a few disappear a day and we're doing OK.

Our grade school opened again yesterday. I'm so glad everyone had a chance to go home and get well. After all, their health is a lot more important than the academics. I think it was a good call.

Hope you're all well!! Thank you all so much for the prayers.

Well, my children's school is shut down for the week because of "widespread flu-like symptoms." Thirty percent of the school was out. Some classes only had 50 % attendance. Looked like Liz was going to have a fun week until, the very next day, she came down with the symptoms too. So far so good, though. We're taking Airborne (including Liz). Fever is down this morning and so far no one else is sick, although I feel like I might be fighting it. Go immune system go.

I'm glad the school made this decision, even though it's the last week of the quarter. For heaven's sakes, the health of the kids is more important than keeping to the schedule. I applaud their priorities.

My oldest two children (adults) are in France!! My grandfather was a French immigrant and they have long wanted to visit France. I'm so excited for them. We have distant relatives there and they hope to visit them along with Lourdes, Paris, and a number of other places. Ten days in France!

Well, hope you all are healthy or trying to stay so. Winter approaches here. We could get snow today. It's the beginning of the sniffles (and worse) season. Take care.

All Souls' Day

May the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.

And may we never presume that our departed loved ones are no longer in need of prayer.

Best Costume

One of my adult children's friends has a Halloween party every year. All good Catholic adult kids (if you know what I mean), they all loved this costume of Mike's pictured below.

Do you know what he is? A Confessional. It's a box covered with brown fabric. The square opening is covered with several layers of regular window screen. On the side he had wired a red and green light. When he was talking to someone he would turn on the red light. If he was free "to talk" he'd turn on the green light. When he was dancing he'd alternate the red and green lights to the rhythm of the music.

He won first prize. I thought it was hilarious. LOL

Happy All Saints' Day!!!!