Two minds think alike!

I thought this was a bit weird.

Last Saturday I went to a CVS in South Portland to get Christmas cards for my 3 kid's.

Dave also went, separately, to the Hallmark store at Northgate to get Christmas cards for his 3 girls.
When I arrived home I showed Dave my chosen cards.
Dave went to the other room and got his 3 selected cards to show me.

Of all the card in rows and rows at the stores, Dave and I had chosen the identical Christmas card for our daughters! Is that a coincidence, or a "Higher Power" thing?

See if you can do that with your husband. I double dare you!

Guess Who?

Who's the middle man?

My Father's Letters Sept. 4, 1942

#6 . Postmark: ABSEGON, NJ
Sept 4, 1942 6 AM,

Written on one side only of 2 tan sheets of paper with a blue Eagle Standing on a stars and stripes coat of arms on the left corner.
Stamped "FREE" for postage.

To: Mr. & Mrs A.W. Smith
79 Chadwick St.
Haverhill, Mass.

Dear Folks,
Well I’m pulling our of Devens this morning.(Fri.) I expected to go yesterday but no luck. Right now I’m sitting on the parade grounds waiting for some fellows to come back from their inoculations. I had mine last night and was quite sick this morning. We were lucky to have them.....5 Hr. Pause. Now on train to?....as the fellows who had them yesterday were bad. We carried six off the mess line out after they collapsed. We have been waiting since 4 this morning to be shipped and we are now on a train just about to leave. It is 12:30. I am quite sure I am in the air corp and believe I am headed south but they don’t tell us anything so I don’t know. The fellows in this place are swell and everyone gets along fine. The only thing that has bothered me so far is the continual waiting. We wait to eat, mess, reveille, retreat. They think nothing of putting us in the sun for 3 or 4 hrs. But we hope things will be better at our permanent camp. You should see this place. It is a regular town with its own stores, bakeries, hospitals, theaters, service clubs, etc. There are aprox. 35,000 here at a time. We are on a train holding probably 1000 troops. There are one to 3 of these leave every day loaded with recruits. Well I guess there is not much to say and I will write when I find out where I’m going.
Love
Fred

Letter From My Father in War

Postmark: Atlantic City, NJ
Sep 1, 1942, 6 P.M.

United States Army Air Forces
Pvt. F. J. Smith
991st T.S.S.T.C. group D3
Army Air Force R.T. S.
Atlantic City, NJ

To: Mr. & Mrs. Arthur W. Smith
79 Chadwick St.
Haverhill, Mass
United States Army Air Forces

Tues Sept 2

Dear Folks,
Well I’m off again. I’ll be on my way before you read this. Last Sat (this is Tues.) we were classified and all told what branch they were in. All but me. They lost the records of myself and six other fellows, so we don’t know what we are going to do. I don’t think its drafting. Most of the fellows are to be mechanics, radio mechanics, or radio operators. This morning at 6:00 about 12 of us were restricted to quarters and told we were being shipped. I don’t know whether it will be an hour from now or 2 days but it is soon and we leave our rooms only to eat. I’ll have to write when I arrive as strict censorship is maintained aboard train. Any mail en-route to me will be forwarded. The weather here has been beautiful it only rained one day. I can’t say mutch as this letter may be censored. I was allowed to go out 3 nights and should have had all next sunday but don’t know where I’ll be now. One fellow cracked here in our outfit Sat. and is now in the hospital crazy as can be. He was a swell duck too. I’m all done my basic training now and will receive no more. It’s from here to some school.

Till I arrive
Fred

Christmas 1944

Picture of Christmas 1944

Please see the "corrections by Alice" in comments. Aunt Helen is on the far right seated and "Little Helen"( Helen Buzzell wears a muzzle) is standing next to Al Hatch.

Letters from My Father

Can you imagine! You are a young man in your senior year at Haverhill, MA High School and war breaks out!

Dad was just 18 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Can you imagine the conversations in his History classes with the Class of 1941.



Dad earliest job was delivering groceries. He used to walk 3 miles over to Groveland, all the way down Salem St. in Bradford, to deliver groceries. He'd earn 10 cents for his efforts.



Alice Boocock lived at 76 Chadwick St. From her bedroom window, she could look over to Fred's house. One evening while they were dating, Mom was a little miffed at Dad. When he came home with 6 or so friends, as everyone collected at Dad's house, He knew Mom would be watching him from her bedroom window. Dad was so smart. Even though he couldn't see her in her bedroom window, Fred turned on his front porch light and boldly waved toward Alice's house for her to come over and join them.



As an aside, if you stand in Linwood Cemetery, at the intersection of Water and Mill St in Haverhill, MA, on the Boocock lot and look across Mill St. , you will see the house that Mom and her parents first rented when the came to the US from England.



While in High School, Dad worked at the Paramount Movie Theatre on Main St in Haverhill, across from Haverhill City Hall. Mom would go there on Friday nights with her date, Paul. Mom remembers one time when she and her date entered the theatre after everyone was seated. Daddy , the usher, led them by flashlight to their seats. Years latter, Mom realized it was Dad, who she didn't know at the time, who showed them to their seat. He wore a Bell Hop style uniform in greys and blues, with a mandarin collar shirt and double rows of buttons on the chest of his jacket. He also sported a jaunty cap. Mom said he looked like a little "elf".



Paul wanted to marry Alice. In 1942 he joined the Air Force and became a Lieutenant. Once Mom went to New Orleans to see Paul. Paul spoke to a preist about marrying Mom, but the priest talked him out of it as he was Irish Catholic and she an English Protestant. Paul was later killed in the war.

After High School Fred worked at Pope Machinery Company in Haverhill as a draftman and junior engineer. A reference from his boss is linked.



Dad registered for the war just after his 19th birthday on June 15, 1942.





It wasn't long, as I'm sure Dad realized, after he enlisted, before he recieved his orders in July 1942 to go to Atlantic City, NJ for basic training.






Here's letter showing some of Dad's good sense of humor.






Postmark: Atlantic City, NJ

Aug 29, 1942 8:30 AM
United States Army Air Forces
991st T.S.S.T.C. D3
A.a. force R.T. C.
Atlantic City, NJ




To: Mr. & Mrs. Arthur W. Smith
79 Chadwick St.
Haverhill, Mass

Hi folks.
Just a line to keep up civilian morale and cheer up you civilians what with your rationing, trial blackouts and all. I pity you. I live it easy, work 16-18 hrs. a day, get all my food clothes, entertainment, salt air, and sore feet all for the glory of it but honest it ain’t bad. I am really enjoying myself. We have passes now and go out every other night untill 11 imagine it we consider 11 late! I am off tues, thurs, sat this week so I loose Sun. but next week I will be off Sunday. We have no work anyway so that gives me all day and evening. There is plenty to do. All restaurants, shows, nightclubs, are at reduced rates to servicemen and we get free tickets to all dances, and parties in the whole city. The people are swell. I live a very uneventful life. Eat, march 10 miles a day to and from the drill field and drill six hrs when we get there. That’s all. We took our classification tests Wed. to determine our I. Q. and adaptibility for different types of work. It took from 8 to 12 A. M. for tests and then that night at 6 P.M. 50 of us took special tests untill 11 P. M. There are 520 in our group and I don’t know why the 50 of us had to take them. They tell us nothing until they decide and then I believe we have our choice of 3 schools. I’m only guessing so far.
I feel better than I have for months, no headaches or hayfever, my face is burned black and the exercise is doing me good. All seven of the fellows are here along with others from haverhill but we are so split up I never see them.
My arm is sore now from the vaccination they gave us at Deven’s but the effects of the shot are over. Untill a couple more days when we get one 2 times as strong as the first and then 3 times as strong. They don’t bother mutch here though for thats all we get. Before we get thru we have about ten more. Some fun. We are able to go to the doctor or dentist every morning if we feel sick in any way for any reason. They take good care of us.
The weather has been swell no rain yet. Its a week to-night. Time flys. Thank Art for his letter. I won’t have chance to write individually so this will have to go for all. I was terribly surprised to get a letter from Aunt Gladys. I really appreciated it. She is the only Shanahan to think except South Groveland. There is nothing I need but if there is I’ll holler. Have heard from Eddie Davis, Aunt Helen, Milly and am trying to answer all. The papers coming every day and haven’t been without mail yet. I’m enclosing some postcards of this little place. I don’t know yet about allotment but I’ll see if I can’t send you something. Well its 8:50 and lights out at 9:00 so see you later.

Fred




I've learned my father didn't spell "much" correctly. He writes "mutch."





"Aunt Gladys" (Sansoucie) Shanahan was married to John Shanahan. Gladys and John Shannahan lived on Middlesex St. in Bradford, MA. Alice Boocock was aquainted with their daughter Dorothy. Alice once went to a party at Dorothy's as a Freshman in High
School and played her first "kissing game" . She never went back. Mom was a prude.



Eddie Davis was Fred's friend from Haverhill High School. He was older than Dad. Everyone called him "Bum". Alice Boocock was friends with his younger sister, Shirley Davis. When Fred once visited REdwood City, Northern California in the early 60s , he looked up Bum Davis, who was working as a bartender. Dad just surprised him by showing up at his bar, sitting down and ordering a drink.




The picture below was taken just At the Smiths before sitting down to Christmas dinner , without Fred, in 1944.

From right: Uncle George Parker (Grammy's only brother who is buried in Linwood Cemetery in Haverhill, MA) and Aunt Eva (Guilmond) Parker (wife 2, French Canadian), Fred's brothers Eddie and Arthur, Ma, Dad, Isadora Agnes Buckley (Grammy's Mom), Uncle Al Hatch and Aunt Helen (Parker) Hatch. Aunt Helen, Grammy's sister, had no children. She died of lung cancer.



On the end right is Helen Clark daughter of Grammy's sister Ruth,who died young. Helen eventually married John Buzzell. Helen introduced Alice Boocock to Fred Smith after the war .
Other children of Ruth Parker were John and Alice Clark. Alice married Bill Haubrek who lived in Claremont, NH. John Clark married Millie (AKA Aunt Milly in Dad's letter.)

The Ice Storm of 2008

Well, now that our power is back on, I can post some photos of Maine's most recent ice storm...the worst since the horrible ice storm of 1998. It started as a cold rain on Thursday morning and continued all through Thursday night...but the rain froze as soon as it hit the ground leaving up to an inch of ice on everything by Friday morning. We lost our power for 24 hours, getting it back late this morning, but approximately 175,000 Maine residents are still without power tonight, mostly in Southern Maine.

Letters from WW II

Researching our family geneology has given me much better insight into who we all are, especially by viewing primary sources. I'd like to share with us all letters from my father to his parents as he headed off to war. Through these you can see what a wonderful man he was. This is the first letter, with more to come.
I love you, Dad.

Andi

#6 . Postmark: ABSEGON, NJ
Sept 4, 1942 6 AM,
Written on one side only of 2 tan sheets of paper with a blue Eagle Standing on a stars and stripes coat of arms on the left corner.
Stamped “FREE” for postage.

To: Mr. & Mrs A.W. Smith
79 Chadwick St.
Haverhill, Mass.

Dear Folks,

Well I’m pulling our of Devens this morning.(Fri.) I expected to go yesterday but no luck. Right now I’m sitting on the parade grounds waiting for some fellows to come back from their inoculations. I had mine last night and was quite sick this morning. We were lucky to have them.....5 Hr. Pause. Now on train to?....as the fellows who had them yesterday were bad. We carried six off the mess line out after they collapsed. We have been waiting since 4 this morning to be shipped and we are now on a train just about to leave. It is 12:30. I am quite sure I am in the air corp and believe I am headed south but they don’t tell us anything so I don’t know. The fellows in this place are swell and everyone gets along fine. The only thing that has bothered me so far is the continual waiting. We wait to eat, mess, reveille, retreat. They think nothing of putting us in the sun for 3 or 4 hrs. But we hope things will be better at our permanent camp. You should see this place. It is a regular town with its own stores, bakeries, hospitals, theaters, service clubs, etc. There are aprox. 35,000 here at a time. We are on a train holding probably 1000 troops. There are one to 3 of these leave every day loaded with recruits. Well I guess there is not much to say and I will write when I find out where I’m going.

Love
Fred

All I Want for Christmas is a Cure-or at Least a Long Remission!

Well today marks another landmark in my cancer journey. Today I completed my last treatment in this 6 cycle round of chemotherapy. Really it was 12 treatments because each cycle consisted of two treatments. Today was probably the hardest one-it seems that it gets harder to "get psyched" for each one as the treatment progresses. You know what to expect each time but it just seems so never-ending. And, of course, the whole time you wait-for the next blood draw, for the next checkup, for the next set of numbers, for the side effects to kick in, for the side effects to finally go, etc etc. This whole sixth round has just been the pits. It seems the veins in my arms are about blown out-they have had enough sticks and are protesting. I know that mathematically I could figure out how many sticks there have been since July, but math has never been my strong suit! Suffice to say, I've got the black and blues to prove it and have been dealing with blood clots (not dangerous, just painfully) in both arms for the past month or so. I just keep telling the docs that between the scars and bruises, if my body should every wash up on shore somewhere they'd have no problem identifying it! Today was "supposed" to be my short day-just gemzar-so much shorter than when I have two drugs. But as this blog is titled, "it's always something", and as Andi often reminds me I seem to have a little black cloud following me wherever I go.
So I got to chemo at 9:30 and it only took 2 nurses 4 tries to get the IV line in Thank God, needles don't bother me, but I always feel really bad for the nurses. They try twice then pass you off to another nurse. They also told me they needed to draw blood to check my magnesium level. Saturday when I went to the hospital for my neupogen shot (for low white blood cell counts) and another blood draw, they found my level to be low. This has the potential to effect your heart and since my heart attack, they've been watching that too. Three more needle sticks, but who's counting? So they wanted to check to see if it had come up since then. Finally after the pretreatment meds. by about 11:00 they were able to start the gemzar, which is only supposed to be about 45 minutes so I hoped to be out and Christmas shopping by noon. How silly of me! As the gemzar ran out the results of the blood levels came back--magnesium was still too low and Laurie Small (my oncologist ) felt I needed a magnesium IV. They got that in then told me I would be all set while it ran--only about 2 more hours! About 2:15 the receptionist came to tell me Aaron was on the phone--worried about where I was with the small snow fall and concerned because it was my "short" day. So, my short day ended about 3--home at about 3:30-just a 6 hour short day-but hopefully the last one for a very long time.
The highlight of my day though was still to come--about an hour after I got home I got a delivery from my wonderful husband--a dozen white roses edged in teal (the color of ovarian cancer awareness) with a note that said, "All my love-remission forever" Love, Aaron. They are so beautiful! I should have know. When I was first diagnosed in 2005, and faced my first 6 treatments, he sent me teal roses to the treatment center, to count down each cycle-6 the first time then five, four, and so on until a dozen arrived on the last one. I also got phone calls checking in from family and friends to mark the "event". I am truly blessed-I have so much to be thankful for-my faith in God, my wonderful family, supportive friends and coworkers, "angels" of so many kinds who work in doctors offices, labs and especially the IV therapy center at Me. Medical-all earning their way to heaven through little random acts of love, support and kindness. So in so many ways cancer has been a blessing to me for its life lessons. At the top of my Christmas list this year is only one thing from Santa- a cure-or at least a good long remission not just for me but for all the others on this journey as well. I know that may not be a long list, but it's a big one. And who knows? Santa's a big guy! So enough about cancer for a while--only about 2 weeks 'til Christmas, so bring on the holidays!
Merry Christmas!
Love, Nancy

It's a Small World

I tend to get "into" hobbies for awhile and then drop them and move on to something else. About 7 or 8 years ago, Nancy and I got into making and furnishing dollhouses. I bought my first one on the side of the road...unfinished...for $25.00 when Robert and Kristen were little. I always intended to finish it and, eventually, I did. But then I went out and bought another one...this time at an antique shop in Bar Harbor. Since the first one was a colonial saltbox, I decided to furnish the second one, a yellow tudor, as I thought it would have looked in the 1950's. Today, they sit in my living room, mostly forgotten, except when the grandchildren come to peek in the little windows and move the furniture around when they think I'm not looking. I do enjoy decorating them for the holidays, though, and thought you would like a peek into my miniature Christmas world.

This is my first dollhouse-bought in 1978-finally finished in about 1999. Santa has landed on the roof!

The front door..ready to go sledding!

the Saltbox kitchen...

the formal living room on Christmas Eve...

the master bedroom...where "Ma in her kerchief and I in my cap have just settled down for a long winter's nap"...

"the children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads..."

My 1950's dollhouse...decked out for Christmas.

the front porch is ready to welcome tiny little guests...

and the kitchen is ready for Christmas breakfast...

"Ann's" bedroom.

Father's study...

and the living room with its tiny tree and presents...

"Merry Christmas to
all and to all a Good Night!"

The Christmas Tree Hunt

One of our favorite holiday traditions is what we've come to call the "Christmas Tree Hunt". Every year in early December, we drive all the way up to Waldoboro, Maine, to cut down our Christmas tree. We stumbled onto Scott's tree farm about 20 years ago and have been going back ever since. Scott's two sons were little when we started cutting trees there and now they are grown...time passes so fast. Over the years, many people have gone on "the hunt" with us; Nancy and Aaron joined us for many years and now our grandsons, Robert and Brian, come along.

The day is always the same: We start at Mr. Bagel in Yarmouth for coffee and bagels for the road and then ride as far as Wiscasset, where we make our first stop at Big Al's, a uniquely Maine salvage store where it is difficult to find an item that costs more that $.88 (or $1.88 if it's a big item). We gave the boys $3.00 each and let them go in search of bargains while we warmed up and picked up a few stocking-stuffers. And then it was on to Scott's tree farm...

Saturday was a perfect day to hike over the hill and through the woods to Scott's field of balsams; it was sunny with no wind. Over the years, we have been there when the snow was up to our knees, when it has been raining and we've had to tromp through mud to get to the trees, and when it has been so cold that we've had to keep hiking back to the car to warm up. After about an hour of searching, debating, and narrowing down the choices - we found the perfect tree. Robert and Brian took turns with the saw and then, before we even had time to yell our traditional "Tim..ber!", it fell down right on top of them! Scott's sons loaded it on the tractor and we headed back up the hill to tie it on the car.

Once the tree is safely tied down, Hank and I break out the Bailey's for a toast and then we all all go to Moody's Diner for lunch. Moody's is a Maine landmark and still serves old fashioned diner fare with homemade biscuits and pies. It's the perfect place to warm up after cutting the tree.

On the way home from Waldoboro, we stopped in Damariscotta so that the boys could Christmas shop for their parents. Damariscotta is a beautiful coastal town and the money the boys save up each year goes a long way at Reny's, another uniquely Maine shopping adventure, housed in what used to be the old 5 & 10. While Robert and Brian shopped, I enjoyed walking through the old store with it's wooden floors, uneven stairs to the lower level, and glass cases. It brought back memories of going to the 5 & 10 in Hartford with Grammy Smith as a kid - it even had the same smell. The "sleigh" full of gifts and the roof covered with balsam, we headed home. Hank and the boys were singing Christmas Carols and, as I drifted off to sleep in the car ("taking the short way home" Daddy used to say), I thought about how lucky I was, in spite of all life's challenges, to have had this perfect day.

The Christmas Tea

On Thursday, Andi and Nancy invited Kristen and I to the annual Christmas Tea at their church. Kristen loves getting dressed up, and loves, tea, so she was very excited. Andi and Nancy also wanted Kristen to meet their special friend, Theresa, who sits near them in church every week. Theresa was so excited to meet Kristen that she was waiting at the door with a big smile when we arrived. The ladies of Eastpoint Christian Church in Scarborough put the tea on every year to give women a break from the craziness of shopping, wrapping, cooking and writing cards and remind us all of the reason that we celebrate Christmas. Nancy had had chemo on Tuesday but the side effects were not too bad yet so she was able to join us for the tea. Nancy's positive spirit is an inspiration to me...she has been so sick but she always manages to get up again and do what matters to her. Her faith, and the kindness of her friends at Eastpoint, has helped her through this past few months so making it to the tea meant a lot to her.

After dinner, there was a program of Christmas music and Kit's wife, Erin, who sings at Eastpoint every Sunday, was one of the performers. She has a beautiful voice and did a wonderful job, as always.

Kristen had a great time at the tea, as we all did, and it was nice to relax for the evening and share some Christmas spirit...without having to cook!

Nancy Update

Nancy had the first infusion of her last round of chemo last Tuesday and has her very last one tomorrow. Since her recurrence, she was scheduled for six rounds of chemo and this is the 6th. So, assuming her CA125 and PET scan come out OK, the good news is that she will be all done with chemo for the holidays...and hopefully for a very long time. She felt OK last Wednesday and Thursday, but on Friday and the weekend she was very sick. Because she has not been able to keep food down, she became dehydrated and had to go into the Gibson Unit on Saturday for an IV to hydrate her. She has also had to drag herself in for the neupogen shots to keep her white blood cells up so that she can receive the last dose of chemo. She found out that the reason that she has had so much fatigue is that she is anemic so they have also given her a shot to increase her red blood cell count. I just talked with her and she is hanging in there...wrapped in her teal blanket on the couch...trying to get through the last of this. Her beautiful blanket was a gift from her friend, Karen Westerberg, and the ladies of the Prayer Shawl Ministry at the First Congregational Church in South Portland. They knit or crochet blankets for people who are ill and pray for their health while they make them; what a wonderful thing to do!
So...assuming everything goes as planned, tomorrow should be the end of this nightmare for Nancy. We are all hoping that tomorrow's side effects will be mild and that Nancy will be well again for the holidays - that would be the best gift of all this Christmas.