An essay for December? Such a thought leads me on a merry mental chase. Some topics about which I’d like to write are: a book I’m reading entitled “Swimming with Frogs”; a Thanksgiving experience; a book of short stories I’ve put together which soon will be on Amazon and Kindle; a wonderful Christmas stroll; some newspaper column headlines, and Grandpa’s suit.
Recently my husband and I attended a dinner dance. The theme was the roaring twenties, and the movie “Some Like it Hot” was featured as entertainment. In keeping with the theme, we were told to dress “funereal” because the movie depicted a speak-easy with liquor hidden in a casket. Okay, I had a little black dress. My husband looked through his closet, and behold, he found his grandfather’s suit. It was black with tails and a lined vest. In spite of a few worn spots, it was perfect for the occasion. The handmade buttonholes, buttons, and stitching were tiny and precise. In the vest pocket, we found on a faded yellow paper the following note: In thin, sprightly handwriting, he’d written: March 2nd 1961
This coat and vest was made by Lenord Walker., a German Taylor, May 1897. The trousers that belonged to this suit has [sic] been worn out long ago. I was married in this suit May 15th 1900. The suit cost me $25.00. The same suit would cost me $100.00 today. No use keeping it. Give it to The Salvation Army. Grandpa (A.U. Vernier- Wedding Coat)
We will not give away this one hundred and seventeen- year old suit although no one in our clan, other than my husband, will ever be thin enough to wear it. A Frenchman, Grandpa died at 97, and up until the last, mowed his yard, drank his beer, and kept in shape. Vive la vie! Vive la written word! What would we do without little messages like this one, which surprise and delight us from one generation to the next?
Recently my husband and I attended a dinner dance. The theme was the roaring twenties, and the movie “Some Like it Hot” was featured as entertainment. In keeping with the theme, we were told to dress “funereal” because the movie depicted a speak-easy with liquor hidden in a casket. Okay, I had a little black dress. My husband looked through his closet, and behold, he found his grandfather’s suit. It was black with tails and a lined vest. In spite of a few worn spots, it was perfect for the occasion. The handmade buttonholes, buttons, and stitching were tiny and precise. In the vest pocket, we found on a faded yellow paper the following note: In thin, sprightly handwriting, he’d written: March 2nd 1961
This coat and vest was made by Lenord Walker., a German Taylor, May 1897. The trousers that belonged to this suit has [sic] been worn out long ago. I was married in this suit May 15th 1900. The suit cost me $25.00. The same suit would cost me $100.00 today. No use keeping it. Give it to The Salvation Army. Grandpa (A.U. Vernier- Wedding Coat)
We will not give away this one hundred and seventeen- year old suit although no one in our clan, other than my husband, will ever be thin enough to wear it. A Frenchman, Grandpa died at 97, and up until the last, mowed his yard, drank his beer, and kept in shape. Vive la vie! Vive la written word! What would we do without little messages like this one, which surprise and delight us from one generation to the next?
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