Back 2 School (It's an Op-Ed)

Last week was the first full week (excluding the Labor Day Holiday) in our area. The youngsters seem to be having a great time in the school behind our house as we here the sounds of playground fun along with the electronic bells announcing the start of classes.

Along with school, we've noticed that the days are beginning to be shorter in terms of sunlight as well. And it definitely is cooler in the mornings and the evenings which we are thankful for . . .

The yearly cycle of events changes rapidly and it seems as though school just "got out" for the year. And it will soon be the holiday breaks and thereafter another ending of the season and on it goes.

The rhythm somehow stays with me as I sense the yearly events as if they still impacted my daily life which they don't really other than remembering.

 It seems like everything these days is in reference to an "op-ed". This week especially is filled with articles reflecting all aspects of what is "going-on" in Washington, D.C.

There are so many new books to read that it is hard to keep up with them. I have ordered the new book "Fear" by Bob Woodward that is supposed to be released next week. (I've ordered it on Audible)

Currently, we are reading the "A Higher Loyalty" by James Comey and finding that very interesting AND we are listening to "Elon Musk", his book on Audible -- and after watching last night's news showing Musk taking a "hit" of a pot loaded cigar, we can understand a bit why that stock is reacting.

It is seemingly a world of extremes right now and with the coming mid-term elections, it is certainly going to capture most if not all of the reportable news. What will the next op-ed be?

I have spent part of my week going through "Newspapers.com" and "GenealogyBank.com" searching for "op-eds" re our family -- a lot of fun:

 This first "find" is not about family (no it is NOT Dayton). But I found the story interesting. The young truck driver shown in the picture was featured in a Washington Post article, September 6, 2018.

He has worked for a trucking company in Wisconsin and just recently found out that one of his "buddies" in the company is actually his father.

They have worked together for about two years and did not know that they were father and son.

This time it was not DNA that revealed who they were -- it was good timing and just plain luck.

It'll be interesting to read follow-ups. A lesson to be "nice" to those around you, you just never know.

Then I stumbled upon the obituary of Vivian Hiles, who is my Uncle Lloyd's daughter (so a first cousin).

I knew of her passing but what I found interesting was the picture.

I never would have recognized her if the picture was all that was shown to me. My memory of how Vivian looked was so different from her photo.

I did get the opportunity to speak to Vivian (by telephone) shortly before her death and I'm so glad that I did.

I actually was looking for articles about her brother, Leslie, when this popped up. I do not know at this point if Leslie is still living.

I will continue my search . . .

Still "noodling" around I came across an interesting article about another cousin of mine, Bruce Bumgardner -- he is the son of my mother's brother.

This apparently happened in 1965, but I do not recall any family mention of this event.

According to the article, Bruce received a less than acceptable report card and took off into hiding.

His parents, mostly his father, Stewart, believed that he surely was hiding out in town and could have been with relatives as well.

After eight days though, his parents appealed to the public for assistance in finding their twelve-year-old son.

The article does not reveal the outcome of this "missing boy" case and as far as I know -- he could still be missing as I have not seen him since that time . . .

I'm being facetious for sure as we would have heard if he had never returned home to "talk" about his report card or NOT to talk about it as the case may be.

Still, I'll be checking to see if the newspapers have a follow up to the story.


And lastly a peek into the life of my older brother -- hard to believe some forty-eight years ago as it seems "just like yesterday" probably to him as well:

I was living in Southern California at the time (Arcadia) and our family made frequent trips to the San Diego area to visit.

It is strange how my mind reacts to some of these articles that I find in the old newspapers. But thank goodness we have them to research into and bring back some of the memories -- even some that we are having for the first time . . .

That is a bit of our week -- see you all "in a few"!  👨👩