CHAPTER
20
ANOTHER
BOY!
(Paul
Orton DeWolf, born November 14, 1960)
Paul was the little boy who wandered
among the trees on the Christmas Tree lot calling out "brothers,
brothers..." instead of screaming for his mother. It is hard to recapture those days, but it
has been fun to try. I have tried to
pick out small things about Paul's childhood.
In this chapter I have used excerpts from my letters to Charles when he
was in
Paul's entrance into our family was
a landmark experience for all of us.
There was the initial scene at the dinner table when we announced to his
four older brothers that their mother was expecting a baby. Charles, aged 15, snorted, "Oh
no...". Tim acted relatively
detached. Bill mustered some enthusiasm,
and David (11) immediately jumped up and practically whooped, "I won't be
the youngest any more!" Then they
all became enthusiastic, talking animatedly about how it would change our
family. Bob and I gave them a good pitch
on what fun it would be, and they were really becoming excited, when suddenly
one of them said, "But what if it's
a girl?" Nothing had been mentioned
about the possible sex of the baby. It
was as if a stone had been dropped on the souffle. Temporary gloom and apprehension enveloped
them while Bob and I looked at each other and chuckled.
Fortunately I was extraordinarily
healthy while I was pregnant, and I continued substitute teaching through the
end of June. The church gave me a lavish
shower ‑‑ I think I had about 130 thank‑yous to write. They also redecorated the "middle
room" at the parsonage mostly in pink (Dorothy Jenson warned them that
"Carol wouldn't like it"). And
there was never a child who was more heralded with love and joy than the dear
little boy who arrived on November 14th, 1960 at about 9 a.m. Bob made a special trip to each of the boys'
schools to tell them the good news. The
older boys were absolutely wonderful about rallying around. When I look at the movies of that era I am
reminded of how unfailingly gentle and concerned and sensible they were. I had admonished them about how they mustn't
treat the new baby like a toy for their own pleasure. They must think of what was good for him,
etc., etc. Sometimes, if they thought
that I was breaking my own rules they were quick to tell me
Bobby came down that first week I
was home. It was so precious for her to
be there‑‑the only time she was with me with a brand new baby. I was 44.
Bobby thought she had undergone extra stress by having a baby at 39 and
she warned me that I might not have the resilience and oomph that I did when I
was younger. But what a dimension of
love it gave to our family. I felt that
as the boys progressed through their teens, they knew in a more mature way than
many of their contemporaries, what "love" really meant in terms of
being able to love a little brother in a totally unselfish way.
When Charles announced that he was
interested in becoming an exchange student his senior year, Bob and I said that
would be nice but we probably couldn't afford it and besides Marjorie Schumacher
would have precedence over him. It
turned out that Marjorie didn't want to go after all, but I think it was one of
the first inklings I had that the boys would go "beyond" me, for it
was Charles's persistence that won the day.
How could I have known that he had the mind and the drive to become a
linguist? I do remember trying to get
him to go to bed at night when he was taking what I thought was too long over
his German homework. I thought I could
hurry him up by showing him how to get a translation done quickly ‑‑
take the first sensible word in the dictionary for the meaning. I remember being amazed that he was totally
unwilling to settle for that but had to pursue all the variety and shades of
the word (that didn't help his homework at all but showed a quality of mind
that was special.) Maja
volunteered to put up the extra money that would be required for the
exchange. How excited we were when we
had a phone call saying that the exchange student who was to come to us would
be a girl! In a matter of minutes my
mind had rearranged the rooms and furniture, even while I was recovering from
astonishment. Then it turned out that
the counselor who had received the information had misinterpreted the description
of Charles's German mother‑to‑be as being the student who would
come to us.
Charles left by bus in June, 1962
with Stan Loar for the long trip to
The rest of the family settled in to
get ready for welcoming Wolf‑Rudiger Wilke as our exchange student.
Here are some excerpts from my
letters to Charles:
7/7/62,
1329 N. Douty,
Paul is playing with that maze and
the black marble. I try to get it far
enough into the maze to lose it, but he gets it out in no time every time. I do
hate having my children get smarter than their mother so young! Dad is at work at the church. Dave is in the living room playing chess with
Jim Strickland. Bill & Tim are
helping Bob Jensen dry apricots...
7/12/62
...The Nichols invited themselves over for supper ‑‑ they brought a
pot of beans, and we had some meatloaf and ice cream...
Tim
and Bill moved their bed out to the back porch yesterday so they'd get more
fresh air for sleeping and have more room in their room for assorted activities
‑‑ I hope not acrobatics!
Tim is in the living room listening
to records and Paul is cavorting around doing funny little dances to the music‑‑he
is a true comedian...
7/25/62
Dad, Paul and I drove home from
8/6/62...well,
Wolfi is here and he IS a fine person just as you indicated in your wonderful
letter.
We say to Paul, "Where did
Charles go..." and he runs over to
the globe and turns the light on while waiting for us to show him
Bridalveil
Campground, 8/16/62...Paul is sitting beside me at the camping table munching
graham crackers as the sun filters through the lodgepole pines. Wolfi, having finished shining his shoes, is
now dusting off his trousers and sponging them by the faucet (these Germans
certainly have some wonderful customs!)... Bill and Wolfi put the tent away and
Paul was trying to imitate their sweeping.
Bill had fashioned a broom out of pine branches, and Paul had his own
little branch which he was using with a great deal of energy.
11/5/62 Paul has a new white shirt with bow tie and
cuff‑links. He looked so cute in
Sunday School yesterday, I wished for you.
He says new words every day although you can't always tell what he is
talking about. It seems hard to believe
he will be TWO a week from Wednesday. We
sold the trailer and he misses that. He
goes around saying, "Where shu‑shu?" I don't know how he got that name for it.
(The
letters are full of the Cuban missile crisis, concern about Charles' future
schooling and clothes and school gossip.
Often I was writing from the high school where I would be teaching as a
substitute.)
11/20/62 Paul gets nicer every day. His birthday was hilarious ‑‑ he
loved his cake and candles and seemed to quickly understand that this was
"his" day. The other boys had
pooled their funds to buy him a plastic car (big enough for him to ride), but
when the package was opened the parts all fell out in a heap and they had to
assemble all the pieces. Paul didn't
mind at all but kept collecting little piles of nuts and screws and bolts. Later Tim and Bill equipped it with a seat
belt "because it's dangerous at the speeds we push him!"
Paul enjoys reading more every day
and it is a pleasure to go through several books at a sitting with him. His latest favorite is an ABC's by Phyllis
McGinley...
12/14/62 Christmas seems very close as I sit in the
living room with David listening to Harry Belafonte singing Christmas
Carols. The creche and the tree are both
in place and the house looks very pretty...I taught Girls' P.E. today...in a
few minutes Dad will be bringing Paul home from the Bairs. Tim is sleeping on the back porch. He had to come home from school this noon
because of a bad cold and temperature.
Wolfi is at Drivers' Training and I forget where Bill went. Your comments on school, etc. are fascinating
and I loved being reminded of "Bill's Christmas Carol" and thinking
of you riding to school and singing it to yourself. Love is such a wonderful thing and Christmas
always makes me feel what the world might be like if we all felt the
warm glow of it all the time. Don't
forget that Dad and I still love you the way we love Paul, but with all the
added richness of joy in seeing you grow into maturity. I'll probably shed a tear before Christmas is
over, just thinking about you, but it will be a joyous tear...missing you
fiercely and yet not ever wishing it otherwise!
1/7/63 ...dear funny little Paul runs to the globe
with his bus where we have shown him "
1/28/63...I
hope the news will be better before I seal the letter: Walter Perry is missing on an Explorer
"snow" trip. It is a very hard
ordeal for everyone. Ten boys from the
explorer post including Tim, Bill, Lester, Leonard, Hal Bopp, Walter Perry, Jim
Rader and Ronnie Johnson left with two leaders (Earl Johnson and Bob Jenson) at
5 a.m. Saturday to camp up above Huntington Lake, near Coyote Lake. They hiked in from the road 7 miles. Walter wandered away from camp about 4
p.m. They all searched until it was so
dark that there was danger of the other boys getting lost, then bedded down for
a sleepless night (6 degrees temp.).
Next morning everyone hiked out to get help except Tim, Ronnie J., Mr.
J. & Dr. J. who searched all day.
Bill came home last night feeling pretty woe‑begone. They are still searching today (that means 2
nights he has been out without a sleeping bag, though he was said to be dressed
warmly.) Tim, Lester, Leonard and Hal
Bopp have stayed up with the search party, but they may be sent home
today. You can imagine we all feel
pretty distressed and of course the fact that Walter was notoriously
irresponsible doesn't help. (Walter WAS
found.)
1/29/63
Dearest Bobby, (she forwarded this letter to Charles)
As always, when you are near the
center of a news story, you find the news woefully misrepresented. The lost boy episode has been a very
traumatic experience for one and all. The
news was carried on several San Francisco broadcasts (in fact Bill's name was
mentioned this morning as having accompanied Walter part way ‑‑
this was absolutely untrue ‑‑ Walter merely told Bill he was going
to get some wood. We are not at all sure
that this strange boy did not intentionally let himself get lost ‑‑
there are several theories, but ALL teachers and leaders who have known him are
unanimous in feeling he is quite capable of such an awful thing. Actually he cruelly endangered the lives of
the rest of the party, and we all feel disgusted that he doesn't seem to comprehend
what he did.
Anyway, Tim and his 4 companions
were the heroes who found him (NOT the Sheriff's posse, as the
a
real emergency and handled themselves like men ‑‑ they had courage
and guts throughout. They all have a new
respect for the Sierras!
Gosh, you should have seen those
boys when they got home. Bill looked
worse than Tim because when he arrived everyone was feeling half sure Walter
was dead. Tim was wind‑burned, but
had not suffered any permanent harm and was full of indignation and talk. He said when they found Walter they went wild
with joy, but as his story came out they all became suspicious, and the fact
that Walter didn't seem to even appreciate being found, nor the things they did
to help him, did not help their attitude.
By the time they got him back to
(Much
in the letters about books and art, the Earl Lectures (Tillich, Bainton,
Soper), etc. Also taking Wolfi to
4/19/63 Happy birthday! I wish that we could all be there to
celebrate it, especially Paul who enjoyed my birthday so much that I'm sure he
would be ALL set for yours. He really
got the idea of its being MY birthday and not his, and went around muttering
"happy birday momma". He also
climbed up and polished off a good portion of the cake (that Dad and the boys
had had decorated) while I was at the library last night. The roses are in full bloom...the boys
haven't been so ambitious with their garden, but some of the potatoes came up
from last year and also some of the strawberries. Now they have planted two kinds of
melons.
Signs
of spring: l. Paul has some mosquito bites.
2 the lawn needs mowing
3. everyone needs new shoes, socks,
etc., etc.
4. mockingbirds are ubiquitous
5. I feel lazy
6. Tim listens to ball games
‑
Bill finished his transistor radio (after returning it to the factory)
‑
Wolfi went to
‑
Tim was chosen to attend Boys' State and elected President of MYF
‑
Wolfi got a kick out of Paul calling him "My Wolfi" and also calling him "Wolfi DeWolf".
‑
Bill elected Treasurer of the Sophomore Class
6/6/63 Just a note but SO MUCH to tell you. First you were awarded a $100 scholarship in
the Senior Awards Assembly
Second
‑ We ARE moving ‑ to Hayward (about 25 miles from U.C. on June
19th...It's a good move for dad and I pray it will be for all of us...The
church has about twice the membership of Hanford. Part of the reason we are being asked to go
there is that their minister is getting a divorce‑‑and they want a
minister with strong family ties!!!
Believe me the wonderful reputation you kids all have is a BIG
help. Of course we're all excited. They say the house is nice ‑ probably
more modern.
6/26/63 22559 5th St.
It
seems so funny to be living in a house that you have never seen. Bill and David have had more than their share
of unpacking since Tim is at Boys' State and Wolfi at AYTC...We all like the
yard and the climate of course.
7/3/63
...We plan to take the Southern Pacific train to
It had been a special year in
several ways. One of the big experiences
for me was realizing that Wolf‑Rudiger could really learn to love our
family ‑ I had had deep anxieties before he came and he really added a
new dimension of love to our home. Also
our horizons inevitably expanded to thinking about travel beyond our shores.
*************************
(Bill
was accepted for an International Christian Youth Exchange year in
6/16/64
Dear
Bill,
The house has a special emptiness
without you but you are still very much here in spirit. Paul (2 1/2) said, "Bill forgot
something...Bill forgot something...the puppy dog...the dog for
Manfred..." I reassured him that
you had NOT forgotten the one I stepped on.
Funny little Paul ‑‑ so full of love for you. I know he will miss you and cannot quite
understand why you should be gone so long....
Dave & Charles have gone to play
tennis; Dad is making a hospital call; Tim is watching Combat; Paul is up in
bed (having just decided he "needed" to go to sleep in my bed instead
of HIS bed...
Charles and I had a good discussion
over the dishes tonight. He admires you
so much but doesn't seem to feel jealous of you. He is very self‑understanding...I find
it especially fun to talk to him when he is in an analytical mood. I wish you could have heard some of his
comments. He feels you have such a
wonderful and unique time ahead.
6/23/64
Dear
Bill,
Wonderful to talk to you
Sunday. Your letter and postcard
arrived...Paul got the Baseball postcard today...he carried it everywhere with
him for a while but by today he has found one or two other things...
First you want to hear about Tim's
broken ankle. He cracked the main bone
in his ankle and generally "racked up" his whole leg‑‑his
hip and knee seem to bother him still, but they are not basically injured. Anyway he hobbles around with his crutches
and doesn't seem to be in nearly as much pain as he was the first couple of
days. DEAR Bob Tanner. He lent the skate board to Tim and as he was
writhing in agony on the concrete, Bob hollers at him, "Oh I forgot to
tell you not to do (whatever it was) going downhill..." And then while he was doubled up in the car,
still white with pain, Bob leans cheerily on the window frame and remarks, "Now, Tim, you be sure to get back on a
skate board the minute you're okay...otherwise you'll lose your
nerve..." Well, as I say, DEAR
Bob Tanner. I don't know how you can get
along without him for a year! Tim has
been a very good sport...but it is sort of tough to have his summer messed
up...
7/2/64
Dear
Bill,
I've been thinking of you today
assuming you were on your way back to Leonia from Newton Centre.
Dave is at Pitmans right now. He and Charles finished the window‑washing
job at the church and Charles also helped Harry scrub down the stains on the
sanctuary walls. Tomorrow Charles has to
go to work at BBB for 3 days. He and Tim
are discovering whether they will make good roommates or not...you know Charles
thinks Tim could have higher taste in music and Tim gets sick of Charles
keeping the light on...However...if they can stand each other at home where Tim
is pretty closely confined with his cast, etc., they certainly ought to be able
to make it at Cal.
This morning Charles and I were
trying to burn up trash in the back yard ‑‑ Laura Shugar stopped by
to show Paul how to feed a baby ‑‑ she brought her granddaughter
who is very cunning, and it was fun to watch.
Paul fed her one bite, but he was overcome by the process. He opened HIS mouth so wide trying to
get her to open hers that I wished we'd had a movie.
Tim, Chet and George played for the
MYF parents'night and it was a blast (I think).
Phyllis played Beethoven and Chopin and Tim and George played for the
folk music and then the combo really let loose...Tim gave a little spiel on
what rock and roll is and then they illustrated various things and I think
everyone enjoyed it. Grandma came down
for the occasion and she was amazed.
7/28/64
Dear
Bill,
We were supposed to leave for Hume
Lake this morning, but decided to take one more day...Don't forget how TIRED
Wolfi got at first just from the strain of the new language...don't get discouraged
if it seems like a big strain to you.
Tim has been very fortunate to have
Dave Brown for a friend to help him in getting started in the
Paul has learned to dress himself
quite well, but puts on some odd combinations.
He talks about you a lot. I
discovered he didn't want to go to
8/12/64
Dear
Bill,
We got back from Hume Lake Tuesday
and found a wonderful letter from you...Hume Lake turned out to be a jolly
experience, especially for the boys, for they had some wild times with Uncle
Dick and the crazy leaky raft‑‑about 50 people gathered around the
beach just to watch them launch it. Dick
had to take it down to the village to pump it up with a vacuum cleaner, but
there were so many leaks that even after patching, Donnie had to spend the
whole trip pumping with a bicycle pump to keep it from sinking. About 10 or 11 climbed aboard including Dick
& Hallie's crowd and our kids, and Dick made it all very comical.
Tim and Charles swam the width of
the lake several times and were determined to swim the length before they came
home, but the last day Tim felt rather punk, so they gave it up (I was glad because David would have had to
row for them and I didn't think he represented an adequate safety factor.)
Paul just loved the wild times at
Paul
just came in. He said, “I’m hongry...Did they left? (meaning Coe and Beth)..I’m
hongry. I want some lunch. . .Right
NOW...ahhan han...’
Mom: I’m writing to Bill.
Paul: Let’s not write it right now.
Mom: Why not?
Paul: Because I want some lunch RIGHT NOW. (pause)
What do you want to say to Bill?
Mom: What do YOU want to say?
Paul: (holding his arms wide) I love him a big much...that’s plenty - don ‘t type any more.
8/21/64...
Tim’s ankle is doing well and he is determined to go on the Sierra trip next
week. He played his guitar a little and it always sounds great...
Paul
is talking lots better than when you last saw him. He had a fine time turning
on the hose and filling the little plastic sandbox, or pool, then running and
jumping into it with a grand splash...He invited Bobby to play “Fish”-- he
deals very well. But it is fun to see him try to shuffle the cards. He divides
them into two piles and holds the piles against his chest; then thumbs each
pile in a fine splutter with NO connection between the two halves. Then he’s
well content, puts them together again and deals. He is so earnest about it,
and insists on doing the shuffling himself. It is hard not to let him see us
laugh.
8/22/64
Dear Bill, I’m up early before the rest of the family -- tomorrow will be David’s birthday but...he’s
at Monte Toyon for Youth Leadership Training Camp, so we won’t celebrate
together until he gets home.. . Yes,
Charles is going with Tim on the HIKE.. . Your postcard showing the two peaks you were about to climb seemed very
exciting. Now I am ver,’ anxious to hear how it all went, and how climbing in
the
Paul
is so cute about missing you. The other night he said very flatly, “I would
like BILL to give me my bath.” And he
plays the back yard is “
9111/64
Dear Bill, I’m sitting on the chaise in the back yard noticing how much more
energetically the dandelions grow than the grass. And I’m thinking about YOU.
Here comes Paul with his viewmaster, explaining how it works to me. He is full
of talking and learning. I said to him, ‘When Bill comes home he will give you
a hug . . .” Paul said, “And I will give him a big hug
too.” Now he is being a bird flying across the grass.
Dad
took Charles and Tim over to
They
(Charles and Tim) will write you about their trip. Most of what I can write
would be emotions -- how
anxious I felt the Monday and Tuesday we had stormy weather here and the
weather report said, ‘Snow in the Sierras at the 6000 foot level” -- knowing they were at 11,000 feet! As usual I
am bursting with pride that they used good sense and had a good trip with the
one major disappointment of not climbing Whitney itself. But they had to dig in
to protect themselves from the storm instead... Tim had some rough days
physically (he must have had some flu bug) and some awful blisters on his
feet--his ankle still bothers him; and Charles had a terrible headache for a
couple of days after he came home (altitude change?)... You can imagine how
excited we were to meet them! They’re already talking about next summer.
Meanwhile
David had a ball at the Leadership Camp and some good experiences at Music
Camp...Now he’s back at school.
9/28/64 . ..Dear Bill,
Dad and I went up to the District Meeting at White Sulphur Springs last Monday
and Tuesday. ..about ten miles from some of the worst forest fires of the
season...we ‘re hoping for some good ocean air...
I think of you at every turn. It seems strange to have David and Paul be the
only boys home. But things are going very well . . . we all enjoy talking about
you and reading your letters. Paul said importantly, “I think I’ll write Bill a
letter.” “What will you say... “ says I. Paul: “Dear Bill... Thank you that I
love you so much...Love, Paul.” “But,” he added thoughtfully, “I don’t know how
to spell ‘dear’”... So I wrote D E A R for him and he had a fine time writing a
letter to you -- I’ll try to
enclose it.
This
is a story he told me sitting on my lap at breakfast:
“Once upon a time there was a lion and he went to see the football guys in
The other day I asked him, “What are you going to be when you grow up?” And he
said, “I’m going to be a brother...”(and then after a pause, thoughtfully),
“I’m a little brother NOW,,,”
10/11/64
Hi Bill! Sunday night. Dad and I just finished doing the dishes...David stayed
home from MYF...another mean cold...
Later ...I’m sitting in the kitchen in the middle of the morning. Paul is still
in his pajamas and I am trying to persuade him to surprise me by going to get
his clothes on. The teakettle just reminded me to get a cup of coffee...from
where I sit (in Dad’s place) I can see our Christmas tree which is really
especially beautiful this year: the Broughers got it for us, making a special
trip to the mountains to get their own and ours.
It is a fir tree, but especially even and open, so the ornaments hang down
prettily. It stands in the center window and we have the curtains open just
enough to have it seen from the street. We moved the long brown davenport in
front of the fireplace and it looks surprisingly well -- we might even leave it that way. Dad got
some lights for the juniper tree outdoors so we look a llttle more gay from the
street.
Paul has loved helping set up the creche and trimming the tree and has done
surprisingly well. I’m sure it’s easy to idealize each other when we are far
away. Paul isn’t always an angel and he was pestering me just now about the
typewriter. He’s full of the excitement of Christmas and he exerts more of his
own wilt as he gets older. I guess the real test of love is to love a person
for himseff including his best and his worst. . .
I’ve had a horrible cold in my chest
and Dad finally MADE me go to the doctor so I’ve been on penicillin. .. David is pretty
busy with his library job...getting a lot of satisfaction out of making
money...he is passionately determined to buy some sort of stereo now that he
has his bike. Dad and I tiy to convince him that there may be something else
he’ll want instead before long...
12/30/64
Dear Bill, Where to begin! First your WONDERFUL packages. Bobby and Maja just
loved the beautiful candles.. .the beautiful Stille Nacht candle will last a
lifetime, for surely we could never burn it. Incidentally, everything came in
perfect condition -- which
brings me to the tasse - you
couldn’t have picked a more perfect gift for me...the most beautiful one 1 have
ever seen...Paul looks so cute in the Kinderhutte and I think Dad got a movie
of him in it. You just have no idea how much that funny little four year old
talks about you and loves you.
He says such special things about you that it’s hard to remember... We got a
calendar in the mail that took his fancy and he decided he wanted it nailed up
in his room. I kept putting him off. So one morning he came in holding it and
said verp’ firmly, “Mom, TELL Dad to put this up in my room with a nail...” I said,
“Paul, I don’t TELL Dad to do things; I ASK Daddy.. “ Paul thought a minute and then said, “Well ask
Daddy to put this up in my room...and TELL HIM RIGHT NOW.” Paul’s BIG
present for Christmas was a set of drums. They’re not real of course, but they
are fancier than the old set and he just adores them. He loves to play with Tim
and we all enjoy their “jam sessions”.
When we went to get our Christmas tree at one
of the outdoor lot where you cut your own, Paul got lost among the little
trees. Not being able to see other the tops of the trees, he waniered through
them, calling out, “Brothers! Brothers!” Paul loved to pretend he was a dog. He
would climb into bed with me first thing in the morning and bark a greeting and
then make dog-like noises and nuzzlings. I would get tired of the game before
he did, and I’d say, “Please Paul, don’t be a dog any more, be a BOY.” But the
answer would be, “Arf, arf.” He would come to the back door and bark to be let
in just like Taffy. He was excellent at pretending other animals and seemed to
have a flair for imitating and a lot of grace in cavorting around, as well as a
very true voice. Another game Paul loved was “imaginary baseball”. He could
make you feel as if the ball and bat were very real by his exquisite imitation
of every nuance of batting, reaching high in the air for a wild pitch, etc.,
etc.
6/28/65
Dear Bill,... We loved the pictures of
you. I had them in my purse in church and as I reached in to get out my
offering, I took them out to steal a look. Dave was sitting next to me so he
took them from me. Tim was sitting next to Dave so he took them from Dave. Judi
was sitting next so she took them from Tim. Then the offering plate came along,
so Tim just placed them piously in the plate and passed it on to me, and I had
to fish them out while Ham,’ Lindley was chuckling in the next pew...Same old
Tim.
Tim
has a job! Working in the Invertebrate Pathology Dept. of U. C. at
9/16/65
Dear Charles,
Bill showed slides of the hike. (they had just hiked 80 miles up
over
10/28/65... the news of
I’m
really behind on everything else -- I feel it’s hard on Paul to have to go to Broughers every day while 1
do substitute teaching at the high school... Dad has been preaching an extra
good series on the Apostles’ Creed...
11/12/65
1 feel many changes are taking place in American thinking re demonstrations,
Pacifists, “extremists”, and in a way I wish you could have had this year both
in
Paul’s birthday is on Sunday.
Dick & Hallie are coming with their kids primarily because Maja got a new
car and is giving them the Rambler which we have temporarily...Paul is counting
the days. He says he’s going to share everything he gets with Donnie, Bobby and
Janet and he ‘hopes they don’t break anything -- but they’ll be careful...”
12/1/65
Paul is going to have his tonsils out next week. He has been getting quite deaf
and the doctor says there is an obstruction in the Eustachian tube caused by
enlarged tonsils. The same thing happened to me when I was about his age
(because of deafness), and apparently the operation should clear that up. It’s
hard to explain to a little guy.. .and I’ll be glad when it’s over.
12/16/65
Grandma had an operation for a cataract on her right eye last Friday and is due
to go home today. ..she must be careful for a while ... Paul is getting along
fine after his tonsillectomy though he was pretty miserable at first...
1/2/66
Happy New Year Lovely holidays with Molly and Paul Boerner -- they are seriously planning to move out
here, so a good deal of time went into helping them get appointments re jobs
and living accommodations.
3/15/66
Paul’s
latest favorite ice-cream is “Choco-mint squirrel’ (Borden’s Choco-mint swirl).
3/29/66... Tim, Bill and Dave had a terrific (??) ski trip to
Anyway they survived.
The next crisis is a “Roaring Twenties” Dance to be put on by the MYF Friday
night. Bill has justifiable gleeps because, as president of the MYF, he is
responsible, but several other church groups are invited, and it could turn out
to be (I) a brawl; (2) a
disaster; (3) a flop. Right now he is just hoping it will be OVER.
5/27/66...
Bobby had a minor operation two days ago. She is doing well. Maja seems tired
and older but insists she is okay. Molly and Paul have bought a house in
6/8/66. ..Reagan ‘s winning the primary (for governor) by a landslide is very
depressing…But we’ll recover.
(That summer was highlighted by Bill’s
graduation from high school and preparation for the University, and Charles’s
rather traumatic return from
- Quotations from Paul at age 5 1/2:
“I’m the youngest one of my whole friends..’
Paul: ‘1 know what makes drops... (raindrops)”
Mom: “What?’
Paul: “If the drops come out faster than each other it makes pouring water..
.but if they come very slowly then it makes drops.”
- Paul wanted a kitten and I finally relented:
Paul: “There’s only one problem. What would we name it? If it’s furry, we could
name it “Furry”.
Paul: “This time I had a little discussion with the cat. I told him where his
house was, and I told him to stay in his house and have a rest.”
(After we moved to