Uncle Alan's Voicemail About Jax

Uncle Alan is one of thee most hilarious men I've ever known. His turn of a phrase never ceases to crack me up. Not long after Jackson was born he left a voice message on my parents' house line. Like my father, he started off by stating his full name. As if we didn't, A: recognise his voice, and B: know that he is the only Alan we knew. Well, who we knew and who was currently alive. Clearly, to maintain a slim sliver of anonymity, I cut off that bit. But here's a wee clip of the message that we saved for almost a decade.

John Adams

Years ago I heard (or maybe read??) someone state that to chalk up owning slaves was simply something that everyone did at the time, or that it was considered normal or that people just didn't know any better, that saying that completely disregards the handful of people, like John Brown, for instance, who knew that slavery was wrong and not only didn't condone it, they outright condemned it. Reading this John Adams quote has inspired me to look up films, documentaries, and maybe even a biography or two on Libby.

They're Havin' a Heatwave

Yesterday I opened my weather app and noticed it was cooler in Shaker Heights and scrolled down to see that Antwerp was hot as hell! I immediately texted Michel so as to sympathise. 

Jackson's Summer Playlist

A couple weeks back we were driving around and Jackson linked his iPhone to my Apple CarPlay. He put on his Amazon Music Summer Playlist and I was elated to see that some of the songs I introduced him to had made it to his list: Halo, White, Discussion, and Ecstasy. AND we discovered that we share the same favourite Pink Floyd song - When the Tigers Broke Free. ( I always cry at "And the Anzio bridgehead was held for the price of a few hundred ordinary lives.") I'm also herds proud that, even though metal seems his number one fave genre, that Jax has still got an eclectic taste in music. 

Neruda

When The Earth Burned

The Park-McCullough House

Back in September of 2019, Mama Rose was just getting used to Instagram and posting photos while on vacay in New England. The wifi at her hotel was dodgy and she wound up posting blanks because the pictures never loaded. Her eldest grandson, Zach, actually liked the post, because he is the sweetest, and I love what Dave commented. He's not wrong.