[or-roots] tact, humor and history

[Cecil Houk]

And these are those pictures:


Captain James Blakely 1812-1913
http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=cchouk&id=I00726


Captain James Blakely & Winnie Lewis
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cchouk/blakely/

Captain Blakely was one of my gr gr grandfathers.

Cecil
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Magbatt at aol.com 
  To: or-roots at sosinet.sos.state.or.us 
  Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 12:07 PM
  Subject: Re: [or-roots] tact, humor and history


  Hang in there, Nancy.  We get it all.  Actually, these very people who so like to tickle our funny bones (sometimes not so gently) are also very helpful when they can be.  I have picked up much information - some direct and some just general through their stories about my ancestors and their neighbors. 

  As for the humor, whenever my sisters and I visit the museum at Brownsville the volunteers always comment that they can tell we are descendants of Capt. Blakely.  He was known for his sense of humor and his whole bloody family seems to have been blessed with it.   As you walk in the door, you see on the opposite wall the large, typically stern portrait of him, but if you check further you see the one of him with his great-granddaughter (my grandmother) at about age six standing behind him and wearing his glasses.  You can see the sense of humor coming through despite his attempt to surpress it for the camera.   The volunteers say the same thing about one of the other Brownsville family as well.  (Cooleys?)

  What with the D-day anniversary this weekend, I just got done rereading all the letters my father sent to his mother from England.  They are full of the thrill of flying, the weariness, the sorrow for those who don't make it home and the innocent who suffered from the bombs he dropped.  But there was also humor.  It was the humor that got him through and cemented the bond between him and his crew.  He earned three Distinguished Flying Crosses and many other awards, so it must have served him well.  

  I agree that a bit of tact is sometimes needed here and there, especially on the sensitive subjects, but sometimes I think we don't realize that we are sounding harsh.  Maybe it should be tact, humor, history, and tolerance.    

  Midge
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/or-roots/attachments/20040608/97e23e5e/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: cjb1a.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3171 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/or-roots/attachments/20040608/97e23e5e/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Nana-Blaz.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 5440 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/or-roots/attachments/20040608/97e23e5e/attachment-0001.jpg>