Putting a Christmas card/letter on my blog does not seem very appropriate, but I think the exception is worth it. We received the following letter from Gma’s cousin ‘Linky’ Brokhausen, aka, Gladys [Sommer] Brokhausen. As a young girl, Arlene vaguely remembers meeting her in person while in Altoona.
The picture was taken from an article in the Williamson County Sun , March 6, 1985
The picture was taken from an article in the Williamson County Sun , March 6, 1985
Linky [Sommer] Brokhausen
Christmas 2007
The first five months of 2007 were nothing to write home about. The high low points were caused by shoes! Due to the Achilles-tendon surgery, my feet are no longer a pair. So I wear those sandals closed by Velcro rather than buy two pairs of real shoes. Believe me, two pairs would have been cheaper. In March a young woman ran into me with a shopping cart in the supermarket, badly warping two toes and totally removing a toenail. As I heal well, I did my thing with aloe vera and bandaids. Then on April 17 (who can forget Income Tax Day?) as I came from a volunteer task in town, I caught my sandal under the brake pedal and when the dust settled I had taken out the left door frame, sailed through the garage, taking out a large section of wall, and made a four point landing about two car lengths into the back yard, which is about three feet below garage level. Totaled my faithful Olds 88. Drove around the house and put the wreck in the garage. Heaven knows there was enough room!! But I didn’t have a scratch. I believe in angels.
Came June and life got very interesting. Don’t know how many of you watched the Ken Burns series on WWII that showed on PBS at the end of September. The PBS station in Austin, KLRU, made a program, The World, the War, and Texas, to show along with it. They had 18 WWII-vintage veterans and two non-veterans in a 1 ½ hour show. Maybe it was because I was the only female veteran, but I got a surprising amount of air time. Plus being used in promos. A crew came to the house, and taped for more than an hour—quite a long interview. They used bits. Caused quite a stir among friends.
More fun in the Veteran’s Day parade in Austin. The same four of us in the same yellow 1949 Chrysler convertible as in 2006. Last year I told Larry, the owner/driver, that the other two women I had found were also Navy, he said, “We have to do it again next year, with signs on the car saying we’re Navy. As long as it doesn’t hurt the finish.” He made placards for each side—U.S.Navy – 3 WAVES AND A SEAL. Last year, the car got attention. This year, we all got noticed. Shouts and salutes from the sidelines. We were unit #5 in the parade, so when we reached the end, Larry found a place where we could park and watch the rest go by. At one point, there were 8 former service-women (all much younger than us WWII babes) gathered around the car yakking up a storm. But more was to come. My phone started ringing at 0800 on Monday, 11/12, asking if I had seen the morning paper. Upon retrieving it, I almost flipped out. There we were in full color, smack in the middle of the front page of the Austin American-Statesman. The Front Page!!! Takes the cake.
One more thing. Unless you hear differently from me, early next year my mailing address will change to 139 Estrella Crossing, # 307, Georgetown, TX 78628. I’m finding it necessary to give up the struggle to hack it alone out here in the country. Will be moving into a retirement facility that was supposed to be ready some months ago. The heavy downpours during the summer slowed construction. Hence the uncertainty timewise.
This is what I whomped up to send to friends across the country. With the move so close—no time for personal notes. Busy weeding and tossing like crazy. Will I ever figure out what from a 2600 sq. ft. house I’ll be able to squeeze into a 650 sq. ft. apartment. A house with huge closets that housed a squirrel and a pack rat!
Will try to do better once I’m in and “sorta settled.”
Came June and life got very interesting. Don’t know how many of you watched the Ken Burns series on WWII that showed on PBS at the end of September. The PBS station in Austin, KLRU, made a program, The World, the War, and Texas, to show along with it. They had 18 WWII-vintage veterans and two non-veterans in a 1 ½ hour show. Maybe it was because I was the only female veteran, but I got a surprising amount of air time. Plus being used in promos. A crew came to the house, and taped for more than an hour—quite a long interview. They used bits. Caused quite a stir among friends.
More fun in the Veteran’s Day parade in Austin. The same four of us in the same yellow 1949 Chrysler convertible as in 2006. Last year I told Larry, the owner/driver, that the other two women I had found were also Navy, he said, “We have to do it again next year, with signs on the car saying we’re Navy. As long as it doesn’t hurt the finish.” He made placards for each side—U.S.Navy – 3 WAVES AND A SEAL. Last year, the car got attention. This year, we all got noticed. Shouts and salutes from the sidelines. We were unit #5 in the parade, so when we reached the end, Larry found a place where we could park and watch the rest go by. At one point, there were 8 former service-women (all much younger than us WWII babes) gathered around the car yakking up a storm. But more was to come. My phone started ringing at 0800 on Monday, 11/12, asking if I had seen the morning paper. Upon retrieving it, I almost flipped out. There we were in full color, smack in the middle of the front page of the Austin American-Statesman. The Front Page!!! Takes the cake.
One more thing. Unless you hear differently from me, early next year my mailing address will change to 139 Estrella Crossing, # 307, Georgetown, TX 78628. I’m finding it necessary to give up the struggle to hack it alone out here in the country. Will be moving into a retirement facility that was supposed to be ready some months ago. The heavy downpours during the summer slowed construction. Hence the uncertainty timewise.
This is what I whomped up to send to friends across the country. With the move so close—no time for personal notes. Busy weeding and tossing like crazy. Will I ever figure out what from a 2600 sq. ft. house I’ll be able to squeeze into a 650 sq. ft. apartment. A house with huge closets that housed a squirrel and a pack rat!
Will try to do better once I’m in and “sorta settled.”
Best to all—
Linky
1 comment:
I would love to meet this cousin Linky
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