Pros and Cons of Memory

In as much as this blog intends to become a chronicle of family history, observe:

 On This Day, 22 Nov, 2011,  

the odd truth that your Mah is a hapless nutcase 

shall be hereby

publicly declared:

There she was, surfing the websites of Arlington House, National Park Service, Robert E. Lee's Headquarters, and half a dozen others that cater to Civil War memorabilia,  

hunting for a brilliant Stocking Stuffer: that teacup of C's from The Big Trip in '99 that she (meaning me) broke and promised to replace OH, TEN YEARS AGO, OR SO...

FRUITLESS.

Your Mah said to your Da', "Well, I tried. It's nowhere. Nada. Nuthin's out there to replace this..."

So, she gave up.

About that same moment, C's sister and her coterie 

were in a rental car, beating it across the plains of Southern Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, all hot faced and out of breath 

to be a part of history 

at Gettysburg's 150th Anniversary Observance, 

hoopskirts in tow, handstitched dresses barely finished, camera batteries charged, and a tiny wad of tourist cash at the ready in their period-correct little pockets.

"GLORIOUS"

Um. Hello?

(Scans plethora of texts and images on iPhone, exchanged between firstborn in Gettysburg and her mother in Long Beach, CA over the past weekend... Nope. I see nothing there about, 

"Hey! While you're IN GETTYSBURG, could you just scope out Lee's H.Q. and see about getting that Robert E. Lee Tea Cup in blue? Yeah, that one. The one I broke in, like, 2001?")

Oh, to be brilliant and sane.

Alas, I ask too much.  

(Wipes drool from chin and wonders

how many helpings of thin soup

the residents of her future convalescent home will be allowed...)

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