Category: Family

“You young’uns better pay attention. You’ll have to do this yourself some day!” my Dad often admonished, particularly at times when our youthful reaction to a distasteful job was less than reverent. This was the case, for example, at hog-killing time in the fall. We hated the greasy, smelly jobs of grinding sausage meat and… Continue reading Things My Mother Taught Me

My Father had a store of words he drew from when an ordinary vocabulary fell short of expressing what he wanted to say. One of the favorites he used was “spizarinctum” (spiz’ uh rink’ tum), which meant something like putting one’s whole body and soul into whatever task or activity was being pursued at a… Continue reading Spizarinctum

My father was an austere man who rarely showed affection or approval. His communication with his children was usually in the form of directives or reprimands. We regarded him with a respect that was akin to reverence. As I was growing up, I tried to either keep out of his way or not to do… Continue reading Report Card Day

When I was a child I often heard it said that the Roberts’ were God’s Chosen People. I don’t know who the originator of the statement was, but that conclusion was drawn, in jest of course, from Deuteronomy 14:2 where it is said of the Children of Israel: “For thou art an holy people unto… Continue reading Irish Connections

My Dad was a great American. His heritage goes all the way back to the landing of the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Ancestor Edward Fuller was one of the passengers on the Mayflower, and one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact. Unfortunately, neither he nor his wife survived that first difficult winter… Continue reading A Great American