Our son Evan suggested that we share some stories about Fay from her younger days. Here's a short vignette that reaches back to ancient history, before e-mail and cell phones, when people communicated mostly by mail and once in a while (on special occasion) by long distance telephone.
Margie was cleaning up her recipes the other day. The recipes she had collected after 40 years of marriage were stored in a ragged three ring binder that used to be organized by type of food. Lately the material was just tucked away with less attention to the type of recipe or food group. In a burst of creativity and energy, Margie bought a new binder, some file separators, and some pocket dividers. Then she organized her recipes, throwing out the ones that she didn't like or didn't plan on making. In the pile of recipes to keep were several 3 x 5 index cards from the mid '70s that Fay had sent her. The one above is for Passover cookies that Margie has made from time to time. Some of the recipes came with letters, handwritten early in the morning from Fay's office at St. Louis Shower Door, or perhaps Cooper Window Replacement Company.
The notes accompanying the recipes usually had a comment about how Fay was tired (the more things change, the more they stay the same) and some news about her life. These recipes were sent a few years after my dad had passed away and before she married her second husband, Charlie. Fay was involved with her friends and club work at the time, including taking a Dale Carnegie course. We kept in touch mainly through letters and a weekly phone call. It's hard to appreciate the importance of taking the time to write out recipes and mail them in these days of instant communication and feedback.
We shared some of these recipes and letters with Fay the other day. She was happy to see them and was proud of her handwriting (which is pretty good, you must admit).
More stories as I think of them.
cool!!! keep 'em coming!
ReplyDeletewhat's a dale carnegie course? like a business thing?
talking about a different world of communication: i can see about posting some excerpts from those cassettes you sent back and forth!
A little explanation may be needed. Dale Carnegie wrote a book "How To Win Friends and Influence People" and then offered a series of courses where students gave speeches and practiced interpersonal skills. Fay used her brother Hy, whom she considered to be a literary giant, as her mentor. I remember several talks that Fay gave when she was elected president of her clubs. All were edited and approved by my Uncle Hy.
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