It has been a lot of fun as Elsa takes envelopes of photos to photocopy for the party. We have a wonderful time when she brings home the goodies and starts snipping them up for framing.
A frame that usually holds three pictures from
our 1997 trip to DisneyWorld now holds some treasured black & white
snapshots - a wedding picture of Pete and myself in the center spot and two
photos of the family on a walk. The
pictures of the walk brought back ancient memories. Mim looks like she was around two, which would
have made Mike four and Peter around eight.
The four of us are pretty bundled up, so it was probably in the fall. (Ian and Elsa were far from being a glimmer in Pete's eyes.)
The five of us - including Pete - had walked
up Fettersmill and down Terwood Road. As
we walked toward Welsh Road, we met Randolf Childs coming in the other
direction.
"It's so good to see
people walking outside of Bryn Athyn!"
he greeted us. "Lots of folk
just never leave our little boro. Seems
to me they don't know much about the larger world and want to know even
less. They don't know what they are
missing!"
This from one of the
staunchiest pillars of the church - I was dumbstruck!
I always liked Randolf Childs, even though I
was very much in awe of him. He did not
suffer fools gladly.
Many, many years ago, I heard a story about a couple who made an appointment with Mr. Childs.
They laid out their problem and he neatly summed up the situation and
gave them his advice, all within a few minutes.
The husband and wife looked at each other and quietly conferred - they
valued the advice but had expected him to take longer to get to his
conclusion. The husband fished out two
dollars and, explaining that since it didn't take Mr. Childs very long to
figure out the solution, it must have been a pretty easy problem so two dollars
was about what he and his wife thought it was worth.
Mr. Childs, from what I
hear, drew himself up and said, "All I have to sell is my mind. What I know is worth a great deal more than
$2.00," and he handed back the $2.
He did not suffer fools gladly, but children were another matter. As a little girl, Mim was so taken with him - he was tall and distinquished looking and a kind man - that she
named one of her dolls "Randolf" in his honor.
How lovely to wander down Memory Lane! Every day, I enjoy getting ready for this
party more & more. If the event is
half as much fun as the preparations, it is going to be beyond words.
Love to all - the soon-to-be Birthday Girl
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